Maybe one of the better Week 18s ever, just in terms of the number of meaningful games. Literally three different teams could have won two different divisions, which I realize speaks to the quality of those divisions. But still. Drama-filled couple of days.
Steelers at Ravens: Mildly entertaining albeit ugly game played in pouring rain. Ravens weren't trying very hard though they did give decent run to Gus Edwards (after Melvin Gordon lost an early fumble) and threw a touchdown to Isaiah Likely. Game changes nothing of my belief that the Ravens should be able to get to their first Super Bowl under Lamar Jackson. Steelers run a lot and throw a long touchdown to Diontae Johnson rather than George Pickens, who was not targeted. Pittsburgh now travels to Buffalo, and then the offseason will come and they will be looking for a new quarterback, most likely.
Texans at Colts: I feel bad for Tyler Goodson, the fourth-string running back put in the position of needing to catch a fourth-down pass which would have put Indy in position to win. Throw wasn't perfect but good enough, but why they use Goodson there rather than Zack Moss or even Jonathan Taylor was a little odd. Game of inches and the play went Houston's way, fine line between winning and losing in the NFL. But a great game for C.J. Stroud and Nico Collins. Not really sure why Devin Singletary is Houston's feature back, the guy is not that good. But I guess they like him a lot more than Dameon Pierce right now.
Bucs at Panthers: A 9-0 win over Carolina -- that's two shutouts in a row for the Panthers, and the fourth time in five games they haven't scored a touchdown -- is fitting. Carolina almost had a touchdown to DJ Chark, but he fumbled it at the goal line and the Bucs recovered; also fitting. Bucs will be hosting a playoff game as NFC South champs, but they probably won't be winning. Carolina has a rough offseason coming, but I guess there's nowhere to go but up.
Browns at Bengals: Maybe the Browns shouldn't have stated so clearly and explicitly they were using this as a bye week. Feels like even the players who suited up had little interest in the proceedings, getting rolled by the Bengals. Injuries colored Cincinnati's season, but I think they'll be back, maybe make some defensive improvements in the offseason. Cleveland travels to Houston, would have been interesting if Deshaun Watson was available. As is, it should still be a pretty good game.
Vikings at Lions: Sam LaPorta leaves with a knee injury. That seems to be the big story here, and exactly why teams don't/shouldn't risk starters in meaningless games. Yes, I'm with Sean McVay. Vikings aren't in the playoffs and their absence won't exactly be missed. Nick Mullens productive enough over the past month that his career as journeyman backup should be set for a while to come. Minnesota will presumably try to bring back Kirk Cousins.
Jets at Patriots: Great quote from Ezekiel Elliott, who said "When I was younger I thought it'd be fun to play in snow. It kinda sucks." As did both offenses, with two quarterback who won't necessarily even be backups next season. Huge game for Breece Hall, neither passing game did anything in the swirling snow. Will Bill Belichick be back next year? No one seems to think so. He'll have a suitor or four.
Falcons at Saints: Slugfest where the strengths and weaknesses of both teams were on display, Desmond Ridder started and had both good and bad plays, showing everyone why he got benched multiple times. Drama at the end when the Saints could have taken a knee, and according to Dennis Allen, that was the plan and he told his players that, but they decided to let Jamaal Williams score a 1-yard touchdown in the final minute. Arthur Smith was ticked and let Allen know, Allen said he was right to be mad. Both coaches will probably be fired (Smith already has been). I've seen people on Twitter saying 1) Saints did the right thing, Falcons are supposed to stop it, and 2) Allen shouldn't have thrown his players under the bus. OK, first, New Orleans was in victory formation. They looked like they were taking a knee, so the Falcons weren't even playing defense. Second, why does Jamaal Williams need to score a touchdown? He's not some young rookie or retiring veteran (or maybe he is, I don't know), but he's scored a lot of actually meaningful touchdowns in his career, why this one? Regardless, a silly and unnecessary time and place to score a touchdown. Lastly, I've ripped Dennis Allen in the past, and I won't be surprised or unhappy when he's fired. But "throw his players under the bus"? I think the lack of loyalty started when the players ignored his instructions, if that's what happened (I wasn't there, but I haven't seen anyone dispute this). Somebody needs to be blamed for that ridiculous decision, why not blame the ones who actually made it. What was Allen supposed to say? There was nothing logical he could have said, because it was a ridiculous and indefensible play. OK, think I'm done.
Jaguars at Titans: Kind of similar to Texans-Colts in that there were a couple of very close plays (like a Lawrence goal-line keeper) that didn't go the way of the team that lost. Big game for Derrick Henry and Tyjae Spears, some good throws by both quarterbacks (a Lawrence interception was actually an Evan Engram drop), but the end result is the Jaguars blowing a division they seemingly had wrapped up a month ago. And they're out of the playoffs in favor of a team or two they are probably better than, or at least were for most of the season. Not pretty.
Seahawks at Cardinals: Entertaining game, where Seattle probably realized early on that winning wasn't going to get them in the playoffs, but both teams played hard anyway. Arizona surprisingly plucky this year, they have some talent and the No. 4 overall draft pick, which might have some value, either as the top non-QB (Marvin Harrison Jr. would look great in Arizona) or a trade chip. Cards missed a 51-yard field goal at the end to win it, but seemed like the fan had fun anyway, plus, better draft pick. Maybe Prater missed on purpose.
Bears at Packers: Another day, another Bears loss to the Packers. I'm duly impressed by Green Bay and Jordan Love. A couple of notable eyesores this season, but they're in the playoffs, the quarterback and receivers were way better than I expected, and I think Green Bay might give Dallas a game next week. Might. For the Bears, I don't know. I know they need to either trade No. 1 or trade Fields. Big decision. Glad I don't have to make it, because it will determine the franchise's next 5 years or more.
Kansas City at Chargers: Not gonna lie, I watched very little of this game. Kansas City scored a 97-yard defensive touchdown early and it was all field goals after that. I see from the box score that Austin Ekeler carried 10 times for 11 yards, supporting my theory he maybe just wanted to get through the game healthy. Did catch 7 balls for 38, so at least didn't kill you in PPR. Mecole Hardman had a big game, yay.
Broncos at Raiders: Denver playing for a higher draft pick. Jerry Jeudy got in the end zone, in no way making up for all the other games this year when he didn't. Raiders came up big and I kind of they'll keep Antonio Pierce around, good for him, he seems like an old-school Raiders coach.
Eagles at Giants: A.J. Brown got hurt in this game. Jalen Hurts hit his throwing hand on an opposing pass rusher's helmet and held up a finger that looked like a pretzel. Eagles played like they knew Dallas would win at Washington and they didn't want to be there, and everyone got an early seat, exactly why you don't want to risk using players in that situation.
Rams at 49ers: Puka Nacua got his stats. Carson Wentz looked like a credible backup quarterback. Best of all, the Rams, after falling behind 20-7, came back to win (with a sweet 2-point conversion), giving us the game we all wanted next week (maybe Lions fans don't) -- Rams at Lions, Matthew Stafford versus Jared Goff. I for one can't wait. San Franciso played guys like Deebo and Aiyuk for a couple of series and then pulled them, as Deebo hinted in a quote last week would happen, exactly why you don't want to risk using players in that situation.
Cowboys at Commanders: I regret that I put a little too much mental stock in the Cowboys not playing quite as well away from home. And not enough in the reality that Washington has one of the worst defenses we've seen in a few years, and a team that tuned out its head coach a while ago. Dallas put up huge numbers because everyone puts up huge numbers against Washington. Rivera no doubt will be fired today, and the Commanders rebuild will commence.
Bills at Dolphins: Entertaining game. Yes Josh Allen threw a couple of picks early, one pretty bad. But there was other badness to go around, including Dawson Knox getting totally mauled near the goal line just before an end-zone pick, no flag. The completed pass short of the end zone before the half was also bad, but hey, the guy had a chance. Whatever, nothing went right for Buffalo in the first half, but Miami's offense didn't take enough advantage, giving Buffalo the chance to come back late. Bills suddenly look very good in the AFC, while Miami has to go to Kansas City where one of those underachieving second-half teams will get sent packing (and then maybe have to play at Buffalo).
That's a wrap on the regular season, but plenty more (and better!) football left to be played we'll talk about it here all week, and all month.