It’s your last chance to get caught up on the happenings at PFF before the next slate of games is upon us, and our new ‘PFF Week’ posts provide quick access to the week that was. The ‘Back East’ edition covers all things pertaining to the AFC and NFC East divisions for a one-stop Saturday shop built to keep you in the loop and on top of your football-watching game.
The playoffs will come down to week 17 for three teams in the “Easts”. Philadelphia and Dallas will play for the division at AT&T Stadium.Simple enough, win and you're in. For Miami it is a little more complicated. They need a win at home against the Jets combined with a Ravens loss or a Charger victory. The Patriots have wrapped up their fifth division crown in a row and the rest of the teams in these two divisions are already looking forward to next year. Here's what the teams back East have officially been up to on Pro Football Focus this week:
Week 16 Wrap
REFO: New England at Baltimore
REFO: Cleveland at NY Jets
REFO: Dallas at Washington
REFO: NY Giants at Detroit
REFO: Miami at Buffalo
REFO: Chicago at Philadelphia (SNF)
In last week's Next Man Up Pete Damilatis highlighted Cowboys' linebackers Bruce Carter and DeVonte Holloman. They played expanded roles in Week 16 filling in for Ernie Sims and Justin Durant. Carter acquitted himself reasonably well, grading +1.2 in pass coverage. Holloman on the other hand finished with a -3.3 grade and was particularly poor against the run. Pete Damilatis was right when he said “For a team finishing their schedule against two of the top three rushing offenses in the NFL, this does not bode well for their playoff hopes.”
32 Observations looks at running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends for each team with an interesting bit of information on their receiving.The article highlights Santonio Holmes, saying: Although Santonio Holmes only has 20 receptions on the year, eight of those 20 catches have gone for 24 or more yards which is the highest rate in the league for those with 20 or more catches. And also discusses Dez Bryant: Receiver Dez Bryant is one of two receivers with three games with 140 or more yards as well as three games with multiple touchdowns. The only other receiver is Calvin Johnson. The Team of the Week featured an offensive line made up of 4/5's Easters with Philadelphia's Jason Peters and Evan Mathis in addition to Buffalo's Eric Wood and Kraig Urbik making the team. Six East player also made the Had a Bad Day team, but we won't name them here. It's the Holidays.
Looking Ahead to Week 17
I appears to be a forgone conclusion at this point that Sheldon Richardson will win our Race for the Rookie of the Year. Bills LB Kiko Alonso and Cowboys center Travis Frederick are also on the list with strong rookie campaigns. The Power Rankings have very little movement at the top, but the Eagles moved up two spots sneaking into the top 10. In PFF Pick'em three of the four East games are sweeps, with our analysts liking the Dolphins, Giants and Patriots. The Eagles are a consensus victory with two hold outs for the Romo-less Cowboys. Finally, you can get up to date with the Three to Focus On previews for this week’s games below.
3TFO: Philadelphia at Dallas
3TFO: NY Jets at Miami
3TFO: Buffalo at New England
3TFO: Washington at NY Giants
Additionally
Something that has been asked for many times over has finally become a reality here at PFF as Khaled Elsayed organized lists of our highest-graded games and seasons ever — for every position! Have a look through our PFF Page of Fame to see which players nabbed a spot among the best we’ve seen.
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