The Play from This Season That Best Defines Every NFL Team's Reason for Hope
Thirty-seven-and-a-half percent.
That's the percentage of NFL teams that still have hope in 2017. Twelve teams out of 32.
The teams that are in the playoffs.
By the end of the week, that number will go down to 25 percent. Then 12.5 percent. Then 6.25 percent. And then finally just one team will be left smiling as confetti rains down in Minneapolis.
For everyone else, frowny faces.
Well. It's time to turn those frowns upside down. From tomato cans to also-rans, pretenders to contenders, there's something to look forward to.
And wouldn't you know it? This article contains one play from each NFL team that does just that.
Isn't that convenient?
And yes, there's even one for Cleveland.
Arizona Cardinals
1 of 32
Remember David Johnson?
Hope is in preciously short supply in the desert right now.
Fresh off an 8-8 season, the Arizona Cardinals have been rocked since their 2017 came to a close. Head coach Bruce Arians announced his retirement. So did quarterback Carson Palmer.
It's possible wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald will follow suit.
Even if Fitz stays, Arizona's situation under center is dire. Drew Stanton finished the season on a bad knee and is about to hit free agency. Blaine Gabbert is, well, Blaine Gabbert.
However, amid all the doom and gloom is one bright spot.
It might seem a little weird to point out a 24-yard reception from tailback David Johnson as a reason for optimism in Arizona. On that Week 1 play, Johnson suffered a fractured wrist that ended his season.
But all indications are that Johnson, who topped 2,100 total yards in 2016, is progressing well in his rehab and will be ready to go for offseason workouts.
Regardless of who the head coach and quarterback are for the Cardinals in 2018, one thing is clear.
The Arizona offense is going to flow through No. 31.
And that's a good thing.
Atlanta Falcons
2 of 32
Mr. Jones and Me
As Dan Hanzus of NFL.com pointed out this week, it's been a weird year for Matt Ryan and Julio Jones in Atlanta.
"Ryan's passer rating when targeting Jones this season was 86.9—that so happens to be the exact league-average passer rating for quarterbacks this season," Hanzus wrote. "This is a new phenomenon in Atlanta. Here is the Ryan-to-Jones passer rating since Jones entered the league in 2011: 110.7, 108.0, 96.5, 100.6, 105.3, 103.8. Jones only had three touchdowns this season, and one of the scores came on a throw from fellow wideout Mohamed Sanu."
That stat makes my head hurt.
However. It hasn't all been missed connections for the Falcons dynamic duo. In the same Week 12 game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in which Sanu hit Jones for a 51-yard touchdown, Ryan found the star receiver on an out route for a 25-yard score.
Jones had 12 catches for 253 yards and two touchdowns in that contest—easily his best game of the season.
It wasn't the most exciting play of the year (although Jones does a great job on sneaking the ball over the goal line). Or the longest.
But it demonstrates how dangerous the Ryan-to-Jones connection can be when it's clicking.
Baltimore Ravens
3 of 32
Flacco and Wallace Take Route 66
Right now, fans of the Baltimore Ravens probably aren't much in the mood to talk about 2018.
After watching the team blow a shot at a playoff berth in spectacular fashion in Week 17, fans of the Ravens probably aren't much in the mood to talk about anything.
But we're here, so let's look back to a happier time. A time when Baltimore's 27th-ranked offense and 29th-ranked passing game looked good.
Back in Week 13, the Ravens poured it on the Detroit Lions to the tune of 44 points and 370 total yards. Joe Flacco threw for 269 yards and two scores, posting his third-highest passer rating (105.0) of the season.
Flacco nearly had a third score in the game. In the second quarter, Flacco dropped back and threw a seed to Mike Wallace. The ball hit Wallace in stride, and the result was a 66-yard catch and run—the Ravens' longest offensive play of the year.
It's no secret why the Ravens missed the playoffs in 2017 for a third straight season. The team struggled moving the ball vertically through the air.
If 2018 is going to turn out any differently, Baltimore needs more plays like this from its expensive starting quarterback.
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Buffalo Bills
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Yes, Virginia—the Bills Occasionally Throw the Ball
Given the events of the past week, I was tempted to include Buffalo's last touchdown of 2017 here. That the touchdown that essentially salted Buffalo's Week 17 win away—the win that helped send Buffalo to the playoffs for the first time this millennium—was scored by defensive tackle Kyle Williams is just about the most Bills' thing ever.
But if the Bills are going to improve in 2018 and do some damage in the postseason, the team has to diversify offensively and ramp up the passing game. The Bills' point differential was minus-57—the worst by a playoff team since 2011.
The Bills acquired wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin from the Carolina Panthers to do that very thing. Benjamin was going to do for Tyrod Taylor what Sammy Watkins could not—serve as a go-to target as Buffalo's No. 1 receiver.
Instead, Benjamin has done what Watkins did in Buffalo—struggle to stay on the field. There have been flashes, though. In a Week 16 loss to the New England Patriots, Benjamin offered a glimpse into what he's capable of when he bodied up a defensive back, high-pointed the ball and rolled his way to a 35-yard gain.
Carolina Panthers
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The Rumble of the Scatback
Christian McCaffrey was a top-10 pick in the 2017 NFL draft in large part because he did a little of everything. He ran the ball outside. He caught the rock. And the 5'11", 205-pounder was surprisingly effective between the tackles.
McCaffrey carried over those receiving chops to the NFL—he ranked third in the NFL among running backs with 80 catches. Running the ball was another story—while McCaffrey got better as the season wore on, he averaged just 3.7 yards per carry, and most of that damage was done on the outside.
There were exceptions, however. In a Week 12 win over the New York Jets, McCaffrey demonstrated how he was able to succeed between the tackles in Palo Alto.
You don't need to be the biggest guy on the field if you explode up the middle and into the secondary in the blink of an eye.
That's what McCaffrey did against Gang Green, bursting through the front and racing for a season-long 40-yard gain.
In fact, it was the longest gain of the season overall for McCaffrey, who finished his first NFL season with 1,086 yards from scrimmage.
Chicago Bears
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Trubisky to Shaheen for Six
The Chicago Bears moved up to the second overall pick in last year's draft to select Mitchell Trubisky out of North Carolina. By Week 5, the Bears decided the best way for the young quarterback to learn was by playing him.
So, into the fire he went.
Granted, it was an up-and-down first season for Trubisky, who threw just seven touchdown passes and an equal number of interceptions with a passer rating of 77.5.
Still, there were bright spots, and one of the brightest came in what was probably the Bears' best game as a team this year—a 33-7 trouncing of the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 14.
Trubisky went 25-of-32 for 271 yards and a touchdown pass. That scoring strike was a short one—one-yard passes aren't generally the type that draw oohs and aahs.
But this over-the-back-shoulder lob to rookie tight end Adam Shaheen is a big-boy throw—a touch pass put in a perfect spot in tight quarters.
That it was hauled in by a youngster the Bears hope will become Trubisky's best bud in the end zone for years to come was just icing on the cake.
Cincinnati Bengals
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Fourth-and-12
Fans of the Cincinnati Bengals haven't had a ton to cheer about in 2017. For the second year in a row, the Bengals missed the playoffs, and hopes of a franchise reboot were dashed when the team decided to bring back head coach Marvin Lewis for a 44th mediocre season.
But with their last play of the season, Andy Dalton and the Bengals offense served notice to the rest of the AFC North that they can still be quite dangerous.
There's been plenty said about Dalton's throw to Tyler Boyd that gave the Bengals their seventh win of the season and sent the Baltimore Ravens home for the winter.
It was a rope from Dalton—a reminder that for all his faults (both real and perceived), the "Red Rifle" is capable of being an effective NFL quarterback if you give him some semblance of time in the pocket.
It also capped a career day for Boyd, a young wideout the Bengals need more from next year after he finished with only 225 receiving yards in his second season.
It showed fight. It showed moxie. It not only won a game, but crushed the hopes and dreams of a rival in the process.
It was easily the play of the year for the Bengals.
And it didn't even involve A.J. Green.
Cleveland Browns
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Josh Gordon's 54-Yard Almost-Score in Week 17
Hope in Cleveland is like Bigfoot. You hear it talked about in hushed whispers and occasionally see a grainy photograph, but firsthand reports are rare indeed.
However, as bad as things are in Cleveland, there is cause for some optimism. The team will pick first and fourth in the 2018 NFL draft. It's believed by just about everyone that one of those picks will be used on a quarterback.
And whoever that quarterback is, he's going to have at least one high-end weapon in the passing game next year.
Eighteen receptions for 335 yards and one touchdown might not sound like a lot for, but for five games that's a pretty good stat line.
For Josh Gordon, it was something of revelation given that he hadn't played in an NFL game since the 2014 season.
Gordon was a rare bright spot for the 0-16 Browns down the stretch, occasionally making DeShone Kizer look like a competent signal-caller.
And against the Steelers in the season finale, Gordon showed he still runs like a deer, blowing past the Pittsburgh secondary for a season-long 54-yarder that came up just short of the end zone.
Dallas Cowboys
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Dak Prescott's 81-Yard Bullet in Week 14
It was a disappointing 2017 campaign for the Dallas Cowboys. During Ezekiel Elliott's six-game suspension, the offense struggled. Star wideout Dez Bryant had arguably the worst full season of his career. And young quarterback Dak Prescott took a step back in his development in his second year.
However, it wasn't all moving backward. Occasionally, the Dallas offense moved forward…
In big chunks.
The best part of this 81-yard scoring pass from Prescott to tailback Rod Smith against the New York Giants in Week 14 wasn't the length of the play. Or the fact that Smith raced past the defense and found the end zone.
It was Prescott quickly identifying that Smith had a mismatch, and then taking advantage of that mismatch by getting an accurate throw to the running back in stride.
Great NFL quarterbacks aren't made by 60-yard rainbow throws.
They are made by identifying the simple plays that have the potential to become big plays.
And then making that play.
Denver Broncos
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Demaryius Thomas High-Points the Ball in Week 14
Not every play in this piece is a jaw-dropper sure to have made the highlight reel. When Demaryius Thomas hauled in a jump-ball touchdown over New York Jets cornerback Morris Claiborne in Denver's 23-0 win in Week 14, it was a nice catch.
But no one wrote poems about it.
However, that game was an excellent example of what the Broncos are capable of—if they get competent play under center.
It's not like Trevor Siemian lit up the scoreboard that day—he threw for 200 yards on the afternoon, and that scoring toss to Thomas was his only passing touchdown.
But Siemian took care of the football. He found Denver's dynamic receiving duo of Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders for over half his total yardage.
And most importantly, Denver got one of its most emphatic victories of 2017.
The Broncos are better than 5-11. Most of the pieces are in place. Denver has a top-notch defense and talent at the skill positions.
Attack the hole at quarterback, and the "rebuild" at Mile High could be a quick one.
Detroit Lions
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Ziggy Ansah's Sack Lunch
The Detroit Lions have no shortage of offensive talent—at least where the passing game is concerned.
The same can't be said for the Lions defensively. The team finished the 2017 season 27th in the NFL in total defense and 20th in sacks.
That pass rush will likely be addressed in the offseason, and the first order of business is to either re-sign or slap the franchise tag on contract-year defensive end Ezekiel Ansah.
Despite playing hurt most of the season, Ansah finished 2017 with 12 sacks. Granted, he was nowhere to be found many weeks—nine of those sacks came in three games.
But in those three games, Ansah was unstoppable. Tallying three sacks in a game three times in the same season is staggering.
Two of those dominant efforts came in the last two games of the season, including the finale against the Green Bay Packers. Ansah's second sack of the game was a textbook example of the quickness and burst that he brings to the Detroit defense when healthy.
Matthew Stafford and the offense get most of the run in Motown, but if the Lions are going to make it back to the playoffs, improving the defense is the key.
Step 1 in that plan is keeping Ansah in the fold.
Green Bay Packers
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The Good Old Days
The 2017 season is one best forgotten in the mind of the Green Bay Packers. With superstar quarterback Aaron Rodgers on the shelf for over half of the season with a broken collarbone, Green Bay missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008.
So, let us hearken back to better days. To simpler days.
To days when the Packers still had visions of playing in February in Minnesota at U.S. Bank Stadium in Super Bowl LII.
Back in Week 5, Rodgers and the Packers traveled to Dallas to take on the Cowboys in a game that turned into a wild, back-and-forth affair.
With less than a minute left in the game and the Packers down by three points, the team faced a 3rd-and-long from the Green Bay 30.
Rodgers dropped back, felt the pressure and took off, racing around the left end for an 18-yard gain.
Two plays later, Rodgers found Davante Adams for a 12-yard score that gave the Packers the win.
It was classic Rodgers, making plays when plays needed to be made.
And the Cheesehead brigade's hopes and dreams rest squarely with No. 12.
Houston Texans
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Deshaun Watson is the Bomb
Like it was going to be anyone else.
The Houston Texans' 2017 season can be broken into three sections. There was the first half of despair in Week 1, when Tom Savage was the starter, and the equally despairing stretch run with Savage and T.J. Yates chucking ducks around the field.
And what came between: a heaping helping of "my oh my" with Deshaun Watson.
It's almost impossible to single out one play from Watson that best gives the Texans hope for 2018. They all do. He threw 18 touchdown passes over his first six NFL starts, many of them ridiculously accurate long strikes. In his first career start, Watson peeled off a 49-yard touchdown run that opened the eyes of fans and opponents alike to what was coming.
I settled on a play from early in Watson's final start before tearing his ACL—a wild 41-38 loss in Seattle in Week 8 that may have been the best regular-season game of the year.
Watson's first touchdown pass of that game may not be his most impressive throw of the season. And there were more exciting plays made by the youngster in 2017.
But in coming out early against the "Legion of Boom" and throwing a 59-yard dart to Will Fuller for a score in the game's first three minutes, Watson made one thing abundantly clear.
On the road in arguably the most hostile environment in the NFL, Watson wasn't fazed one bit.
And that ice water in his veins may be even more impressive than his right arm or quick feet.
Indianapolis Colts
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Not Over Until It's Over
There isn't a lot from the 2017 season that offers hope to the Indianapolis Colts in 2018.
Quarterback Andrew Luck never saw the field. Frank Gore's days with the team (if not the NFL overall) likely ended in Indy's Week 17 win over the Houston Texans.
And the defense—well we just won't speak of the Colts defense. It's too depressing.
It was a depressing year for wide receiver T.Y. Hilton, too. In 2016, Hilton led the NFL with 1,448 receiving yards. In 2017, Hilton was held under 1,000 yards for the first time since his rookie year.
It wasn't all misery, however. Sprinkled among all the down games were a few huge ones, including a Week 9 eruption against the Houston Texans in which Hilton caught five passes for 175 yards and two scores.
The crown jewel of Hilton's big day came in the third quarter. After catching a pass on the left side and racing about 45 yards, Hilton stumbled while making a cut.
No one on the Texans bothered to touch him, so Hilton got up and ran the rest of the way for an 80-yard score.
Jacksonville Jaguars
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Pick-Fil-A
The Jacksonville Jaguars are in the midst of their most successful season in a decade. The Jaguars are AFC South champions and will host the Buffalo Bills in the wild-card round on Sunday.
That success has been spurred by a defense that ranks first in the AFC in total defense and first of all the NFL in pass defense.
We learned for certain that this wasn't going to be just another disappointing season for the Jaguars all the way back in Week 5. The Jags waltzed into Heinz Field and proceeded to wallop the Pittsburgh Steelers, 30-9.
In that game, the Jaguars picked off Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger a staggering five times. On back-to-back possessions in the third quarter, the Jaguars returned those interceptions for touchdowns.
The second of those pick-sixes came courtesy of strong safety Barry Church, who plucked a deflected ball out of the air and took it back 51 yards for a touchdown that all but ended the game.
They say defense wins championships.
If that's the case, the Jaguars will be a force to be reckoned with in the postseason.
Kansas City Chiefs
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Kareem Hunt Says Hello
So, Kareem Hunt had himself a year.
For the second consecutive season, the NFL's leading rusher is a rookie. In 2017 that rookie is Hunt, who carried the rock 272 times for 1,327 yards in his first season.
That season started with a bang. And a boom. A bangboom.
All Hunt did in his first NFL game was set a record for the most total yards ever in a debut. Against the defending Super Bowl champions. In Gillette Stadium.
Like that's easy or something.
In Kansas City's Week 1 thrashing of the Pats, Hunt carried the ball 17 times for a whopping 148 yards and a touchdown.
And he was only getting started.
At the beginning of a fourth quarter that saw the Chiefs outscore the Patriots 21-0, Hunt caught an Alex Smith pass over the middle, kicked in the jets, and whoosh!
The Chiefs didn't trail again in the game.
There's talent galore on offense in Kansas City, but whether it's Smith or Patrick Mahomes under center in 2018, one thing holds true.
As goes Hunt, so go the Chiefs offensively.
Los Angeles Chargers
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Bookends and Bruises
You may well have been expecting a Keenan Allen reception here given the monstrous year the wideout just had. Perhaps a Philip Rivers pass. Or a Melvin Gordon run.
Make no mistake, all those players played a part in the Chargers' nearly making the postseason despite losing their first four games.
But if the Bolts are going to make it to the playoffs for the first time since 2013, it will be because the defense continued to improve.
The Chargers had their issues against the run, but only two teams in the NFL allowed fewer passing yards per game than the 197.2 surrendered by Los Angeles.
Partly, that was because of an excellent secondary. But the pass rush—spearheaded by defensive ends Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram—ranked fifth in the NFL on sacks.
Bosa and Ingram combined for 23 sacks in the season, including three in a Week 7 shutout of the Denver Broncos.
Bosa blowing past Allen Barbre to swallow up Trevor Siemian in the fourth quarter of that contest is as good an example as any.
Los Angeles Rams
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Third-and-33
This isn't an easy exercise for some teams. All told, there were well over 25,000 plays run across the NFL. Some teams ran those plays a heck of a lot better than others.
Finding one play that best exemplifies each team's hopes for the future can be difficult, especially when some teams look so damn hopeless.
Looking at you, Cleveland.
The Los Angeles Rams don't. In fact, for the first time in a long time, the NFC West champion Rams are absolutely swimming in optimism. The team is loaded with young talent on both sides of the ball, and cherubic head coach Sean McVay appears to know how to get the most out of that talent…
No matter the circumstance.
Back in Week 9, the Rams faced a 3rd-and-33 from their own 48-yard line in the second quarter of their matchup with the New York Giants.
McVay dialed up an intermediate throw to wide receiver Robert Woods in an attempt to just get the Rams in field-goal range.
Instead, Jared Goff hit Woods immediately, and the so-called "possession" receiver turned on the afterburners for a 52-yard touchdown.
It's been that kind of year in L.A.
Miami Dolphins
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Props to the King of the 'Fins
There are a few potential possibilities for a 2017 Dolphins play that should offer fans hope for the season to come.
None involve Jay Cutler doing anything other than handing the ball to Kenyan Drake.
However, this is also an excellent opportunity to remind everyone who the best player on Miami's roster is.
It isn't Drake. Or Jarvin Landry. Or Cameron Wake. Or Ndamukong Suh.
In a season where seemingly every big-name player for the Dolphins offense regressed and more than a few defensive stars followed suit, safety Reshad Jones just kept chugging along.
Jones posted 122 total tackles for the season, tops among all defensive backs. His 94 solo tackles ranked fifth among all NFL defenders. Jones added 1.5 sacks and two interceptions in another consistently excellent campaign.
The high point of that season came in Week 5 against the Tennessee Titans. While most of the players on the field gave up on what looked to be an incomplete pass by Matt Cassel, Jones didn't hear a whistle.
So, he scooped the ball off the turf and raced into the end zone.
Six points for hustle.
Minnesota Vikings
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Remember Dalvin Cook?
Given all the success the Minnesota Vikings have had this season, it may surprise some folks that I went with a Vikings play featuring a tailback who hasn't seen the field since Week 4.
But we're talking about the future here, not the present.
And as good as the Vikings have been in 2017, imagine for a moment how much better they might have been had Dalvin Cook not torn his ACL against the Detroit Lions.
It's been forgotten amid all the hoopla surrounding the likes of Kareem Hunt and Alvin Kamara, but over the first month of the season, Cook played as well as any rookie back in the NFL.
In Cook's first NFL game, he faced Kamara and the New Orleans Saints. It was Cook who shined, gashing the Saints for 127 yards on 22 totes, including a 33-yard scamper that was his longest of the season.
Sure, the Vikings survived the loss of Cook without missing a beat, but just because the Vikings were good without Cook doesn't mean they won't be better next season with him.
New England Patriots
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Brady to Gronk…Yawn
If you're scouring through plays by the New England Patriots looking for reasons to hope, then you need a slap.
The Patriots are the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs—again. The odds-on favorite to represent the AFC in Super Bowl LII.
It would be Tom Brady's eighth Super Bowl.
So long as the Golden Boy is under center and effective, the Patriots will be the big, bad bullies of the AFC.
And it's a lot easier to be effective when you have a freak of nature lined up at tight end.
Take Brady's 378-yard, five-touchdown showing in a shootout win over the Houston Texans back in Week 3. On New England's first drive of the game, Brady found Brandin Cooks on a pretty, deep throw that put the Pats in the red zone.
And you know what happens when the Patriots get into the red zone. Brady drops back, floats a ball into the end zone and Rob Gronkowski plucks it out of the air despite wearing a defensive back like an overcoat.
It's as effective as it is simple, largely because there's next to nothing the defense can do about it.
Hope?
New Orleans Saints
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Ka-mar-a…Whoa Whoa Whoa Whoa
What could have been.
What numbers might rookie tailback Alvin Kamara of the New Orleans Saints put up had he been a lead back like Kareem Hunt? Or even had he been used in the same role he occupied at the end of the season back in September?
As it was, his numbers hardly sucked. Kamara averaged over six yards a pop on his 120 rushing attempts as a rookie, scoring eight touchdowns. He caught 81 passes for over 800 yards and five more scores.
For the arithmetic-averse, that's over 1,500 yards from scrimmage and 13 touchdowns as the team's No. 2 tailback.
But wait, there's more.
In Week 17, Kamara decided there was at least one way to embarrass opponents that he hadn't tried yet. So, after hesitating for a moment out of sympathy for his overmatched foe, Kamara took a kickoff back 106 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Was it Kamara's most impressive play of 2017? Maybe not—it was less evading and more out-running. By the time Tampa realized what was happening, Kamara had already celebrated and was enjoying a sno-cone.
But it was the perfect exclamation point for a phenomenal first season.
New York Giants
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Manning to…Wait, Who?
There isn't a fanbase in the NFL happier to bid goodbye to 2017 than supporters of the New York Giants.
The last four months have been a waking nightmare for Big Blue. The defense fell apart. The receiving corps was devastated by injuries in the span of single afternoon.
And due in no small part to that injury-ravaged group of pass-catchers, veteran quarterback Eli Manning struggled so much that since-fired head coach Ben McAdoo benched the two-time Super Bowl MVP.
Manning's future in New York will no doubt dominate the offseason. And at first glance, Manning's Week 17 stat line looks a fitting end to a rotten year: 10 completions in 28 attempts for 132 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
But a closer look at that 16-yard touchdown throw to Hunter Sharp offers hope that Manning can still be an effective NFL quarterback.
It's the sort of throw that looks a lot easier than it actually is, placed in a spot between a pair of defenders where only Sharp could get to it.
Not too shabby for an old guy.
New York Jets
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A Building Block in Place
For as much as the New York Jets exceeded expectations in 2017, it was relatively difficult to find a play that bodes well for the future.
The quarterbacks were out. If Josh McCown returns in 2018, it will be a one-year bridge to the rookie the team hopes to draft in April.
The running backs in New York are OK, but that's all they are.
And the young defensive cornerstones like defensive end Leonard Williams and safety Jamal Adams both had seasons that didn't really meet expectations.
However, there was at least one Jets player who shattered expectations at the same level the team did as a whole. Robby Anderson's 63 catches for 941 yards and seven touchdowns aren't staggering numbers, but the second-year player was essentially considered nothing more than a body entering the 2017 season.
By the end, he was viewed by many pundits (including this one) as a legitimate No. 1 receiver, largely because of a midseason stretch where Anderson topped 100 yards three times in six games and scored in five of those games.
The high-water mark during that hot streak came in a Week 12 loss to the Carolina Panthers. Anderson caught six passes for 146 yards and two scores, including a 54-yarder.
Oakland Raiders
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What Might Have Been
The Oakland Raiders had a plan in 2017. They were going to win the AFC West, knock off the New England Patriots and represent the AFC in Super Bowl LII.
Or maybe not.
The Raiders underperformed on both sides of the ball and won just six games. Now head Jack Del Rio is looking for work.
However, while 2017 was a massive disappointment, this remains essentially the same team that some expected to contend for a Super Bowl.
And occasionally that promise peeked through, even in defeat.
The Raiders lost their last four games, culminating in an ugly 30-10 setback against the Los Angeles Chargers that likely sealed Del Rio's fate.
It was a game short on bright spots, but Oakland's lone touchdown in Week 17 came courtesy of an 87-yard touchdown from Derek Carr to Amari Cooper that would have made Al Davis proud.
Both Carr and Cooper struggled through injury-marred seasons, but if Oakland's going to turn things around quickly, the team needs those offensive stars to have short memories.
Philadelphia Eagles
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The Wild, Wild Wentz
Philadelphia Eagles fans might want to wait awhile before reading this.
Since the team lost quarterback Carson Wentz to a torn ACL in Week 14, Philly's offense has essentially fallen apart. A magical season that saw the Eagles win 13 games and capture the NFC's No. 1 seed now appears on a collision course with postseason disappointment.
However, the end of the Eagles' season doesn't take away from what their 25-year-old quarterback accomplished before getting hurt.
For most of 2017, Wentz was one of the leading candidates to win the NFL's MVP award. In 13 games, he threw for 3,296 yards, 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions. His passer rating was a robust 101.9.
It didn't take long to realize Wentz's second NFL season could be something special.
It took about four minutes.
In the first quarter of the season opener, Wentz dropped back to pass against Washington. He avoided a rusher. Then another. Then he stepped up and uncorked a deep ball that hit a streaking Nelson Agholor in stride.
Wentz would go on to post any number of similarly spectacular plays in 2017.
But this was the first.
Pittsburgh Steelers
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Good JuJu
When it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers offense, the Killer B's get all the run.
But the reality is Le'Veon Bell is about to hit free agency. Ben Roethlisberger, 35, isn't getting any younger. And Antonio Brown's iffy for the playoffs with a partially torn calf muscle.
The Steelers need a young star to join that nucleus. A player they can look to in the future.
If the 2017 season was any indication, they've found that player in rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Had Smith-Schuster not missed Pittsburgh's Week 1 win over the Cleveland Browns, he may have topped 1,000 receiving yards. As it was, the former USC standout posted 917 receiving yards, averaged 15.8 yards a catch and found the end zone seven times…
Never mind the special teams heroics.
Smith-Schuster's coming-out party coincided with a prime-time matchup against the Detroit Lions.
In the third quarter of a 20-15 Pittsburgh win, the Steelers faced a 3rd-and-9 from their 3-yard line. Pittsburgh got aggressive, and Roethlisberger floated a deep ball over the middle to Smith-Schuster.
The pass connected, and then JuJu showed everyone what Pac-12 defenders already knew.
The kid is fast.
Maybe it's all the bike-riding.
San Francisco 49ers
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Jimmy G's Debut
This Jimmy Garoppolo kid just might be the real deal.
When he took the field for his first start for the San Francisco 49ers in Week 13 vs. the Chicago Bears, the team was 1-10. It finished 6-10—winners of five straight under a new quarterback who still hasn't lot of pro starts.
Garoppolo has improved the entire team. The offense moved the ball exponentially better with him under center. The defense improved, if only because it knew the offense was finally in a position to score points.
It didn't take long to figure out the Niners may have struck gold (see what I did there?) with Garoppolo.
All of two passes, as a matter of fact.
On his second pass of mop-up duty in Week 12 against the Seattle Seahawks, Garoppolo threw a meaningless 10-yard touchdown pass to Louis Murphy.
Except it wasn't meaningless. It showed mobility. It showed he had the presence of mind to keep his eyes downfield while buying time. And it showed excellent touch and ball placement on a throw into a crowd.
It was a sign of things to come down the stretch.
And a sign of things to come in 2018.
Seattle Seahawks
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Wilson's World
It probably shouldn't make Seattle Seahawks fans overly hopeful that after racking my brain I couldn't come up with a highlight to feature that didn't involve Russell Wilson.
The Seahawks can't run the ball. The offensive line is a mess. And Legion of Boom defense's future after the first year of missing the playoffs during Wilson's tenure is murkier than ever.
But Seattle could still be primed for a rapid return to prominence. The quickest of turnarounds.
Because the Seahawks have something that a great many NFL teams would kill for.
A superstar quarterback.
Had Wilson not spent most of 2017 standing on his head, 9-7 Seattle wouldn't have sniffed a playoff spot, much less been in contention entering the final week of the season.
One of Wilson's best efforts came in a Thursday night win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 10. Early in the fourth quarter, he dropped back to pass and...
Well, he...
Here. Watch this.
Some plays just defy description.
It's Wilson's world. The rest of us are just window dressing.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
30 of 32
Better Late Than Never
It wasn't a good season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
A team that entered 2017 a trendy playoff pick fell flat in just about every way imaginable en route to a 5-11 finish.
The list of players who underperformed for Tampa Bay in 2017 is approximately as long as the team's roster. You can most assuredly count quarterback Jameis Winston among them—he had nearly as many turnovers (18) as touchdowns (20).
However, at least Winston and the Buccaneers went out on a high note—one tailor-made to inject some hope into a long-faced fanbase.
In the closing moments of the season finale against the NFC South champion New Orleans Saints, the Buccaneers trailed by one and sat on the Saints' 39-yard line.
Rather than throw short and give his team a chance at a game-winning kick, Winston dropped back and lofted an attempt down the sideline. The ball was perfectly thrown. Wide receiver Chris Godwin hauled it in, muscled through a defender and scored the game-winning touchdown.
That Winston threw such a pretty pass was an excellent close to a down year.
That he did so to a rookie receiver from which more will be expected in 2018 was gravy.
Tennessee Titans
31 of 32
Oh, Henry
With DeMarco Murray out for the Wild Card Round due to a knee injury, the Tennessee Titans will utilize Derrick Henry as their lead back against the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday.
This is probably a good thing.
The Titans wouldn't even be in the postseason were it not for a win-and-in Week 17 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars—the same Jags who won the AFC South behind the AFC's best defense.
The Jaguars did an OK job of bottling up Henry on the ground—the bruiser from Alabama averaged just 1.8 yards on his 28 totes.
His average on receptions was a fair bit higher, though.
On a day when Marcus Mariota passed for just 134 yards, Henry had one catch.
That pass, a routine screen at the outset of the second quarter, went for 66 yards and a touchdown, and it turned out to be quite an important play in the 15-10 victory.
The long gain wasn't an aberration, either. Henry, who is known more for his ability to run through defenders than past them, also gashed the Houston Texans for a 75-yard rumble for a score in Week 13.
DeMarco who?
Washington Redskins
32 of 32
Chris Thompson Says Hello
You won't see highlights here that involve Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins.
It's well within the realm of possibility that in a few months Washington fans will be doing their level best to forget Cousins ever played in D.C.—if, that is, he leaves in free agency.
But no one in the nation's capital wants to forget that 2017 was the season fifth-year tailback Chris Thompson truly arrived.
In just 10 games, he established himself as one of the best scatbacks in the NFL, piling up 804 total yards and scoring six touchdowns. Of that damage, most came as a receiver—510 yards and four scores, if you're into precision.
However, Thompson earned his money and then some with one of his two rushing touchdowns of the year.
In a Week 2 victory over the Rams in Los Angeles (a win that in hindsight was Washington's most impressive of the season), Thompson piled up 106 total yards.
That was a good day but not a great one. Well, at least until you realize he got those 106 yards on six touches.
Six touches that included a jaw-dropper of a 61-yard burst up the middle for a score just after the two-minute warning in the first half.
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