Storylines from the NFL

• Battle of the rookies: First overall pick Trevor Lawrence, the quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars played against second overall pick Zach Wilson, the quarterback for the New York Jets. These two battled it out in a close game, which ended in a win for the Jets, but only by five points. Can’t wait to see what these two rookies do in the future!
• The New England Patriots lose their pedestal at the top of the AFC East after a tough loss to the Buffalo Bills, who now take the lead of the division. Throughout the entire game, the Patriots seemed to struggle, while the Bills prospered, and this showed in the final score of the game, which had the Patriots defeated by twelve points
• Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have won their division, the NFC South, after a 32-6 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
• After a huge win against the Washington Football Team, the Dallas Cowboys have mathematically won their division, the NFC East, despite the fact that there are still two more games left. 
• On Monday Night Football, the New Orleans Saints had to play with their fourth-string quarterback, because their starter, Jameis Winston, has been out with a torn ACL, and their second and third-string were out with COVID. The quarterback, Ian Book, a rookie out of Notre Dame, was having his first NFL start, and it wasn’t an easy one, with the opposing team, the Miami Dolphins, outsourcing the Saints 20-3
• As we inch our way towards the playoffs… where does each team stand? Well, the following teams are currently in their conference’s playoff bracket (as of the morning of Monday, December 27th)… for the AFC, (in order, first seed to seventh) the Kansas City Chiefs, the Tennessee Titans, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Buffalo Bills, the Indianapolis Colts, the New England Patriots, and the Baltimore Ravens. For the NFC, the Green Bay Packers, the Dallas Cowboys, the Los Angeles Rams, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Arizona Cardinals, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Philadelphia Eagles. How the first round of the playoffs will work is that the top seed gets the week off, while the second seed will have a home game against the seventh seed, the third seed will play at home against the sixth seed, and the fourth seed will play at home against the fifth.

Week 16 Final Scores

• Buffalo Bills versus the New England Patriots (played in New England) — Bills win 33-21
• San Francisco 49ers versus the Tennessee Titans (played in Tennessee) — Titans win 20-17
• Cleveland Browns versus the Green Bay Packers (played in Green Bay) — Packers win 24-22
• Indianapolis Colts versus the Arizona Cardinals (played in Arizona) — Colts win 22-16
• New York Giants versus the Philadelphia Eagles (played in Philadelphia) — Eagles win 34-10
• Los Angeles Rams versus the Minnesota Vikings (played in Minnesota) — Rams win 30-23
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers versus the Carolina Panthers (played in Carolina) — Buccaneers win 32-6
• Jacksonville Jaguars versus the New York Jets (played in New York) — Jets win 26-21
• Detroit Lions versus the Atlanta Falcons (played in Atlanta) — Falcons win 20-16
• Los Angeles Chargers versus the Houston Texans (played in Houston) — Texans win 41-29
• Baltimore Ravens versus the Cincinnati Bengals (played in Cincinnati) — Bengals win 41-21
• Chicago Bears versus the Seattle Seahawks (played in Seattle) — Bears win 25-24
• Pittsburgh Steelers versus the Kansas City Chiefs (played in Kansas City) — Chiefs win 36-10
• Denver Broncos versus the Las Vegas Raiders (played in Las Vegas) — Raiders win 17-13
• Washington Football Teams versus the Dallas Cowboys (played in Dallas) — Cowboys win 56-14
• Miami Dolphins versus the New Orleans Saints (played in New Orleans) — Dolphins win 20-3

Kristina Klauzinski ’24, Staff Writer

24kklauzinski@montroseschool.org