In this series of articles, I will highlight the best NFL games of the week and the home team, the Patriots. In week 18, the regular season came to an end, and the playoffs are upon us next week! Here are the highlights.
Bengals vs Steelers
In another must-win game for the Bengals, they pull away with the win.
On the game's first drive, Cincinnati moved the ball very easily against Pittsburgh in nine plays, the last of which was a 12-yard touchdown reception to Ja’Marr Chase. The offense easily moved down the field again until it was stalled when Joe Burrow was sacked outside of the red zone. The Bengals settled for a field goal.
The ensuing drive started well with a kick return to their 44-yard line, but the offense stayed on the field for a fourth and one conversion attempt. Joe Burrow’s pass gets tipped at the line of scrimmage and the Bengals turn it over on downs.
Cincinnati then goes three and out, but they catch a break when the Steelers fumble a punt return and they start their drive deep in Pittsburgh territory. Burrow is then intercepted off a deflected pass. Right before the half, the Bengals put together a drive to get a field goal on the board making it 13-7 Bengals.
Coming out of the half, Burrow is once again sacked on a third down, leading to a field goal for the Bengals. Burrow also went to the medical tent after this play.
They were able to score another field goal and put away the Steelers, despite punting twice to end the game. The Bengals ended the season with five straight wins, but it was not enough to overcome the losses they had earlier in the year. They will not be in the playoffs due to the Broncos beating the Chiefs.
Pittsburgh’s first points came early in the second quarter with a long drive ending in a Najee Harris touchdown run. They ended the half with a punt, a fumbled punt return, and a turnover on downs. They were down six points at the half.
They punted twice on their first two possessions out of halftime but put together another touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. Russell Wilson found a wide-open Freiermuth who ran in for the touchdown. They were now only down by five points.
A field goal put them behind by only two points, but on what could’ve been a game-winning drive, the Steelers were not able to convert on a fourth and 12. The Bengals got the ball back and kneeled out the clock.
Despite already locking up a playoff spot, the Steelers have lost four straight games to end the regular season. They travel to Baltimore to take on the Ravens for their Wild Card matchup.
Lions vs Vikings
In the very last game of the regular season, the Lions won the game, the division, and the number one seed in the NFC.
After a punt, the Lions offense started to heat up. Jared Goff found his receiver St. Brown for a 23-yard completion and then as the Lions often do, they went for it on fourth and five. They were successful with a 14-yard catch and run from Jameson Williams. The possession was capped off by Jahmyr Gibbs accelerating to the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown.
After Goff gets sacked, they are forced to punt. On the ensuing drive, Goff’s pass is tipped at the line and is intercepted at their seven-yard line. They ended the half with a field goal, 10-6 Detroit.
Goff gets picked off again to start the half for the Lions. Deep in Vikings territory in the next drive, the Lions go for it on fourth and two and it paid off. Goff finds Gibbs for his second touchdown of the night.
After Minnesota missed a field goal, Detroit only needed six plays to find the endzone once again. Gibbs ran through the defense for his third touchdown.
Gibbs continued to be a pivotal player for the Lions in this game when he started the drive with a 47-yard run to the Vikings 27-yard line. Five plays later, Gibbs fought through multiple defenders and carried the pile into the endzone, effectively ending the game.
The Lions now have a bye week going into the playoffs and will await their opponent for the Divisional Round.
Gibbs and teammates celebrate after he scores his fourth touchdown of the game. Photo Courtesy: detroitlions.com
The Vikings started the game with two punts and a turnover on downs. They were able to get some points on the board with a field goal after intercepting Goff and putting their offense in the red zone.
The defense then stopped the Lions from converting on 4th down at Minnesota’s 42-yard line, so they got the ball back with good field position. With that field position, they scored another field goal.
After the defense picked off Goff again, they were able to score another field goal to make it a one-point game. Their final three possessions ended with a missed field goal, a punt, and a turnover on downs.
With the loss, the Vikings drop to the #5 spot in the NFC and will travel to Arizona to play the Rams.
Patriots vs Bills
In the final game of the season for the Patriots, they beat the Bills.
Drake Maye started the game but only played one drive that ended in a punt. From there, Joe Milton took the reigns as the backup quarterback. On his first drive of the regular season, he went 6/6 and got his first career touchdown.
Milton continued to impress when he completed a pass to Kayshon Boutte while being flushed out to the right. Boutte took the pass to the house for a 48-yard touchdown. They would go into the half leading 14-10.
On their first possession of the half, Milton loses the ball as he’s trying to hand it off to Antonio Gibson. The Bills recovered the fumble.
New England would then kick a field goal to retake the lead, 17-16. They put together another long drive that ended in a field goal right after. To end the game, they kicked one more field goal and won 23-16.
With the win, the Patriots now have the fourth pick in the 2025 draft.
The Bills started the game with a turnover on downs after Mitch Trubisky fumbled the snap on an attempted fourth and one conversion. Josh Allen played one snap to continue his streak of longest games started by an active player and Trubisky took over right after.
Trubisky led the Bills down the field and ended the drive with a touchdown pass to an open Ray Davis for the touchdown. They would end the first half with a field goal.
After a fumble by the Patriots put them in very good field position, James Cook came back into the game to score a record tying touchdown. He tied the Bills single season rushing touchdown at 16.
They then turned to Mike White for quarterback. After this, they punted twice and turned it over on downs twice to end the game.
The Bills were locked into the #2 seed in the AFC prior to this game and they will host the Broncos on Wild Card Weekend.
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