NFL Scores Week 17: Results and Top Fantasy Star for Every Sunday Game

With 16 NFL games crammed into one glorious day, the league's regular season was primed for a thrilling finish in Week 17. Playoff scenarios abounded heading into Sunday, Dec. 29, and it's no surprise that fantasy scoring was down throughout the league as teams tightened up during the regular-season finales.

The impressive Carolina Panthers beat the Atlanta Falcons to close out the season with a record of 12-4, winning the NFC South and securing the No. 2 seed heading into the postseason.    

Other teams, such as the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins, suffered defeat to finish the season on the outside of the playoff picture. 

Here's a look at all the results from the NFL's final regular-season weekend, followed by an examination of the top fantasy performance.

Note: Results and fantasy info for late games will be added at the conclusion of those contests.

NFL Week 17: Results 

WINNER	LOSER	SCORE
Pittsburgh Steelers	Cleveland Browns	20-7
New York Giants	Washington	20-6
Cincinnati Bengals	Baltimore Ravens	34-17
Tennessee Titans	Houston Texans	16-10
Indianapolis Colts	Jacksonville Jaguars	30-10
New York Jets	Miami Dolphins	20-7
Minnesota Vikings	Detroit Lions	14-13
Carolina Panthers	Atlanta Falcons	21-20
New Orleans Saints	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	42-17
New England Patriots	Buffalo Bills	34-20
Seattle Seahawks	St. Louis Rams	27-9
Green Bay Packers	Chicago Bears	33-28
San Francisco 49ers	Arizona Cardinals	23-20
Denver Broncos	Oakland Raiders	34-14
San Diego Chargers	Kansas City Chiefs	27-24
Philadelphia Eagles	Dallas Cowboys	24-22

Pittsburgh Does Its Part to Advance, but San Diego Wins the No. 6 Seed

Heading into Week 17, Pittsburgh was one of four teams vying for the No. 6 seed in the AFC. The other three teams were the Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins and San Diego Chargers. Of the four teams, the Steelers needed the most help to get in, entering the weekend with a record of 7-8.

Baltimore lost badly to Cincinnati, however, and the New York Jets pummeled the Dolphins in the early games. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh easily cruised past a reeling Cleveland team, 20-7, to finish the season with a record of 8-8.

After the game, head coach Mike Tomlin reportedly lauded New York's big win over Miami, per Justin Rose of WTAE TV in Pittsburgh:

The Chargers had yet to play at this point, however, and the Steelers still needed another miracle in order to get into the postseason tournament. 

Sometimes the word "miracle" gets tossed around too loosely, but in this case it fits.

The reason for this is that the Kansas City Chiefs announced before Week 17's contest against San Diego that most of the starters would sit out, per Doug Farrar of SI.com, which essentially handed the Chargers the No. 6 seed in the eyes of ESPN's Skip Bayless:

For a time, it appeared Pittsburgh would get its miracle, as the Chiefs led by a score of 24-14 late in the third quarter. However, the Chargers came charging back and scored the game's final 13 points to win by three in overtime, ending Pittsburgh's improbable run.

Pittsburgh's remarkable late-season surge is impressive, nonetheless. After losing six of the first eight games in 2013, the Steelers finished the season winning six of their last eight.

NFL Week 17: Top Fantasy Stars

GAME	PLAYER	POS.	TEAM	PTS.	STATS
Browns at Steelers	Le'Veon Bell	RB	PIT	15	96 total yards, one TD
Redskins at Giants	Jerrel Jernigan	WR	NYG	26	147 total yards, two TDs
Ravens at Bengals	Andy Dalton	QB	CIN	19	304 total yards, two TDs, four INTs
Texans at Titans	Chris Johnson	RB	TEN	19	141 total yards, one TD
Jaguars at Colts	Andrew Luck	QB	IND	15	289 total yards, one TD
Jets at Dolphins	Geno Smith	QB	NYJ	19	234 total yards, one TD
Lions at Vikings	Cordarrelle Patterson	WR	MIN	20	85 total yards, two TDs
Panthers at Falcons	Cam Newton	QB	CAR	18	222 total yards, two TDs, one INT
Buccaneers at Saints	Drew Brees	QB	NO	37	389 total yards, five TDs
Bills at Patriots	LeGarrette Blount	RB	NE	30	189 total yards, two TDs
Rams at Seahawks	Golden Tate	WR	SEA	18	131 total yards, one TD
Packers at Bears	Matt Forte	RB	CHI	33	157 total yards, three TDs
49ers at Cardinals	Colin Kaepernick	QB	SF	22	334 total yards, two TDs
Broncos at Raiders	Peyton Manning	QB	DEN	26	266 total yards, four TDs
Chiefs at Chargers	Knile Davis	RB	KC	20	86 total yards, two TDs
Eagles at Cowboys	LeSean McCoy	RB	PHI	19	134 total yards, one TD

Keep an Eye Out for Jerrel Jernigan in 2014

The New York Giants suffered another terrible rash of injuries in Week 17. Eli Manning, Hakeem Nicks and Will Beatty all left the game for good at some point, and it would have been easy to understand if the Giants had just rolled over and died in the second half.

However, Jerrel Jernigan had different plans.

The diminutive wide receiver (5'8" and 189 pounds) first burst onto the scene in Week 16 with a 14-point performance against Detroit.

He followed it up with a huge game against Washington, as he displayed his multi-dimensional talents, rushing for 57 yards on two carries and catching six passes for 90 yards. He also scored both of New York's offensive touchdowns—one rushing and one receiving.  

As Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News pointed out, Jernigan was carrying New York's offense through three quarters:

Former Giants teammate and current analyst Jeff Feagles pointed out that New York could use Jernigan as a running back in 2014, since he and Victor Cruz are similar in what they do as receivers:

After the team's struggles at the running back position in 2013, it's not crazy to think Jernigan could cement a nice role as a Swiss Army-knife player for New York next season. He's displayed undeniable playmaking talent, and the Giants must find a way for him to see the field. 

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