This Christmas will be a joyous one for a few NFL franchises. Here are the teams and players who will be the happiest, the winners of Week 16.
Detroit Lions: Detroit is partying like “Jurassic Park” is the top-grossing film in the country.
It’s been a long time since the Lions have won a division, but the 30-year wait finally ended with Sunday’s 30-24 win over the Vikings.
Miami Dolphins: How’s that for beating a good team? Miami notched its biggest win of the season by topping the Dallas Cowboys, 22-20, clinching a postseason berth for the second consecutive season. Prior to Week 16, the Dolphins were 0-3 against teams with a winning record this season. Afterward, head coach Mike McDaniel discussed the significance of the result.
Miami ends the regular season against the Baltimore Ravens (11-3) and Buffalo Bills (9-6) and its win over the Cowboys (10-5) means it won’t have to answer questions about whether it can beat a good team beforehand.
Dolphins safety DeShon Elliott defending the entire field: The biggest play of Miami’s signature win of the season was Elliott’s touchdown-saving tackle at the goal line on Cowboys running back Tony Pollard.
The tackle set up the Cowboys with a first-and-goal from the half-yard line, but instead of scoring a touchdown on the drive, on the very next play Prescott and running back Hunter Luepke mishandled the handoff exchange, resulting in a lost fumble.
Amari Cooper: The Browns (10-5) are near-locks for the postseason because of Cooper’s – and quarterback Joe Flacco’s – brilliant game against the Texans in a 36-22 win. Cooper set a Browns franchise record for receiving yards in a game (265) and added two touchdowns on his 11 receptions. ESPN’s Adam Schefter shared the elite company Cooper joined due to his incredible performance.
Washington Commanders: The Commanders nearly did the worst thing for the organization on Sunday – win a game. Out of playoff contention, Washington is best off improving its position in the 2024 NFL Draft, which it did by escaping New York with a 30-28 loss to the Jets.
Quarterback Sam Howell, for all the yards he’s thrown for this year, isn’t worth another season. He was benched on Sunday after going 6-of-22 for 56 yards and two interceptions and the offense immediately improved with backup Jacoby Brissett. The Commanders need a franchise quarterback and Sunday’s loss gets them closer to finding one in the draft.
Los Angeles Rams, Buffalo Bills: Both teams sat at home on Christmas Eve following wins earlier in the week and had their playoff odds improve. The Rams (8-7) won 30-22 over the New Orleans Saints on Thursday night and saw one of their main competitors a wild-card spot, the Vikings, lose to Detroit. Buffalo’s day was even better.
After winning 24-22 on a walk-off field goal against the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday, the Bills watched the entire AFC South implode, moving them from outside the playoff field to the No. 6 seed.