Jackson races to the end zone as the Ravens blow out the Texans on Christmas. / Thomas Shea-Imagn Images
Something I didn’t know I needed this Christmas was seeing celebrities bash their favorite football teams on Netflix.
WWE star CM Punk saying, “Nothing will change until the McCaskeys sell the team,” might have gotten a loud pop from Chicago Bears fans. Comedian Nate Bargatze appeared uncomfortable talking about all the former star players of the Tennessee Titans thriving with different teams. It pained him to remind the broadcast crew about DeAndre Hopkins with the Kansas City Chiefs after being asked what it’s like watching Derrick Henry with the Baltimore Ravens.
As for something else I didn’t know I needed, I now own my first ever scarf thanks to my mom’s Christmas gift. I’ve never needed one as a Southern California native, but I sure did wish I had one for the football games I’ve covered in cold cities in the winter. I’m still recovering from the long walk into Gillette Stadium before the New England Patriots hosted the Los Angeles Chargers in the divisional round five years ago. I swear my Uber driver called me soft when I complained about how far away he dropped me off.
Anyway, I wore that cozy scarf all Noche Buena while I watched Christmas movies with my family. And shoutout to my sister for cooking up a delicious meal all by herself, like she’s Josh Allen carrying the Buffalo Bills in a high-scoring game. She kept reminding us about the lack of help she got from my youngest sister and brother. (I was off the hook because I brought her a 12-pack of Blue Moon.)
As for one gift that I learned I needed but didn’t have: My brother said our brother-in-law bought him a book on how to survive in extreme conditions or a zombie apocalypse. We could all use a survival book. I’m sure there’s one on how to survive being a New York Giants fan. Maybe next year Netflix can have comedian Tracy Morgan as a guest to deliver a few zingers aimed at Giants owner John Mara.
To end this intro with a theme of things we didn’t know we needed, let’s get to the football games on a freaking Wednesday! Below are takeaways from the two Christmas games, with a few gifts for players who stood out.
Ravens DC Zach Orr
Gift: Heating pads for soreness
The Ravens’ 32-year-old defensive coordinator looked like an active player given how high he jumped to celebrate with safety Ar’Darius Washington, who had a massive tackle on running back Joe Mixon to get the stop on fourth-and-goal from the 4-yard line in the second quarter. Orr might feel soreness because of the fall, but luckily the Ravens don’t need him to suit up after a string of impressive defensive performances.
Orr has settled in as a defensive play-caller after many were quick to point the finger at him for the unit’s struggles in the first 10 weeks of the season. Orr needed to to learn on the fly for a Super Bowl–contending team while constantly being compared to the previous defensive coordinator, Mike Macdonald, who turned Baltimore into the league’s No. 1 ranked defense before being hired as the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. The Ravens were constantly getting beat downfield, but they’ve been the best run defense in the league for most of the season.
Now the secondary is doing its part, including Marlon Humphrey’s interception to quickly end the Texans’ first drive of the second half. The Ravens shut out the Texans’ offense from scoring and held them to 211 total yards with only 58 rushing yards. Baltimore has only allowed 16.3 points per game in the past six games.
Gift: A third MVP
It’s becoming increasingly difficult not to name Lamar Jackson MVP for a second consecutive season and third time overall in his illustrious career. Jackson’s statistical numbers are already better than last season’s, and this is his best season as a passer. The MVP numbers from 2019 were impressive, but Jackson is so much better in his seventh season and it showed on the field in Houston. For a few weeks, I was convinced Josh Allen was the MVP because he had more wins and less help than Jackson. That’s still true and it helps to have Derrick Henry, but no one can do what Jackson does on the field.
The way Jackson (10-of-15 for 168 yards, two touchdowns) gracefully moved around the field waiting for a play to develop while giant, angry defenders rushed him summarized what separates him from other star quarterbacks. Jackson calmly unleashed a laser into the end zone for tight end Isaiah Likely, a few plays after a 67-yard connection with his other tight end, Mark Andrews. The game was essentially over after Jackson, who had four carries for 87 yards, rumbled for a 48-yard rushing touchdown.
Yes, Allen also offers mobility, but instead of playing the comparison game, how about we have co-MVPs this season? The Ravens are headed for another AFC North title and Jackson is flirting with a single season that consists of 4,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards, and already has 43 total touchdowns.
Texans’ offense
Gift: A better offensive line
The Texans’ offense hit rock bottom in a season filled with many lows. Houston’s offensive line has been a problem most of the year, but that weakness hurt the team more Wednesday because of the lack of depth at wide receiver. Outside of Nico Collins, C.J. Stroud doesn’t have many receiving options after the injuries to Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell, who sustained a gruesome knee injury on Saturday against the Chiefs. Stroud thrived in his rookie season as a pocket passer, but he’s rarely had a clean pocket in his second NFL season. Houston allowed five sacks against Baltimore.
Not even the running game worked for the Texans. It all went downhill after Mixon was stopped on DeMeco Ryans’s gusty decision to go for it on fourth-and-goal from Baltimore’s 4-yard line in the second quarter. Perhaps the Texans would have been better off taking the three points to make it 10–5 and not squander the momentum they got from the safety and the 45-yard kickoff return from Dameon Pierce. Instead, Baltimore scored 21 unanswered points and we were stuck looking at an ugly scoreboard that had one team stuck at two points.
Ravens: Baltimore (11–5) surpassed Pittsburgh in the AFC North and can now clinch the division with a home win against the struggling Cleveland Browns in Week 18. The Ravens would likely open the postseason as the No. 3 seed if they hold on to win the division. Buffalo (12–3) can secure the No. 2 seed with a win against either the New York Jets or the Patriots in the final two weeks of the regular season.
Texans: Houston (9–7) is locked into the No. 4 seed as the champion of the AFC South. With nothing to play for next week, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Ryans sit his starters for the regular-season finale in Tennessee.
The Ravens might be more than just a high-scoring offense, and that could be a problem for the other AFC playoff teams. Orr’s unit remains the No. 1 run defense in the league and it continues to improve against the pass on a weekly basis. For weeks, it seemed the Ravens’ secondary was going to prevent them from going far in the playoffs. That’s no longer the case with this Baltimore squad being the real deal on both sides of the ball.
No one will want to play the Ravens, but every team will sign up to play the Texans on wild-card weekend. Stroud probably won’t break out of his funk with a struggling offensive line and a shorthanded group of pass catchers. Houston does have star pass rushers to possibly win an ugly, defensive battle in the first-round of the playoffs against the Steelers or Los Angeles Chargers. But even those slow-moving offenses have shown more than the Texans this season.
Mahomes and Watson celebrate after a first-quarter touchdown against the Steelers. / Barry Reeger-Imagn Images
Chiefs’ passing game
Gift: A bigger trophy case
The Chiefs’ passing attack is all the way back. After weeks of hearing that the Chiefs don’t have enough weapons, Patrick Mahomes picked apart one of the best defenses in the league in a hostile road environment during the final game of a grueling three-game stretch in 11 days. And if that’s not impressive enough, Mahomes (29-of-38 for 320 yards and three touchdowns) delivered his best game of the season with a right ankle that’s probably not close to 100%. But who the heck knows, because the star quarterback is once again saving his best performances for when it matters most.
Kansas City’s offense has found another gear since Marquise “Hollywood” Brown returned to the field against the Houston Texans. His presence has taken attention away from rookie Xavier Worthy, who has a combined 15 catches for 144 yards and two touchdowns in those two games. The receiving corps of Brown, Worthy, Hopkins and JuJu Smith-Schuster seems to be more than enough for Kansas City to capture a third consecutive Super Bowl. And the Chiefs even received surprise contributions from wide receiver Justin Watson, who had a 49-yard catch on the team’s second drive that he also ended with an 11-yard touchdown—a dime in the back of the end zone from Mahomes in the first quarter.
But star tight end Travis Kelce (eight catches, 84 yards, one touchdown) was Mahomes’s leading receiver on Christmas Day. He made history by surpassing 1,000 career receptions and setting a new franchise record with 77 career receiving touchdowns. More importantly, he still has plenty to offer in his 12th NFL season. Suddenly the Chiefs have a plethora of pass catchers (don’t forget about tight end Noah Gray!) and there could be no stopping them in the postseason with the way Mahomes has played the past four days.
Chiefs’ pass rushers
Gift: Making Chris Jones proud
The Chiefs’ pass rushers received the priceless gift of seeing Chris Jones smile on the sideline for most of the game. The star defensive tackle, out nursing a calf injury, wasn’t needed in Pittsburgh thanks to a dominant collective effort from Kansas City’s defensive front. The Steelers’ offensive line had no answers for George Karlaftis’s devastating pass-rushing moves, including a few nifty spin moves that J.J. Watt highlighted while calling the game for Netflix’s broadcast crew. Karlaftis (one sack, two QB hits and one pass defended) was the best edge rusher on the field, which says plenty because Watt’s younger brother, T.J., plays for the Steelers.
Mike Danna recorded two of the Chiefs’ five sacks. Kansas City also generated nine QB hits against Russell Wilson, who struggled against the pressure defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo dialed up in the second half. Obviously, the Chiefs need Jones for the postseason, but it must be a confidence booster to know they have enough depth to maintain a productive pass rush without the game’s best defensive tackle. Hopefully this convinces more teams to give Spagnuolo serious consideration when it comes to head coaching opportunities.
Russell Wilson
Gift: Better decision making
Occasionally, Wilson had enough mobility to avoid the pressure from the Chiefs, but he couldn’t get away from it when the deficit turned into double digits early in the fourth quarter. Back in his Seattle Seahawks days, Wilson would be able to multitask by running away from the pocket and keeping his eyes downfield. That trait wasn’t much of a threat for Wilson on Christmas, leading to only 5.5 yards per attempt. Wilson also threw a killer interception in the end zone when the Steelers were on the verge of making it a one-score game after falling behind 13–0 in the opening quarter.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin got it right when he benched Justin Fields early in the season and turned to Wilson, who won six of his first seven starts in Pittsburgh. But Wilson has struggled throughout Pittsburgh’s three-game losing streak. He went 23-of-37 for 205 yards, no touchdowns and one interception against the Chiefs. Wilson hasn’t thrown for more than 217 yards in a game since his 414-yard performance against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 13.
Chiefs: Kansas City (15–1) clinched the AFC’s No. 1 seed and will now get a first-round bye in the postseason. The Chiefs now have the luxury of 11 days off before their regular-season finale against the Denver Broncos, a game that could feature many backups for the back-to-back Super Bowl champions.
Steelers: Pittsburgh (10–6) lost first place in the AFC North thanks to its three-game losing streak. The Steelers are now a full game behind Baltimore in the divisional standings after Jackson, Henry and the rest of the Ravens beat up on the Texans for their 11th win of the season. Pittsburgh has already clinched a playoff berth, though. The Steelers have a tough Week 18 matchup against the Bengals. We might be headed for a Texans vs. Steelers wild-card matchup on the first Saturday of the playoffs.
The Chiefs are now essentially two games away from returning to the Super Bowl for a third consecutive season (and fifth time in six years). They will also force the other AFC contenders to travel to Arrowhead Stadium for a playoff game that will likely have frigid weather. And if that’s not scary enough for fans of the Bills, Ravens, Steelers or any other playoff team, the Chiefs seem to have fixed their stagnant passing attack. But there might be concerns with the rushing attack after Isiah Pacheco exited early vs. the Steelers due to a ribs injury. Overall, the Chiefs appear to be the best team in the league, which hasn’t been said often this season because of their run of narrow, ugly victories.
As for the Steelers, they could be headed for another one-and-done playoff appearance. Wilson’s moon shots are no longer landing, and there seems to be a disconnect with his pass catchers. But that could be more about George Pickens missing three consecutive games before returning Wednesday against the Chiefs. Perhaps Wilson and Pickens can get back on the same page for the regular-season finale against the Bengals. Pittsburgh doesn’t have an explosive offense, but it’s always going to have a chance with a stout defense and Tomlin making critical decisions.
Published 5 Hours Ago|Modified 8:52 PM EST
