After each Thursday night game of the year, Amazon usually sends out an email with the audience numbers. After the final Thursday night game of the year — a 6-3 stinker between the Seahawks and Bears — no press release was sent.
That created the impression the numbers reflected the quality of the game. However, given how bad the game was, the ratings weren’t.
Via SportsMediaWatch.com, 11.04 million tuned in for the Week 17 contest. That beat the 2023 game between the Jets and Browns by seven percent, and the 2022 game between the Cowboys and Titans by 13 percent.
It was still the second lowest audience of the year for TNF, ahead of only Broncos-Saints in October.
Prime Video will televise one of the wild-card games. The goal will surely be to beat the streaming records set by Ravens-Texans (24.3 million) and Chiefs-Steelers (24.1 million) by the Netflix games on Christmas Day.
Ultimately, it comes down to the quality of the matchup. The better the game that the NFL gives to Prime Video, the more likely a new high-water mark will be established.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford won’t be playing against the Seahawks on Sunday.
Head coach Sean McVay said earlier this week that he will likely rest regulars in Week 18 and he announced on Wednesday that Jimmy Garoppolo will be starting at quarterback. It will be Garoppolo’s first start and his first appearance of any kind since signing with the Rams.
Garoppolo’s last start came as a member of the Raiders in Week Eight of last season. He was benched after that game and signed with the Rams after becoming a free agent.
McVay didn’t share a full list of lineup changes, but said earlier this week that he anticipates running back Blake Corum playing a heavy role. McVay said Wednesday that right tackle Rob Havenstein will miss another game, but the team thinks he’ll be able to play in the playoffs.
The Rams clinched the NFC West title in Week 17, but their seed in the playoffs remains up in the air as they head into the final weekend of the regular season.
A win against the Seahawks on Sunday will make them the third seed while a loss and a win by the Buccaneers would drop them to the fourth seed. The difference between those two outcomes doesn’t appear to be enough to get Rams head coach Sean McVay to veer away from his past approach to games at the end of the season.
McVay said in an interview with the team’s website that the Rams will always compete “relative to what’s at risk. They have rested starters with a playoff berth secured throughout McVay’s tenure and he said that’s “probably the direction that we’ll go” against the Seahawks.
McVay pointed to quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and running back Blake Corum as players he’s looking forward to seeing in extended playing time. Their fellow backups also appear to be set for more snaps as the Rams work to keep all their key players healthy enough for the start of the postseason.
Rams head coach Sean McVay said after Saturday’s victory over the Cardinals that he didn’t want to get too invested in Sunday’s games — even though Los Angeles had a chance to clinch if certain teams won.
But if you heard some cheers around Southern California after Jayden Daniels hit Zach Ertz for a game-winning touchdown to end Sunday Night Football, there’s a good reason why.
With Washington’s overtime victory over Atlanta, the Rams have clinched the NFC West and are officially headed to the postseason.
The Commanders’ victory gave Los Angeles the strength-of-victory tiebreaker over Seattle, rendering the Week 18 result of the game between the Rams and Seahawks irrelevant.
After the Bengals beat the Broncos and the Rams defeated the Cardinals on Saturday night, Los Angeles needed three of Minnesota, Buffalo, San Francisco, Washington, and Cleveland to win the rest of the weekend to clinch the tiebreaker. Minnesota, Buffalo, and Washington got it done for L.A.
This is the fourth division title for the Rams under Sean McVay and their sixth trip to the postseason in his eight years as head coach.
Los Angeles will face Seattle next week at home to finish the regular season. With the Rams as the No. 3 or No. 4 seed, they are likely to rest their starters against the Seahawks. That is what they’ve traditionally done in the final week of the season with a postseason spot clinched under McVay, including last year’s Week 18 matchup against the 49ers.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is four for four when it comes to making the playoffs. And yet there’s still a sense that Sirianni isn’t a high-end NFL coach.
It’s not just a media thing. Despite a 13-4 season, Sirianni has become a 100-1 afterthought in the betting for coach of the year. And it all flows from the perception that the Eagles have the most overall talent in the league. So much talent that they thrive not because of Sirianni but in spite of him.
At times, he acts like a fan who won a contest to be coach for a day. For example, he jawed with folks in the crowd late in a win over the Browns. More recently, he reportedly got into something with Commanders tight end Zach Ertz that required Big Dom to intervene.
It’s fair to ask whether another coach would be able to nudge this impressive collection of players over the top. On Friday, Colin Cowherd offered up an interesting take. If the Eagles lose in the first- or second-round of the playoffs, Sirianni could be out — and Bill Belichick could be in.
Cowherd added that Belichick can get out of his contract with North Carolina in July. That’s not entirely accurate. As of right now, Belichick can leave with a $10 million buyout. As of June 1, the buyout drops to $1 million.
So if Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie is willing to plunk down $10 million (on top of Sirianni’s buyout and whatever it would cost to get Belichick), it can happen well before June.
Beyond Belichick, there could be other candidates. Thanks to a Christmas Day Splash! report, we now know Pete Carroll wants to back in. Chicago, in our view, isn’t a good fit. Philadelphia could be.
Others who could finish the job for a team and a fan base that is desperate to secure a bookend for the seven-year-old Lombardi Trophy include Mike Vrabel and maybe even Mike McCarthy, if the Cowboys let him walk.
Regardless, coaches are judged in large part based on their ability to help a team live up to expectations. The expectations in Philly are incredibly high. Another quick and/or embarrassing postseason exit could be enough to get ownership to conclude that, in order to win another Super Bowl, another coach is needed.
