It would be a tough loss for the Maple Leafs if Tanev misses the rest of the regular season. Toronto is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time during the Auston Matthews era, while Brandon Carlo is still working his way back into form from a foot injury that has kept him out of the lineup since mid-November. Tanev signed a six-year contract with the Maple Leafs worth an average annual value of $4.5 million in July 2024.
Week 17 is absolutely begging us to overreact to it. The Steelers have already blown it! Derrick Henry is going to play five more seasons and break every record! The Texans' defense is going to be unbeatable in the playoffs! Tyler Shough is a franchise QB! The Commanders need to fire everybody! A lot happened before Sunday in Week 17. There was a lot resolved, too, and a spicy Week 18 is set up with two division titles and two 1-seeds on the line.
The Cowboys run defense was one of the worst, if not the worst, in the league prior to the trade that brought Quinnen Williams to Dallas. His addition to their defensive line has been the catalyst that has dramatically improved the run defense for the better. Since Williams' arrival opponents have only rushed for 204 yards, averaging 68 yards per game. While it's definitely encouraging, they haven't faced a RB duo like Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery.
Can Brock Purdy throw the football the way this offense needs him to? He couldn't do it in the 49ers' loss to the Jaguars earlier this year - Purdy's lone game between absences because of his turf-toe injury. Upon his second return, he was ripping the ball downfield against the Cardinals. But Monday night? Well, that performance raises all sorts of red flags.
In Week 12, college football said, "You're going to miss me when I'm gone." The results were consequential enough: No. 4 Alabama went down at home in the funkiest fashion imaginable, No. 5 Georgia pulled off a statement win and plenty of aspiring College Football Playoff contenders -- No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 16 Georgia Tech, No. 17 USC, No. 18 Michigan -- narrowly avoided disaster.
Boy, the Falcons have really done it to themselves yet again. After a high energy win against the Buffalo Bills which reinvigorated the fanbase was followed with a disappointing defeat in San Francisco, Atlanta laid an absolute egg against a porous Dolphins team that had seemingly nothing going right for them. Now, the Birds sit at 3-4, in the middle of a highly competitive NFC, with their season in danger of slipping away right as the first winds of cold have arrived at our doorstep.
