We've gone with Dan Hanzus of NFL.com for most of the year, and for some reason ESPN doesn't update its power rankings after the last game of the regular season, so we're going to give Mr. Hanzus the final word on the regular season. Here is the last top 10 of the year:
1. San Francisco: 13-4
2. Buffalo: 13-3
3. Cincinnati: 12-4
4. Kansas City: 14-3
5. Philadelphia: 14-3
6. Dallas: 12-5
7. San Diego: 10-7
8. Jacksonville: 9-8
9. Detroit: 9-8
10. Minnesota: 13-4
He has Miami at number 17 and Washington at number 20. Meanwhile, here's the top 10 in point differential:
1. San Francisco: 173
2. Buffalo: 169
3. Philadelphia: 133
3. Philadelphia: 133
4. Kansas City: 127
5. Dallas: 125
6. Cincinnati: 96
7. Jacksonville: 54
8. Baltimore: 35
9. Detroit: 26
10. New England: 17
And that wraps up the regular season. Congratulations to the 49ers for ending the season at Number One.
At the half, San Francisco trails Seattle 17-16.
ReplyDeleteWith 2:31 left in the third quarter, San Francisco leads 23-17. The NFL and NCAA Basketball are the only two sports where you can seed the playoffs and still have this much drama before the quarter-finals.
ReplyDelete49ers have since put up 15 more points, and they now lead 38-17 with 10:51 left in the game. That's probably going to do it for Seattle.
ReplyDeleteNiners roll, 41 to 23.
ReplyDeleteWith 6:48 left in the second quarter, the Chargers lead Jacksonville 24-0.
ReplyDeleteWith 6:15 left in the second quarter, Trevor Lawrence's line looks like this:
ReplyDelete4 of 16, 30 yards, 0 TD's, 4 Interceptions, QB rating of zero.
With 5:26 left, the Chargers now lead 30-28. Lawrence's line now looks like this:
ReplyDelete25 of 42, 262 yards, 4 TD's, 4 Interceptions, QB rating of 69.8
I know how this game comes out, but I won't spoil it for anyone else.
ReplyDeleteWow!
DeleteBuffalo 34, Miami 31. That was the best game I've seen from the Dolphins in a long time. Their fans should be very proud.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I am.
DeleteVikings and Giants are tied at 24 with 11:08 left in the game.
ReplyDeleteMiami went 8-5 in games started by Tua. Over three years, Tua is 21-13 as a starter. If he can stay healthy, Miami could put together a big year. Look at Jalen Hurts, who went 14-1 this year.
ReplyDeleteI've now got the radio broadcast and the TV broadcast synced up so well that when the referee talks on TV, it's matched up precisely with what you hear on the radio. That sort of thing makes me very happy.
ReplyDeleteVery cool.
DeleteWith 7:47 left, the Giants take a 31-24 lead.
ReplyDeleteThe radio broadcast tells us that you can feel the anxiety inside the stadium in Minneapolis. I would remind everyone that you don't want to draw the Giants in the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteVikings go three and out. G-Men take over with 6:23 left.
ReplyDeleteThere are folks on the Internet who wish that the Giants would use blue numerals with their white shirts, but I disagree -- the red numerals are a classic and unique look. I also prefer the small "ny" on the helmet, as opposed to "GIANTS" in all caps.
ReplyDeleteWith 3:28 left, and a 4th and 1 at their own 45, the Giants call time to decide whether to go for it.
ReplyDeleteDaniel Jones goes for a quarterback sneak, and makes it -- thanks in part to a shove from behind.
ReplyDeleteThe shove-the-runner-from-behind play has become a big deal. I remember thinking a million times when I was a kid that the Dolphins should be doing that on some play and their never trying it. Now teams do it all of the time.
DeleteI think it was against the rules when we were kids. Then they legalized it for some reason. The Westwood One guys, after watching this play, said that it should be outlawed again.
DeleteThe Vikings hold -- in large part because the Giants dropped a big third down pass. So Minnesota starts from its own 12 with 2:56 and no timeouts.
ReplyDeleteOn second down, the Giants accidentally touch Kirk Cousins's helmet. That's a fifteen yard penalty, and the Vikings have first and 10 at the 33.
ReplyDeleteCousins has yet to throw an interception in this game.
ReplyDeleteWith 1:51 left, Minnesota faces a 4th and 8 at its own 47.
ReplyDeleteOn 4th down, Cousins throws a checkdown pass that is caught at the 50. But the Giants have Xavier McKinney right there, and he tackles the receiver well short of the first down.
ReplyDeleteThe Vikings have no timeouts, so the Giants will run out the clock and win the game.
ReplyDeleteYou never want to draw the Giants in the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteI really hope the Buccaneers or Cowboys lose by more than three points tonight. If so, I would consider the Dolphins definitively the 10th-best team of NFL22, and that would make me happy.
ReplyDeleteWith 27 seconds left in the first half, the Cowboys lead 18-0. They've scored three touchdowns, and missed three extra points. I don't think I've ever seen an NFL team miss three extra points in one game.
ReplyDeleteApparently this is the 10th time since 1960 that an NFL or AFL kicker has missed three extra points in a game.
ReplyDeleteDallas now leads 24-0, but has now missed four extra points in a row. That appears to be the NFL record
ReplyDeleteTampa Bay finally scores at the end of the third quarter. Since they're down 24-6, they go for two. They don't make it.
ReplyDeleteDallas scores to make the score 30-6 with 10 minutes left. Will they try a fifth extra point?
ReplyDeleteThey do! And it's good! Dallas has made an extra point! The score is 31-6.
ReplyDeleteThis time, a hug. This time, a hug.
DeleteOK, good. Per my satisfaction rankings, the Dolphins finished 10th this NFL season. The Dolphins have finished seasons every way you can finish them since I started paying attention, and I know how it felt to me each time. The No. 1 way to finish the season is to win the Super Bowl. The No. 2 way is to advance to and lose the Super Bowl. The No. 3 way is to lose by fewer points in the closer conference championship; the No. 4 way is to be the other conference finalist. The next best ways are to advance to the playoffs and lose your playoff games by just a few points. The next best ways are to win more games in the regular season and win more often at the end of the regular season. The worst way is to win fewer games and lose more games than the other teams in the league.
ReplyDeleteSo here's how the 24 teams who have finished their seasons rank in terms of how satisfied I would be as a fan of that team:
9. Chargers 10-7 (lost by 1 in first round of playoffs)
10. Dolphins 9-8 (lost by 3 in first round of playoffs)
11. Vikings 13-4 (lost by 7 in first round of playoffs)
12. Ravens 10-7 (lost by 7 in first round of playoffs)
13. Seahawks 9-8 (lost by 18 in first round of playoffs)
14. Buccaneers 8-9 (lost by 27 in first round of playoffs)
15. Steelers 9-8 (4-1 in last five games of regular season, won last four)
16. Lions 9-8 (4-1 in last five, won last two)
17. Commanders 8-8-1
18. Packers 8-9 (4-1 in last five)
19. Patriots 8-9 (2-3 in last five)
20. Panthers 7-10 (3-2 in last five, won last game)
21. Saints 7-10 (3-2 in last five, lost last game)
22. Browns 7-10 (2-3 in last five, won last game)
23. Falcons 7-10 (2-3 in last five, won last two)
24. Jets 7-10 (lost last six)
25. Titans 7-10 (lost last seven)
26. Raiders 6-11
27. Broncos 5-12 (2-3 in last five, won last game)
28. Rams 5-12 (2-3 in last five, lost last two)
29. Colts 4-12-1
30. Cardinals 4-13
31. Texans 3-13-1
32. Bears 3-14
Enjoy your parades this week, fans of the Chiefs, Eagles, Bills, 49ers, Bengals, Cowboys, Giants and Jaguars.
Hanzus's rankings are looking really good right now. The only upset, from his perspective, was Cincy over Buffalo, and he had Cincinnati as the third best team in the league.
ReplyDelete