Our NFL Christmas recap looks at the league expanding its reach and the games’ impact on the future. Christmas Day is usually the NBA‘s domain. An indifferent NFL decided to schedule two games on Netflix on Dec. 25.
LeBron James made his displeasure known:
They did it on a Wednesday which is never a day for professional football. A Beyoncé halftime performance was added to the mix as if there needed to be more star power for fans than Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson.
Pittsburgh Has Blown the AFC North in 10 Days
The Steelers were 10-3 and in first place in the AFC North heading into Week 15, two games ahead of the 8-5 Ravens. Then their schedule called for matchups with Super Bowl contenders Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Kansas City.
They lost all three while the Ravens beat the Giants, Pittsburgh, and Houston.
The Steelers are in the playoffs but their divisional hopes are gone.
The question for the Steelers is if this is who they are or if they ran up its win total against the Jets, Giants, Cleveland, and Las Vegas. In their favor, they beat Baltimore, Washington, the LA Chargers, Cincinnati, Denver, and Atlanta.
Their defense is beaten up and they’re getting strafed. Their upcoming playoff appearance is starting to look like a cameo.
The Chiefs Are the Number One Seed…Again
Veteran teams that have won before learn to pace themselves during the regular season. That can lead to disaster if they’re forced to turn it on late in the season to make the playoffs. Kansas City didn’t worry about that. Despite its close victories (or near losses, depending on the perspective), they kept racking up the wins and stayed atop the conference.
They’ve clinched the number one seed and have a clear path to their third straight Super Bowl. To make it more concerning for the main AFC threats Buffalo and Baltimore, they’re getting healthy just in time for the playoffs…almost like they planned it that way.
Patrick Mahomes’s injured ankle has been a non-issue. Clinching so early gives them an extra week of rest. Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Isiah Pacheco, Chris Jones, and others are unlikely to play much (if at all) in the final game of the regular season against Denver whether it matters to the Broncos or not.
And Again, the Bears Are…Terrible
It’s not just that the Bears keep losing. The 6-3 loss to Seattle on Boxing Day sounds more like a July White Sox-Mariners game than the NFL in December.
Chicago loses and performs like they need a new head coach to walk into the introductory meeting and say, “Gentlemen, this is a football.”
The terrible penalties are a complete misunderstanding of the fundamentals. They’ve had an offensive lineman enter a game for a specific play. He needed to report as an eligible receiver. He didn’t and it cost them a touchdown.
It’s false starts, too many men on the field, lining up in the neutral zone, and other basics players learn in high school.
That’s before getting to rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, nicknamed “Superman.”
So far, it’s Bizarro Superman.
His poor headspace and lack of development undermine his talent. He always looks puzzled and displays bravado not even he seems to believe. Part of that is coaching in the pros. But part of it is that his coaches at USC babied him, the media treated him as if he was special, he never got called out on his immaturity, and doesn’t know what to do when confronted with adversity and players as talented and savvier than him.
Williams’s future is already hovering between prodigy and bust. Chicago cannot make a mistake with its coaching hire.
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