Seamus Carr looks back at the most meaningful games of Week 18 and highlights some rookie performances that could be signals of impending breakouts.
And just like that, the 2022 NFL regular season has come to an end. In Week 18, we saw games where teams’ playoff destinies hung in the balance and others that had virtually no impact. To be certain, there are things we can take from the contests on Sunday that are interesting as we start to look forward to the 2023 fantasy landscape.
Miami Limps Into The Playoffs, Get By The Jets
On Sunday, Miami snapped a five-game losing streak, defeating the New York Jets 11-6 and earning the AFC’s final wild-card spot. Miami was without starting QB Tua Tagovailoa and backup Teddy Bridgewater. They also were missing left tackle, Terron Armstead. It’s been an up-and-down season for the Dolphins. At one point in the season, they had looked like one of the main contenders in the AFC, led by an innovative and high-flying offense. Then after failing to record a win in the month of December, they needed to both win their game today and have the Patriots drop theirs to get into the postseason. They’ll need to get healthy this week to have any shot of making noise in the playoffs.
For the Jets, it’s been a similar collapse, dropping six straight after starting 7-4 through their first eleven games. While it’s been a great season for a young defense that looks to have the makings of a dominant run, there are major questions surrounding the offense heading into 2023.