Could Rex Ryan reunite with the New York Jets this offseason?

On Monday, the former Jets head coach told ESPN New York’s ‘DiPietro & Rothenberg’ show that he ‘expects to speak with the Jets’ this offseason regarding their head coaching role.

The Jets fired previous head coach Robert Saleh after their Week 5 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London and a 2-3 start to the season. Jeff Ulbrich has served as the team’s interim head coach in the weeks since. Regardless of the team’s evaluation of his performance, it will have to conduct a new coaching search that includes minority candidates to comply with the NFL’s Rooney Rule.

Ryan, 62, previously served as New York’s head coach from 2009-2014 before moving on to coach the Buffalo Bills in 2015 and 2016. He has not coached in the NFL since his firing ahead of the Bills’ 2016 regular-season finale.

Over the last eight years, the former NFL head coach has served as a TV analyst on several ESPN programs, including ‘Sunday NFL Countdown’ and ‘Get Up.’

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Ryan is still the last coach to lead the Jets to the playoffs. New York advanced to the AFC championship game after both the 2009 and 2010 seasons, Ryan’s first two years in charge.

Rex Ryan coaching record

Ryan served as an NFL head coach for two different teams – the Jets and the Bills – over an eight-year span from 2009 to 2016. Here’s how his coaching record looked over the years:

Jets years (2009-2014)

2009: 9-7; made playoffs, lost in AFC championship game
2010: 11-5; made playoffs, lost in AFC championship game
2011: 8-8; missed playoffs
2012: 6-10; missed playoffs
2013: 8-8; missed playoffs
2014: 4-12; missed playoffs

Overall record with Jets: 46-50 in the regular season; 4-2 in the playoffs

Bills years (2015-2016)

2015: 8-8; missed playoffs
2016: 7-8 (fired before Week 17); missed playoffs

Overall record with Bills: 15-16

In his eight years as an NFL head coach, Ryan holds a 61-66 record in the regular season and 4-2 record in the playoffs.

SAN ANTONIO — Shedeur Sanders finished his college career at Colorado as arguably the best quarterback in school history after setting 90 school records in just two seasons in Boulder, including most passing yards and touchdown passes in a season for 2024.

But now what?

After his team suffered a 36-14 loss against BYU in the Alamo Bowl on Saturday, Sanders is moving on and might be the first quarterback selected in the NFL draft in April. To replace him, Colorado coach Deion Sanders – Shedeur’s dad – has lined up two likely candidates, each of whom arrived at Colorado in December expecting to play in 2025. 

The only problem is there’s just one football to share, raising the prospect that one of Coach Prime’s biggest projects in 2025 is not just filling the shoes of Shedeur, but also managing a budding quarterback controversy after the Buffaloes finished 9-4 in 2024.

‘It’s gonna be different next year,’ Colorado offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said two days before the bowl game. ‘We’re gonna have to climb this mountain a little different way.’

Who will replace Shedeur Sanders at Colorado?

The top candidates are blue-chip quarterback recruit Julian Lewis and Liberty transfer quarterback Kaidon Salter. Lewis committed to Colorado in November, revealing on the Pat McAfee Show he wanted to ‘come in and compete and start as a freshman.’

‘I wouldn’t have much fun sitting on the bench,’ he said then.

He signed with Colorado on Dec. 4.

But then two weeks later, Colorado signed Salter, who only has one year of college eligibility left and also didn’t join the team to spend it on the sidelines. He is a dual-threat quarterback who led Liberty to a 21-4 record the past two seasons with his legs and arm. In 2023, he rushed for 1,089 yards and passed for 2,876.

By contrast, Lewis is not the same kind of dual threat. He instead is the No. 2 pocket-passer recruit in the nation, according to ESPN’s rankings. He led his high school team to a 14-1 record this season and passed for 3,798 yards. He also had scholarship offers to go to other schools, including Southern California, where he originally committed.

Salter is 21. Lewis is 17. If one of them emerges as a favorite in spring practice, will the other seek more playing time and money somewhere else? Or if Salter emerges as the starter, will Lewis be OK with waiting his turn until 2026?

‘You need four or five guys’ to replace Shedeur Sanders

Lewis and Salter practiced with the team before the Alamo Bowl. Deion Sanders said this was important so they could see how Shedeur ‘operates in practice and how he focuses as the game approaches, as well as how we move in practice’ to help them get an understanding of the expectations and competition level.

Neither quarterback was made available for interviews to talk about their expectations for 2025.

The familiar refrain in these situations is that they will compete with each other for the starting job every week and let the best man win. But the reality is that there are expectations and egos to manage in an era when players have more leverage than ever before. They can change teams every year now and get paid to do so.

‘When you lose somebody like Shedeur, you need four or five guys to replace him, you know, but we’re really excited,’ Shurmur said before the bowl game. ‘Obviously JuJu (Lewis) has a bright future and he’s gonna be battling his butt off to be our guy next year. We brought in Kaidon Salter, who is an experienced young man, got one year left. Really excited for him. He’s roughly a 3,000-yard passer and a thousand-yard rusher. And he’s played a lot of really, really good football.’

Smart move by Colorado if they can keep both

From Colorado’s standpoint, this was a smart move to make. Adding Salter means they don’t put all the weight on the shoulders of a young freshman. It also creates the possibility that Colorado could play both of them situationally or week to week, since both have different styles.

Their other main option would be backup quarterback Ryan Staub, who started only one game the past two seasons for the Buffaloes – a 23-17 loss at Utah in 2023.

Whatever happens, it likely will define Deion Sanders’ third season at Colorado.

‘I don’t think we realize how good Shedeur is,’ Shurmur said. ‘And we won’t until he’s gone.’

Lewis posted a message on social media Sunday showing his locker at the Alamo Bowl site next to Shedeur’s.

‘You left huge shoes to fill, but I promise to work to leave @CUBuffsFootball even better than I found it,’ Lewis wrote. ‘Forever grateful.’

He then wrote ‘#TrustGod’ and ‘#TrustTheProcess.’

The Buffs are scheduled to open the season against Georgia Tech at home Aug. 30.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

Penn State’s defense made a statement in a 38-10 win against SMU in the opening round of the College Football Playoff.

The offense was relegated to backup status as the Nittany Lions scored twice on interception returns and set up another short field that led to a touchdown late in the first half. Ahead 28-0 at the break, Penn State cruised into the quarterfinals against Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.

This same defense is the reason why the Nittany Lions are favored to advance into the national semifinals and potentially capture the program’s first national championship since 1986.

But the offense will have to show up eventually. While the running game carried the load against SMU, quarterback Drew Allar will have to step up his game if the Nittany Lions hope to beat teams such as Oregon, Ohio State, Notre Dame or Texas.

Boise State’s recipe for an upset calls for more and more of star running back Ashton Jeanty, who finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting after a memorable junior season.

Here are the keys to the Fiesta Bowl:

Can Penn State stop Ashton Jeanty?

No one has, though Penn State has the pieces to slow down one of the most prolific backs in Bowl Subdivision history.

Jeanty heads into the postseason with an FBS-best 2,497 yards, within striking distance of Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing record. He’s cracked the 200-yard mark six times, including in each of the past two games, and has gained at least 128 yards in every game against Bowl Subdivision competition.

In one game that parallels the Fiesta Bowl, Jeanty ran for 192 yards and three scores on 7.7 yards per carry in the Broncos’ 37-34 loss to Oregon in non-conference play.

Five opponents have gone over 100 rushing yards against Penn State, led by Southern California’s 189 yards and a score in the Nittany Lions’ narrow win back in October. PSU ranks seventh nationally in yards allowed per game and is tied for third in allowing just seven scores on the ground.

Can Boise make Allar do it all?

The Broncos’ run defense is one of the best in the Group of Five. Against the Ducks, the Broncos gave up just 109 yards and a score on 3.1 yards per carry. The only team to run the ball effectively on Boise was UNLV, in fact, which went for a combined 405 yards in the two matchups between the pair during the regular season – accounting for more than a quarter of the Broncos’ total rushing yardage allowed.

From a defensive perspective, Boise’s clearest path to an upset is to slow down the Nittany Lions’ passing game and force Allar to carry the weight on offense.

This could easily backfire; Allar can be unpredictable, but he’s an all-conference talent with the arm strength and pocket presence to play at the next level. He’s also struggling to get his production back on track: Allar is a combined 50 of 87 for 524 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions in the Nittany Lions’ past three games.

BIG STAKES: Penn State, James Franklin need win to end narrative

BAD CALL: Cam Ward’s decision to sit second half of bowl is bad look

Can Penn State’s pass rush be stopped?

The Nittany Lions’ run defense ranks near the top of the FBS despite a lack of beefy interior linemen. Instead, you can give more credit to the scheme and a consistent approach along the defensive front for this group’s success.

But there is speed to burn on the edges, where standouts such as All-America defensive lineman Abdul Carter could make things very difficult for Boise State quarterback Maddux Madsen. Again, though, this is something the Broncos do well: Boise is tied for first with Ohio State among all playoff teams in allowing only 12 sacks.

Not every record is meant to be broken.

Just ask Eric Dickerson, who has flashed back to 1984 in tapping competitive juices as Saquon Barkley closes in on his NFL single-season rushing mark of 2,105 yards. The phenomenal Philadelphia Eagles running back rushed a season-high 31 times for 167 yards on Sunday to crack the 2,000-yard barrier.

With 2,005 yards on 345 carries this season, that leaves Barkley 101 yards from topping the Hall of Famer’s record that has stood for 40 years.

“These people who say, ‘records are meant to be broken,’ you ain’t got no record,” Dickerson told USA TODAY Sports on Sunday, after Barkley ripped off his 11th 100-yard game of the season at the expense of the Dallas Cowboys.

“You don’t have one. When you get those records, you want to hang on to them. No matter if it was in bowling and you had 30 strikes in a row, you don’t want nobody to break that. The fastest mile ever, you don’t want nobody to break that. Those are true accomplishments. You can always look back and that record’s been held for 40 years now.”

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Don’t blame Dickerson, 64, for wanting to keep such a significant piece of his NFL legacy intact. He’s only human. And he paid the price for his football career to the point that it’s difficult for him to get a good night’s sleep due to chronic pain that lingers from old injuries.

So, if the man is, well, a bit possessive, he’s earned the right.

But facts are facts. And certain storylines are too good to be true. Barkley can break the record in the regular-season finale next weekend against the New York Giants, of all teams. Barkley played the first six seasons of his NFL career with the Giants, who were content to see him walk away last offseason as a free agent – a scenario that began to take form in 2023 when the team led by general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll opted to sign since-released quarterback Daniel Jones to a four-year, $160 million contract rather than keep the star runner locked up with a long-term deal.

With Philadelphia (13-2) clinching the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs with their 41-7 blowout win on Sunday, it is unclear whether or how much Barkley will play in a Week 18 game with no bearing on the playoff standing.

Regardless, Dickerson is hardly the only one who grasps the irony of Barkley potentially breaking the record against the Giants.

“When he went to the Giants, I said he’d never reach his potential playing for them,” Dickerson said, mindful that New York drafted Barkley second overall from Penn State in 2018. “I saw that. I said, ‘They’re terrible.’ I felt bad for him.

“That they were stupid enough to (let him go to a team in) their division, that’s on them. They ought to put the ‘jackass suit’ on for that. Whoever made that call should be fired. That was just dumb.”

Although Dickerson would love to see his 1984 record survive, he is hardly hating on Barkley. He also takes solace in the fact that he achieved his mark during a 16-game season, breaking the then-record of 2,003 yards that O.J. Simpson set during a 14-game season in 1973. Dickerson, who starred for the Los Angeles Rams, broke Simpson’s record in the 15th game – when they played without a bye week. Now Barkley could possibly seize the mark in 17 games.

As Dickerson sees it, there’s no need for an asterisk. After all, Barkley is the ninth player to crack 2,000 rushing yards in a season.

“Hey, that’s football,” Dickerson said. “I still don’t think it takes anything away from him. Getting 2,000 yards is tough. It’s hard to do. I thought I could do it more than once. I got close a couple times but was never able to do it again. Everything has to go perfect. You have to have the right team, you have to have the right quarterback. Luckily, he’s got a guy like Jalen Hurts. I didn’t have a Jalen Hurts; I had a great offensive line.”

It’s worth getting Dickerson to recall the day he broke Simpson’s mark. The Rams, en route to a wild-card berth, hosted the 3-11 Houston Oilers at Anaheim Stadium. He needed 214 yards to break the record – and wound up with a season-high 215 yards.

“I thought I’d make 140, 150 against Houston, and then I’d probably make it the next week against the San Francisco 49ers,” Dickerson reflected. “That game got heated. Me and (Keith) Bostic, we got into a fight.

“I was like, ‘Hey, you mother … I’m going to break this record on y’all … today!’ I didn’t talk much as a player, but I got to talking to the offensive line. I was pissed. And we started running the ball.”

Dickerson remembers that with the record secured, Rams coach John Robinson took him out of the game with about five minutes on the clock.

Interestingly, with nothing to play for in Week 16 because the home wild-card game was set, Dickerson played against the 49ers and rushed for 98 yards.

Now, all these years later, Barkley is on the brink – much to Dickerson’s chagrin.

With Barkley so close, any chance he’s softened his position on wanting to keep ownership of the record?

“Absolutely not!” Dickerson said. “That doesn’t even make sense. Like I told the guy earlier, I don’t want nobody to break my record. He even said if he breaks it, he doesn’t want anybody to break his. I get it.”

Well, there is one person Dickerson would relish breaking his record. It’s his 12-year-old son, Dallis.

Dallis doesn’t play tackle football yet, but he is a running back on his flag football team.

“Last year, he asked his mom, ‘What’s that record my dad had?’ ”

2,105.

“‘I want to break that record one day.’”

“I don’t know if he’ll play pro football, but if he does, I’d love to see him break it,” Dickerson said.

Then there’s the other record that Dickerson insists will be much tougher to break. In 1983, the Southern Methodist University product set the NFL’s rookie rushing record with 1,808 yards.

“That’s going to be almost impossible to break,” he predicted. “I didn’t plan on them building the offense around me as a rookie. That just doesn’t happen for a rookie these days. And they don’t run the ball like that with rookies, anyway.”

Maybe that’s the one not meant to be broken.

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Jarrett Bell on X @JarrettBell.

If Marcus Freeman’s Notre Dame beats Georgia, the Irish would own a caliber of victory Brian Kelly never produced in South Bend.
Brian Kelly became Notre Dame’s winningest coach but fizzled in the big games, then became a pariah by bolting for LSU.
Beating Indiana allowed Notre Dame to avoid embarrassment, but beating Georgia would be a resounding success.

Marcus Freeman looks good on Notre Dame. Beating Georgia would make him look so much better.

The Fighting Irish’s first College Football Playoff victory in program history affirmed Notre Dame doesn’t miss Brian Kelly.

That’s a delicious comeuppance for Irish fans who for the past three years harbored two favorite teams: Notre Dame, and whichever team played Kelly’s LSU Tigers. Sometimes, it seemed as if the pecking order might be flipped.

Notre Dame fans lost any love for Kelly, its winningest coach, when he bolted from the Irish for greener pastures three years ago.

Although he’s now a pariah, Notre Dame needed Kelly 15 years ago, when it hired him to save it from the doldrums it had slid into under a carousel of mediocre predecessors.

Kelly restored Notre Dame to prominence, but he struggled in the biggest games. He never busted through a stubborn postseason ceiling.

Notre Dame needed him once, but it needs Freeman now. He’s the guy for this moment, because Notre Dame’s next opponent, Georgia, is exactly the type of team to which Kelly repeatedly lost.

Sugar Bowl against Georgia is game Brian Kelly would lose

During his tenure at Notre Dame, Kelly lost to Georgia in 2017 regular season and again in 2019. He got smashed by Alabama in the 2013 Bowl Championship Series national title game. He won just once in four tries against Clemson’s Dabo Swinney. In five New Year’s Six or BCS games, Kelly lost every time.

When he left for LSU, the Tigers hooked a big-name coach rather than a big-game coach.

Three years into Notre Dame’s coaching change, we can say the Irish are winning their divorce with Kelly, who hasn’t qualified for the playoff at LSU. By smashing Indiana, Notre Dame proved its 11-1 record during the regular season was not a mirage, while Kelly prepared LSU for an also-ran bowl.

BAD CALL: Cam Ward’s decision to sit second half of bowl is bad look

GET ON TRAIN: Don’t like players chasing money? It won’t change

Beating Georgia, though, would provide a much more resounding statement that Freeman’s Irish are unlike Kelly’s Irish, because, truthfully, puffed-up Indiana is the type of team Kelly could have handled at Notre Dame if the 12-team playoff had been a thing back then.

When Kelly left Notre Dame in favor of an SEC program he deemed a better perch from which to pursue a national championship, his exit caused us to wonder: Now what for the Irish?

A step back toward mediocrity? Or, had enough groundwork been laid for sustainable success?

Notre Dame promoted Freeman to replace a proven veteran in a hire that either set up Freeman, now 38, to be a wunderkind or prove himself an untested coach in over his head.

For a while, Freeman alternated between those roles. He’d lose to Marshall but beat Clemson. Beat Texas A&M, then lose to Northern Illinois.

Freeman fares pretty well against Top 25 opponents, but this Sugar Bowl isn’t parallel to beating a ranked service academy team. A Georgia takedown would become the most impressive pelt to go on Notre Dame’s wall in many, many years and rank as the Irish’s best postseason victory since Lou Holtz won the Sugar Bowl and consecutive Cotton Bowls in the early 1990s.

Beating Georgia would make Marcus Freeman more peak Lou Holtz than Brian Kelly

Nobody would confuse Georgia with Kirby Smart’s juggernauts that won consecutive national championships. Georgia’s offense faces added uncertainty behind backup quarterback Gunner Stockton. He’ll make his first career start after spurring Georgia to a comeback victory in the SEC championship game, following Carson Beck’s elbow injury just before halftime.

The ‘G’ on the side of Georgia’s helmet, though, and the SEC logo patch on the jersey signals this as the type of opponent Kelly couldn’t beat.

Freeman’s Irish are, in a word, sturdy, but Georgia is a caliber of opponent they haven’t faced this season.

“This is a really good, solid (team),” Smart said of Notre Dame. “Fundamentally sound, don’t beat themselves, play good defense, great defense, and really physical on the lines of scrimmage, and they got a really athletic quarterback.”

That all sounds pretty good, but similar praise could have been issued about some of Kelly’s best teams, until they faced an opponent like Georgia. Here’s Freeman’s chance to prove he’s different than Kelly, to show he’s ready to tame giants in addition to crushing Hoosiers.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read all of his columns.

The 32 things we learned from Week 17 of the 2024 NFL season:

1. The number of TD receptions by Arizona Cardinals TE Trey McBride, who scored on his 98th catch of the season. Had he not found the end zone via reception, McBride would – by far – have had the most snags in a single campaign without a receiving touchdown in the history of the league.

2. The number of times Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield has thrown five touchdown passes in a game, though Sunday was the first time he’d done it for the Bucs. He needs one more to become the 12th player to ever post 40 in a season.

2a. Cincinnati Bengals star Joe Burrow became the 11th on Saturday.

3. The number of kicks blocked this season by Los Angeles Rams LB Michael Hoecht. Costing the Cardinals an extra point Saturday night was a huge assist in a game LA won 13-9.

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

4. The number of consecutive seasons the Buccaneers have made the playoffs, the longest active streak in the NFC. Sunday’s 48-14 rout of the Carolina Panthers keeps the Bucs alive and kicking for both the NFC South crown and the conference’s final wild-card berth – and they’ll get help one way or another when the Atlanta Falcons and Washington Commanders meet Sunday night.

5. The number of consecutive seasons in which Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen has accounted for at least 40 touchdowns, an NFL record.

6. Allen passed for two more TDs in Sunday’s shellacking of the New York Jets and ran for another, pushing him past 40 combined for 2024. Will it be enough to earn him his first MVP award even though he’s had more impressive statistical seasons?

7. The jersey number of Philadelphia Eagles backup QB Kenny Pickett. Unclear why the team is letting a digit made famous by the likes of QBs Ron Jaworski and Michael Vick remain in circulation … aside from special circumstances. Maybe.

8. The number of consecutive games that Burrow has thrown for at least 250 yards and three TDs, an extension of his own NFL record after his huge performance in Saturday’s win over the Denver Broncos. Maybe Burrow should be the MVP.

9. The number of NFL players – ever – to eclipse 2,000 rushing yards after Eagles RB Saquon Barkley joined their ranks Sunday. (And it should be noted that Barkley only needed 16 games to reach the hallowed benchmark.)

10. Now with a league-high 2,005 yards, Barkley needs 101 to overtake Eric Dickerson’s single-season record, which was set by the Hall of Famer with the Rams in 1984. And maybe Barkley should be the MVP given he piled up 167 yards on the ground Sunday despite playing with Pickett and QB3 Tanner McKee all day.

11. The number of consecutive seasons Hall of Famer Jerry Rice posted 1,000 receiving yards, an NFL record.

12. Bucs WR Mike Evans needs 85 yards in Week 18 to match Rice’s mark. Notable this year given Evans missed three games with a bad hamstring.

13. Unlucky No. 13? Eh, anyone becoming an interim coach is, by definition, behind the power curve. This year’s trio is now a collective 5-17 after getting swept in Week 17. The Jets’ Jeff Ulbrich is 2-9, the Saints’ Darren Rizzi 3-4, and the Bears’ Thomas Brown is 0-4.

14. The number of sacks Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett has had in each of the past four seasons, the first player in league history with such a run ever since sacks became an official statistic in 1982.

15. Speaking of sacks, Jets QB Aaron Rodgers has now been bagged 568 times in his career, overtaking Tom Brady (565) on Sunday for the most times any quarterback has gone down since 1982. ‘I got Tom in that,’ Rodgers said with a wry smile after New York’s 40-14 loss at Buffalo.

16. While Rodgers set that dubious mark Sunday, he didn’t manage to throw a TD pass, keeping him stuck on 499 during the regular season over the course of his 20-year career.

17. The Las Vegas Raiders’ Brock Bowers set two records Sunday, breaking the rookie record for receiving yards by a tight end – he now has 1,144, surpassing Mike Ditka’s 1,076 (in 14 games in 1961) – and the overall rookie record for receptions (108).

18. But look out for the New York Giants’ Malik Nabers, who’s up to 104 catches (in 14 games) and could certainly overtake 2024 first-round draftmate Bowers in Week 18.

19. The rookie receptions record has now changed hands three times in the past four seasons, the Miami Dolphins’ Jaylen Waddle (2021) and Rams’ Puka Nacua (2023) briefly holding it as well. Anquan Boldin is the only other player to hit the century mark, which he did way back in 2003.

20. Back to the Giants, it’s suddenly less clear who will be throwing passes to Nabers in 2025 after New York won its first home game of 2024 … but dropped from the projected first overall spot in next year’s draft to No. 4.

21. Now in the catbird seat for the 2025 draft? How about the New England Patriots, who picked QB Drake Maye third overall earlier this year. That should allow the Pats to incite a bidding war between the Giants, Browns and Tennessee Titans, who would all seemingly be in the market to take Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward of Miami (Fla.) at the top of the board four months from now.

22. Also paying the price for the Giants’ one-day revival were the Indianapolis Colts, who were eliminated from the playoff race due to their loss at MetLife Stadium.

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23. Who had undrafted Cowboys RB Rico Dowdle, who’d never started before this season, rushing for 1,000 yards?

23a. Who had Bucs rookie RB Bucky Irving, who started twice this season, rushing for 1,000 yards?

24. So, if you’re the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, would you rather win the AFC North and likely host the surging Los Angeles Chargers, or get a wild card and visit the AFC South ‘champion’ Houston Texans in the opening round of the postseason?

25. The Minnesota Vikings’ Sam Darnold is the first NFL quarterback to notch 14 wins in his first season with a team after Sunday’s defeat of the Green Bay Packers.

26. The Vikes are one win shy of the franchise regular-season record of 15 wins – which occurred in a 16-game season back in 1998 … when they also lost a heartbreaking NFC championship game to Atlanta.

27. The Packers seemed to sleepwalk through most of their game in the Twin Cities … but don’t forget, they had nothing to play for but seeding.

28. The Detroit Lions could be forgiven for sleepwalking through Monday night’s game against the San Francisco 49ers, given it will have no impact on what’s become a winner-take-all game for the NFC’s No. 1 seed between the Lions and Vikings in Week 18.

29. The best NFL-related video we’ve since Christmas involved Darnold.

30. The second-best NFL-related video we’ve since Christmas involved, well, focus on Bolts DB Derwin James.

31. The second-best NFL-related video we saw on Christmas? Andy Reid, y’all.

32. But the best NFL-related video we saw on Christmas? Leave it to Beyoncé to salvage a near-unwatchable day of pro football. Sorry you missed the show, Lamar.

***

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.

A masterclass in clock management it was not from Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris as his team fell 30-24 in overtime to the Washington Commanders.

The first-year coach failed to properly deploy timeouts not once, but twice – at both the end of the first half and regulation. Atlanta now no longer controls its own playoff fate and needs a win against the Carolina Panthers next Sunday along with a Tampa Bay Buccaneers loss to win the NFC South.

Rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. led the team on a game-tying touchdown drive with 1:19 left in the fourth quarter and the Falcons defense forced a punt from the Commanders. The offense trotted back on the field with 40 seconds remaining and two timeouts. Penix connected with Darnell Mooney for a gain of 25 yards that moved the ball to the 44-yard line and created the possibility of a game-winning field goal with a few more gains.

But no timeout was called, and precious seconds ticked by as Penix and the offense lined up. By the time Penix’s next pass, an incompletion intended for Mooney over the middle, hit the ground, there were just 12 seconds remaining.

A pass interference call against the Commanders gave kicker Riley Patterson a chance from 56 yards out to win the game as time expired in regulation, but he came up well short.

All things Falcons: Latest Atlanta Falcons news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Morris explained after the game he thought saving the timeout would be better and that he assumed the offense would line up and snap the ball faster.

‘Probably could have,’ Morris said of calling timeout in that moment. ‘Thought we could get to the line of scrimmage with our operation a little faster there.’

He added: ‘In hindsight, could have been a good decision, could have been a better decision, to take that timeout. But I wanted to have the opportunity to move up there. You could always second-guess those things. You could always second-guess those motives.’

A similar situation played out in the first half. Running back Bijan Robinson and Penix, making his second career start, had the Falcons moving in a well-executed two-minute drill. With 46 seconds to play, Penix found Mooney across the middle for a 12-yard gain to the Washington 24-yard line. Atlanta didn’t snap the ball again until 20 seconds were left in the half, and the Falcons ultimately settled for a 39-yard field goal from Patterson to end the half up 17-7 instead of having a better chance to go up by two touchdowns.

Morris said he didn’t want to give the Commanders another possession to end the first half since the Falcons were kicking off to start the second half.

‘Lot of things you could clean up, lot of things you could always do better,’ Morris said. ‘Always things you could get better at, particularly with a young quarterback.’

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