NFL winners and losers: Philadelphia Eagles defense dominates Josh Allen and Tyler Schoep impresses again for New Orleans Saints. NFL News

As the playoff race heads into the final weekend of the regular season, we pick out some of the winners and losers from NFL Week 17…

Winner – Vic Fangio

The Philadelphia Eagles’ offense may continue to sizzle, but Vic Fangio’s Super Bowl-caliber defense remains intact and they remain a definitive pest in front of championship-chasing quarterbacks. The unit that smothered Patrick Mahomes in New Orleans last February held off MVP Josh Allen as the defending champions held off a late attack to beat the Buffalo Bills 13-12. In doing so, they made up for a second half performance in which the Eagles managed just 17 yards on 17 plays. Kevin Patullo has to store Fangio’s luggage at the airport.

When Jaelan Phillips dropped the ball off a scrambling Allen, it was Fangio’s defense that set the ball rolling, allowing Jihaad Campbell to recover in Bills territory. While Allen attempted to work his magic on 3rd-and-8 in the fourth quarter, it was Fangio’s coverage that sent them into a no-man’s land for a 19-and-1. It was Fangio’s unit that forced the Bills and the second-worst EPA/play offense to punt on six possessions. It’s because of this defense that the Eagles have been able to win back-to-back Super Bowl championships despite major flaws on the other side of the ball.

Loser – Pittsburgh Steelers

Everything is set up perfectly for the final day’s winner-takes-all playoff decider in the AFC North, and it’s exactly what the NFL script writers had planned. The Pittsburgh Steelers squandered a chance to win the division, losing 13-6 to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday night, a day after the Derrick Henry-inspired Baltimore Ravens kept their season alive with a 41-24 win over the Green Bay Packers. That means Pittsburgh and Baltimore will face off in Week 18 for the right to make the playoffs as AFC North champions, a scenario that should have been underwater like the Ravens’ struggles this season. Mike Tomlin’s team felt the absence of suspended DK Metcalf as the offense came to a complete halt. Aaron Rodgers threw for just 160 yards, averaging 3.9 yards per pass, and Arthur Smith’s offense converted 3 of 15 third downs. The discrepancy has come back to bite them, and now they risk missing out entirely.

Winner – Drake May

It’s almost unfair that the New England Patriots have to look for a long-term answer at quarterback so soon and so soon after the Tom Brady era. Drake Maye strengthened his MVP case in Sunday’s 42-10 win over the New York Jets, completing 19 of 21 passes for 256 yards and five touchdowns before being replaced by Josh Dobbs in the third quarter with no game in sight. It was another day of surgery, from the quarterback’s accuracy and diagnosis against an incompetent Jets team to his precision in dissecting the defense in the pocket and his creativity coming out of structure. Maye led the Patriots to their first AFC East division title since Tom Brady’s final season in New England in 2019, propelling the entire franchise ahead of schedule to return to contention. He is efficient, hits all levels, can attack teams with his legs, can beat teams in the air, dominate in the pocket and can improvise and go off script. Of course, it was a jet. But MVP calls have become increasingly difficult to ignore.

Loser – NFC South

Every season, fans are likely to lament the reality that the average division champion with less than 10 wins can advance to the playoffs with home-field advantage. It’ll happen again as the Carolina Panthers (8-8) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-9) battle for the NFC South title heading into the final week of the campaign. Carolina had a chance to win the division on Sunday, but lost comfortably 27-10 to the No. 1 seed-chasing Seattle Seahawks, Mike McDonald and Aden Dirt against Bryce Young and a sluggish Panthers offense. Elsewhere, the slipping Buccaneers lost 20-17 to the Quinn Ewers-led Miami Dolphins, snapping their fourth straight loss and seventh in their last eight games since Week Nine. The fall of former MVP Baker Mayfield and his offense raised alarm, and Todd Bowles’ job security as head coach was thrown into deep doubt. The Panthers outshot the Bucs 23-20 after a last-minute interception by Mayfield when the teams met in Week 16, and now they will face off again on Saturday evening to determine which team will advance to the playoffs.

Winner – Tyler Schoep

The Irish’ Charlie Smyth is drilling a 57-yard field goal for Mayobridge pride, Tyler Shough is playing like a franchise quarterback, and the New Orleans Saints are riding a four-game winning streak that has pushed them from irrelevance in the playoffs. Quarterback purgatory has been a long-running theme of the miseries of life in New Orleans post-Drew Brees and a critical conundrum awaiting Kellen Moore when he agrees to become head coach, but Shough has arguably done enough to ensure the Saints don’t have to explore the market this offseason.

The second-round rookie went 22 of 27 for a career-high 333 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Saints to a 34-26 upset win over the Tennessee Titans, becoming just the third rookie to have three straight games with at least 250 passing yards and no interceptions. Shough has won five of eight games since officially taking over as Spencer Rattler’s starter in Week 9, completing 181 of 260 passes for 1,997 yards and nine touchdowns against four interceptions, leading the Saints to their fourth straight win for the first time since 2020 when Brees was still in New Orleans.

Loser – Indianapolis Colts

If anything is a reminder of how long, how twisty, how halved an NFL season can be, it’s the Indianapolis Colts and their dramatic decline from contender to contender. Shane Steichen’s team was officially eliminated from playoff contention Saturday night with Houston’s win over the Los Angeles Chargers and then lost 23-17 to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

This marks their sixth straight loss since entering their Week 11 bye with an 8-2 record. At this point, Daniel Jones was playing the best football of his NFL career, Jonathan Taylor was marching toward Offensive Player of the Year, Tyler Warren was dazzling in Offensive Rookie of the Year contention, and Lou Anarumo was living up to his ‘Mad Scientist’ nickname behind one of the smartest defenses in the league. Cracks were starting to appear, but it was the injuries that piled up for Jones until a torn Achilles tendon finally forced him out of the game for a year, sparking one of the stories of the season when 44-year-old Philip Rivers signed with the team five years after retiring from the NFL. Rivers provided unexpected life, reading NFL defenses as if they had never been away, but it wasn’t enough to stem the decay as the Colts entered the offseason.