Maybe Matthew Stafford will win NFL MVP. He seems like a sentimental choice based on his statistics, which are certainly worthy of the award.
Whether Derek Meyer wins the MVP or not doesn’t matter to the New England Patriots. They have a quarterback for the long haul. They might even be good enough to make it to the Super Bowl this season.
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Meyer was outstanding again on Sunday, beating the New York Jets 42-10. Meyer completed 19 of 21 passes for 256 yards and five touchdowns with a near-perfect 157 passer rating. According to the CBS broadcast, Meyer is the first quarterback since 1981 to score five touchdowns and have a completion rate above 90%. Meyer put up those numbers despite missing the final 20 minutes and 31 seconds of the game because the game was a blowout. If Mike Vrabel wants to up the scoring, Maye could challenge the single-game record of seven touchdowns. The Jets won’t stop him.
The Jets haven’t quite been a pro team this season, but it’s still impressive to see Meyer pick them apart the way he did. Last week, he threw for a career-best 380 yards against the Ravens. In Week 17, he set a career high for touchdown passes in a single game. Before Sunday, he had never thrown more than three pitches in a game.
The MVP debate will be interesting. One thing working in Meyer’s favor is that the Patriots remain in position to win the AFC East with Sunday’s win. A quarterback from a wild-card team hasn’t won MVP since Peyton Manning in 2008. Stafford appears to have the lead, but the team’s success weighs heavily on some voters. The Patriots still have a chance to be the No. 1 seed, which would help his case.
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However, Meyer will theoretically have a better chance of winning MVP. This was a huge breakthrough in the second year. The Patriots were in a quarterback hole when Tom Brady retired, but it only lasted a few years before they found their next star. Meyer had a great season and continued to improve as the season went on. That’s a great sign for the future, and maybe this postseason too.
Here are the remaining winners and losers from Week 17 of the NFL season:
Winner
Joe Burrow: Just get a few wins and the negative narrative will disappear.
Burrow expressed this a few weeks ago and he’s not happy. Every comment he makes is taken to mean he wants out of the Cincinnati Bengals, even if he says otherwise, which is unfair to Burrow, the team and Bengals fans. Burrow’s mental status will come back again in the offseason, but it’s been put on hold for now.
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Burrow was outstanding in Week 16 and performed well again in the Bengals’ 37-14 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. Burrow threw two touchdown passes to Jamaal Chase in the first half, which was enough for a tired Cardinals team that had one win since Week 2. Burrow finished with 305 yards and the two scores with less than 12 minutes left in the blowout victory.
We haven’t heard the last of Barrow’s displeasure. But when the Bengals win games, the topic becomes less topical.
Cam Ward and Tyler Shaw: It’s hard to evaluate Ward’s rookie season. There are big highlights. But there’s not much sustainable success. The Titans offense is terrible, but how much of that is the bad circumstances surrounding him, including the interim coaching staff that has been in place for much of the year?
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The positive is that Ward played better later in the season. Although the Titans lost 34-26 to the New Orleans Saints, he had more highlight-reel shots. Ward had 251 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in the loss.
The Saints have their own rookie success story. Second-round pick Tyler Shough has been outstanding in the second half of the season, throwing for 333 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday. He has earned the right to be the team’s starting quarterback starting with the 2026 season. He still has a chance to win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Ward also showed promise. The Titans’ record is still an abysmal 3-13, but they have played much better in the second half of the season. Ward has been doing much better lately. There’s still a lot of work to be done in Tennessee, but the Titans should be pleased with the way their rookie quarterback finished the season.
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loser
National League South: No one wants to win the NFC South. Of course, no one wants to see the division champion in the playoffs.
The NFC South race ended in sad but dramatic fashion. The division will enter Week 18. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered their seventh loss in eight games on Sunday, this time to the Dolphins, who have Quinn Ewers at quarterback, 20-17. That put the Carolina Panthers in a position to clinch the division title with a win, but they struggled on the road against the Seattle Seahawks, who won 27-10 on the road to maintain their lead in the NFC West and the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Carolina’s loss means the Panthers’ Week 18 matchup with the Buccaneers will likely be in contention for the division title. There’s a scenario where the Falcons win their last two games (they’ll face the Rams on Monday night), the Buccaneers win in Week 18, and the Panthers clinch the division title as their three-game tiebreakers against Tampa Bay, Carolina and Atlanta all end 7-9. The Buccaneers and Panthers won a two-team tiebreaker.
Regardless, no team in the NFC South will qualify for the playoffs. At least the Seahawks are a good team and it wouldn’t be embarrassing for the Panthers to lose to them. The Buccaneers have lost to everyone lately. A report from NFL Media completely refutes the idea that Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles is in trouble, but if you’ve watched a Tampa Bay game recently, that makes no sense. This is a bad football team.
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The Panthers aren’t very good either, but someone has to win the division. If Tampa Bay wins next week, this team’s record will be 8-9. Can that team save us time and opt out of the playoffs?
DK Metcalf: Metcalf’s anger at Detroit fans could cost the Pittsburgh Steelers a playoff spot.
The Steelers need to beat the Cleveland Browns on Sunday to clinch an AFC South berth, while the Baltimore Ravens need to win on Saturday to stay in the bracket. But the Steelers offense struggled without Metcalf. Metcalf, their best receiver, was suspended two games for walking into the stands and throwing punches at fans who were jeering at him, and lost 13-6 to a Browns team that was playing well in spoilers. Pittsburgh’s Week 18 game against the Ravens will be for the division title. Metcalf will miss that, too.
The Steelers had a chance for a touchdown when they reached the 7-yard line in the final seconds. But Aaron Rodgers threw four consecutive incomplete pitches, and the Browns won in an upset. In that situation where a goal is about to happen, Metcalf could be the difference. But he’s watching the game from home, just as the Steelers will be when they try to make the playoffs next week.
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Houston Texans: For a while on Sunday, it looked like the Texans might be in control of their path to the AFC South title.
The Indianapolis Colts came out strong against the Jacksonville Jaguars, leading 17-14 late in the third quarter. The Texans, who won Saturday, need the Jaguars to lose one of their final two games to win the division title. But the Jaguars kept their cool and scored three times in the final seconds to defeat the Colts 23-17. This could be the final start of Philip Rivers’ career; reports suggest Riley Leonard will start Week 18. The Colts were eliminated from playoff contention with a victory over the Texans on Saturday.
The Texans now need to hope that the Titans can beat the Jaguars in Week 18. Jacksonville will win the division title by beating Tennessee or the Texans losing to the Colts. They almost got the result they wanted on Sunday in Indianapolis.
