NFL Week 17 Bold Predictions: Jets hand Bills first home loss of 2024, Panthers surprise again

Week 17 of the 2024 NFL season began with everyone except the Patrick Mahomes-led Kansas City Chiefs and the Lamar Jackson-led Baltimore Ravens looking like they had a Christmas hangover.

However, Some of the NFL’s postseason seeds they are still in play. With that in mind, let’s take a look at CBS Sports NFL’s bold year-end predictions for the penultimate week of the 2024 season.

Jets surprise Bills and hand Buffalo first home loss of 2024

The Buffalo Bills (12-3) played with fire in their 24-21 home win over the New England Patriots (3-12) in Week 16. They fell behind 14-0 and the MVP candidate quarterback NFL player Josh Allen had trouble throwing the ball. ball all day, finishing with just 154 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception on 16-of-29 passing. Buffalo needed its defense to score a touchdown on a fumble recovery in the end zone in order to score points in the fourth quarter.

If the Bills play close to that again, they will lose at home for the first time in eight outings this season against the New York Jets (4-11) on Sunday. They won’t play as poorly as they did in Week 16, but the Bills will lose to Aaron Rodgers and Co. on Sunday. Although New York’s offense has struggled this season, Rodgers remains a top-10 quarterback in touchdown-to-interception ratio (24-8, tied for ninth in the league). If Patriots rookie third-overall pick Drake Maye can find holes against Buffalo’s defense, the 20-year-old veteran quarterback certainly can too while throwing to Garrett Wilson and Davante Adams. Rodgers has the third-fastest average throw time this season (2.76 seconds), and the Bills are allowing the fifth-most yards per pass attempt on pass rushes this season (5.0), according to NFL Pro. Advantage Rodgers.

On the other side of the ball, New York has two players inside the NFL’s top 30 in quarterback pressures entering Week 17: running back Will McDonald IV (54th, tied for 19th) and defensive tackle All -Pro Quinnen Williams (50, tied for 29th). Those two will attack Allen regularly and limit the damage he can do. The Bills barely won this matchup in Week 6, 23-20, in a game in which the Jets missed two field goals in the second half. This time, they won’t be so lucky as they will lose a close game against a Jets team that has been on the struggling bus this season.

Panthers play Grim Reaper for second straight week, dealing blow to Buccaneers’ postseason dreams

The Carolina Panthers (4-11) will successfully face the Grim Reaper in another team’s playoff hopes for the second straight week in Week 17. In Week 16, they shocked the Arizona Cardinals with a 36-30 overtime victory that eliminated Kyler Murray and Co. from the postseason. They will surprise the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-7) to continue the trend in Week 17.

These two teams played an overtime contest in Week 13, from which Tampa Bay escaped with a 26-23 victory. This time they won’t be so lucky. Panthers head coach Dave Canales has 2023 first overall pick quarterback Bryce Young playing the best football of his young career: Young recorded his first game this season with multiple touchdown passes (two ) and no interceptions in the Week 16 win over the Cardinals. Carolina running back Chuba Hubbard has the sixth-most rushing yards in the entire NFL (1,195) entering Week 17, and is the first Panther with 10 rushing touchdowns in a season since Christian McCaffrey in 2019.

Tampa Bay is fresh off a disappointing 26-24 road loss to the Cooper Rush-led Dallas Cowboys in Week 16, and if Rush can find holes in the Buccaneers’ secondary, Young can too.

The Bengals beat the first team with a winning record to hand the Broncos their first loss against a .500 or worse team this season.

The Denver Broncos (9-6) can clinch their first postseason berth since 2015, when they won Super Bowl 50 in Hall of Famer Peyton Manning’s final season, with a win or a tie in Cincinnati against the Bengals (7-8) on Saturday. . One of the things that has brought Denver to the precipice of the playoffs: in addition to the fact that the rookie quarterback selected in the first round, Bo Nix, led a top 10 scoring offense (24.2 points per game, 10th in 2024 ) and his five best scores. defense (18.7 points per game allowed, fourth in 2024) is their dominance against losing teams: They are 7-0 against teams with a record of .500 or worse.

On the other hand, one of the crucial things that has held the Bengals back this season is their struggles against teams with winning records: They are 0-7 against teams with a record above .500 in 2024. That makes Cincy one of the four. winless teams against winning teams this season along with the Carolina Panthers (4-11), New England Patriots (3-12) and Jacksonville Jaguars (3-12).

However, the Bengals break out of their rut against winning teams and secure a critical victory to keep their playoff hopes alive entering Week 18. The NFL’s leader in passing touchdowns (39) and passing yards (4,229) Joe Burrow and the current holder of the NFL’s receiving triple crown, Ja’Marr Chase, who leads the NFL in receptions (108), receiving yards (1,510) and receiving touchdowns (16), will break down Denver’s solid defense. Burrow is on an all-time heater with an NFL-record streak of seven consecutive games with at least 250 yards and at least three touchdown passes, and he’ll face a Broncos defense that’s slipping at the wrong time: allowing 30 or more points. in two of their last three games after doing so just once in their first 12 games.

Sure, Broncos All-Pro cornerback Pat Surtain II is allowing a passer rating against of 39.1, which is lower than if a quarterback threw him to the ground on every pass, 39.6. Whichever Bengals wide receiver between Chase and Tee Higgins isn’t guarding will beat Denver’s secondary along with Burrow’s pinpoint passing. Cincy finally wins its first game against a team with a winning record against one of the best defenses in the NFL.

Cowboys hold Eagles’ Saquon Barkley under 100 rushing yards for second time this season

The Dallas Cowboys have been one of the fiercest defenses in the NFL since three-time All-Pro running back Micah Parsons returned from a sprained ankle in Week 10. His impact (he leads the NFL in sacks (8.5) and quarterback pressures (42)) since Week 10 is undeniable. He, along with the rest of Dallas’ defensive front, accomplished a rare feat in Week 17: limiting 2024 NFL rushing yards leader Saquon Barkley (1,838) to under 100 rushing yards for the second time this season. season. They did it for the first time in Week 10, Parsons’ first game back, by limiting him to 66 rushing yards on 14 carries.

With Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts suffering a concussion in the team’s Week 17 loss to the Washington Commanders, the Cowboys will be able to load the box against Kenny Pickett and Barkley and accomplish a rare feat.