Super Bowl LII is in the books and with it the 2017 NFL season.
It has certainly been an exciting, unpredictable yet occasionally tumultuous season for many teams across the league, and now the offseason is upon us. Super Bowl LII was one of the most exciting football games in recent memory, on par with Super Bowl LI last year. In the end, it was the Philadelphia Eagles who claimed victory over the New England Patriots in a 41-33 shootout and hoisted the Lombardi Trophy for the first time in franchise history. New England had previously won Super Bowl LI in perhaps the most stunning comeback in NFL history, but Tom Brady and company could not pull an absurd trick out of the hat this time.
When comparing recent NFL seasons, this one was certainly the odd man out, particularly regarding the playoff picture. The normally predictable AFC saw three of its teams shatter lengthy playoff droughts, and the NFC did a near-complete 180, with only the Atlanta Falcons returning to postseason football from the previous year. The Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans, and Jacksonville Jaguars all made the postseason for the first time in years, and Jacksonville even made it to the AFC Championship Game after finishing 3-13 the previous season, losing said championship game to New England.
However, it was not just the postseason that was rife with surprises. During and even before the regular season, there was a smattering of drama regarding players’ response to the American National Anthem being sung before games. A handful of them across the league decided to sit down or kneel to protest what they viewed as racial inequality, as most NFL players are African-American. Legions of fans across the NFL were outraged and expressed their dissent by burning NFL jerseys and showing support for boycotting the NFL itself.
The NFL finally decided to be lenient with touchdown celebration rules and let teams celebrate however they wanted in the wake of scoring touchdowns. This led to many creative and amusing celebrations by teams that incorporated themes like hide-and-seek, duck-duck-goose, and monkey in the middle, to give a few examples.
There was also a multitude of surprises on the field that elevated or derailed the seasons of certain teams. The Green Bay Packers saw their year go awry when quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a broken collarbone, the aforementioned Jaguars surged to contender status with a swarming defense, and the Houston Texans were blessed with a breakout rookie quarterback in Deshaun Watson, only to have him and key defensive players suffer season-ending injuries which saw them win only one game afterward.
However, it was one of the most tumultuous seasons in recent memory for the Seattle Seahawks, who finished the year second in the NFC West with a 9-7 record, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2011 in the process. In addition to sitting out the National Anthem before games, the Seahawks were fraught with inconsistency, untimely injuries and brief infighting between key players. In the end, their worst bane was kicker Blair Walsh, who cost the Seahawks at last two wins with untimely field goal misses, including three in a 17-14 loss to the Washington Redskins. With their divisional rivals on the rise, the Seahawks saw fit to bring a multitude of changes to the coaching staff to keep pace with them.
The 2017 NFL season was strange, unpredictable and occasionally funny. In the end, Philadelphia won it all. Given how surprising this year was for football, it is difficult to imagine what the 2018 season will bring.