10 notable NFL Week 17 winners and losers

As the NFL’s regular season drew to a close, the Week 17 headlines featured revenge upsets, the return of a legend, the disappearance of a quarterback and head coaches on the hot seat.

Furthermore, while some best-laid plans went awry in the AFC East, causing a surprise team to wave the white flag, other teams’ fans wildly waved the Terrible Towel when Pittsburgh received a last-second reprieve.

With the playoff picture now fixed in place and four teams secured to enjoy their bye week, these are the biggest winners and losers from Week 17.

Winner: Steelers destroy the Browns as noise of Jets loss send Pittsburgh to playoffs

The Steelers snagged an AFC wild card playoff slot when they crushed the Cleveland Browns, 28-12, in what was a crucial win for Pittsburgh.

Meanwhile just seconds before the end of the game, Pittsburgh fans caught wind of the game-losing interception thrown by New York Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. For that, the crowed went wild knowing their Steelers received the break they needed to advance to the postseason.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, despite two interceptions, passed for 349 yards and three touchdowns. Antonio Brown was his usual stud self, turning 13 catches into a whopping 187 yards and one touchdown.

On the Browns side of the field, the team was simply miserable with backup Austin Davis completing only 52 percent of his passes for 240 yards, zero scores and two interceptions.

While Pittsburgh will depart Cleveland on a high note, head coach Mike Pettine will be shown the door after a tumultuous season that consisted of only three wins.

Loser: Johnny Manziel attempts to cover up his whereabouts night before season finale

Continuing with the Browns’ woes, quarterback Johnny Manziel (concussion) was ruled out for Sunday’s final game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

But rather than sticking around Cleveland to support his team, Manziel was reportedly spotted hanging out on Saturday evening at the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. After getting photo identified at a blackjack table, a casino employee confirmed Manziel’s presence.

“We’ve got Johnny Manziel with us tonight,” the employee said, according to John Hornacek of the Planet Hollywood, via USA Today.

Manziel also reportedly paid cash for a meal at a restaurant according to server Tina Samira. Though as information about Manziel’s whereabouts began to leak through to social media, a photo of Manziel with his dog was posted to his Instagram account with the caption #SaturdayNights. Later he added Avon, Ohio to the location of the photo.

The photo has since received thousands of derogatory comments calling out Manziel on his real location.

According to the report by USA Today, Browns vice president of communications Peter John Baptiste would not confirm if Manziel was in Cleveland or if the team’s policy would have dictated for an inactive player to be present at the game.

Manziel’s character has been a major concern all season, and many would wonder why he simply didn’t wait until Monday, after the season officially ends, to hit the Las Vegas strip.

Making matters worse, Manziel reportedly failed to report to the team for his concussion protocol before Sunday’s game, failed to answer the phone when contacted, and the Browns are now “so done” with the quarterback going forward, per Peter King of MMQB.

Winner: Colts’ backup quarterback plan

Starting fourth- and fifth-string quarterbacks in the season’s finale is certainly not what the Indianapolis Colts signed up for in September.

But Josh Freeman and Ryan Lindley, who were signed out of desperation due to the slew of quarterback injures that hit Indianapolis this year, are what the Colts quarterback situation has boiled down after 16 weeks.

In the Colts final game against the Tennessee Titans (a 30-24 win), Freeman received the start but exited the game shortly after passing a 57-yard touchdown to tight end Coby Fleener. It was his first NFL touchdown since September of 2013. He also had an interception prior to the score.

After Freeman departed, Lindley, who advertises his real estate business instead of any NFL affiliation in his Twitter bio, took over. After completing six-of-10 passes for 58 yards and a touchdown of his own, Lindley checked out and Freeman returned to the game.

While the efforts of the backups were successful in a victory over the Titans (who were also playing with second- and third-string quarterbacks), the Colts’ chances of advancing to the playoffs were shut-down by the Houston Texans, who issues a beating to the Jacksonville Jaguars (30-6).

Time will tell if Sunday’s win was enough to save the job of Colts head coach Chuck Pagano after a miserable season.

Loser: Giants fail to send Tom Coughlin out on a high note

The New York Giants sealed a dismal end to the 2015 season (6-10) after posting a third loss in a row in what might be Tom Coughlin’s last game coaching the Giants. It’s been widely reported that the two-time Super Bowl-winning head coach will resign on Monday.

Unable to gain the upper hand in the end, the Giants fell victim to the Philadelphia Eagles (35-30) at MetLife Stadium.

The Giants have unfortunately had the untimely knack for blowing games in the last seconds of of the game this year. This has happened six times this season, including one overtime matchup.

Sunday’s game classically followed suit when the Giants were looking to extend a 27-21 lead in the third quarter. Eli Manning took a sack by Connor Barwin and fumbled and the ball, which was recovered by Walter Thurmond who returned it for an 83-yard touchdown.

With signature plays such as this occurring all season against the G-Men, there are certainly many issues that will need to be addressed during the offseason.

Winner: Rex Ryan crushes New York’s playoff dreams

Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills did exactly what they set out to accomplish in the season finale against the New York Jets, who needed to win to ensure a spot to the playoffs.

Ryan may not be very successful in getting his own squad to the playoffs these days, but foiling his former team after being fired last season should have the coach sleeping like a baby as the season comes to a close.

And while the Bills didn’t pull off a major blowout (22-17), things were interesting from start to finish. There were snafus along the way, such as kicker Dan Carpenter missing an extra point and angrily slamming his helmet down (watch here). In the end, the win was all that mattered.

Really stepping up in Sunday’s win was Buffalo’s defense. It took advantage of some of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s stinky quarterback play, forcing three interceptions, including his game-losing last-second pick recovered by A.J. Tarpley.

Summing up Sunday’s victory over the Jets, Ryan was his usual salty self, via ESPN.com.

“I’ve got a lot of friends over there, and I want them to be successful, but not at my expense.”

Loser: Bill Belichick benches Tom Brady and starters in lackluster loss

In what was one of the poorest performances in a long time, head coach Bill Belichick simply threw in the towel and benched the team’s starters late in the fourth quarter after falling behind to the Miami Dolphins  by a score of 20-10.

Rather than trying to make a comeback, which the Patriots are pretty darn good at, Belichick opted to gamble with home-field advantage and surrender with a white flag.

Brady was uncharacteristically off-kilter, and he failed to throw a touchdown for the first time all season. He was also dinged up after taking several hits, and in attempt to stay preserved, the quarterback attempted a season-low 21 passes.

Brady’s five first-half passes were the least he has ever attempted during any first half in his career.

New England’s one lowly score came thanks to veteran running back Steven Jackson, who must have been successful in showering off the rust after being a dormant free agent nearly all season.

Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill completed 25-of-38 passes for 350 yards and two touchdowns. Had he performed as awesomely as he did against the Patriots, Miami might have finished the season with more than six measly wins.

If any quarterback could use a rest before hitting the playoff scene, it is an embattled Brady, who has dealt with plenty of adversity this season.

Winner: Kirk Cousins was so amazing he got benched

Believe it or not, Cousins is finishing off the regular season as one of the hottest quarterbacks on the planet.

In a near flawless first-half performance, Cousins completed 12-of-15 passes for 176 yards and three touchdowns against the Dallas Cowboys. And this all happened with eight minutes still left on the clock in the second quarter. As a result, Washington led the Cowboys 24-0, and Cousins found himself out of the game, benched due to his excellent performance.

Cousins exiting the game early was all about keeping Washington’s star signal-caller healthy for the postseason. Meanwhile, those who started Cousins in daily fantasy football are surely feeling shortchanged and left to wonder what further points he would have earned for the remainder of the game.

After Cousins’ departure, the devastation to the pathetic Cowboys didn’t end. Colt McCoy arrived at the scene and added another passing touchdown.

The Cowboys finished a sad fourth in the NFC East with a record of 4-12 with Kellen Moore as their starting quarterback and fans showing up in RGIII Dallas jerseys. The team can only pray the stench washes off after an overall terrible 2015 campaign.

Loser: Brock Osweiler and his turnovers benched for Peyton Manning

After five turnovers, including two interceptions and a fumble by Brock Osweiler, the Broncos trailed the San Diego Chargers 13-7. With Osweiler struggling, the Denver Broncos pulled the plug and inserted Peyton Manning to the game midway through the third quarter.

In an ideal opportunity to prove himself with Manning situated on the sidelines as the “backup” quarterback against a mediocre Chargers unit, Osweiler caved to pressure, completing only 14-of-22 passes for 232 yards, one touchdown and the three turnovers.

Fortunately, Manning recovered from his injury just in time to rescue the flailing Broncos and save their status heading into the playoffs. The win (27-20) against San Diego meant a lot for Denver. The team will now get a first-round bye, home-field advantage and claim the No. 1 seed of the AFC.

With Manning’s return to the game saving the day for the Broncos, Osweiler is sure to be the bench-warmer in two weeks when we see the Broncos suit up for their first playoff game.

Winner: Cam Newton makes compelling case for the NFL’s MVP.

Locking up the top seed in the NFC with a 15-1 record, Cam Newton and the Panthers finished with a huge 38-10 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

All season long, between colorful touchdown dances to watching Newton light the smiles on kid’s faces by handing them a ball after touchdowns, the quarterback has solidly made a case for this year’s NFL MVP.

Closing out his last game with two passing touchdowns and two rushing scores, Newton has recorded 45 total touchdowns for the season with Tom Brady and his 39 scores settling in behind in second place. Along with Newton’s four scores against Tampa Bay, he tallied 293 passing and 10 rushing yards.

Speaking of rushing yards, Newton’s 636 have him leading all other NFL quarterbacks on the ground.

Overall, Newton’s accomplishments this season have been spectacular, especially when a lot of people wrote him off after losing Kelvin Benjamin during the preseason to an ACL injury.

Plus, it would now appear that fantasy football players will have to duke it out for Newton in next season’s drafts.

Loser: Arizona Cardinals stomped at home by the Seattle Seahawks

As promised, the Cardinals played their starters against the Seattle Seahawks, who also featured their starring cast. Unfortunately, Arizona got pulverized by Seattle by a blowout score of 36-6.

Perhaps with vengeance on the agenda for Seattle after an embarrassing loss to the St. Louis Rams and a recently loss against Arizona in Week 10, the Seahawks swiftly delivered justice to Carson Palmer and Co. on Sunday.

With the game severely lopsided (30-6) at the half, the Cardinals pulled Carson Palmer, who completed a dreadful 12-of-25 passes for only 129 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Fortunately for the Cardinals, the loss to Seattle doesn’t worsen their status in the NFC. The only way the Cardinals could have improved to the top seed involved a win and a loss by the Panthers to Tampa Bay, which didn’t happen.

The Seahawks, led by Russell Wilson (three touchdown passes) and an explosive Christine Michael, look quite prepared to face either the Minnesota Vikings or Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round next weekend.