What’s Hot and What’s Knott in Football – Week 17

By Rhys Knott

In words nobody ever thought they would have to write, the hook and ladder is hot in Week 17. It didn’t always work, but it popped up more this week than it normally does in a season! 

The penultimate week of the regular season threw up some injury-ravaged teams and three Christmas Day turkeys! 

But fear not, there’s plenty of comical plays to review with our usual level of seriousness. And the playoff picture became a little bit clearer. 

And are the Browns hot? 

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What’s Hot in Football – Week 17

Upon further investigation, the Browns are, in fact, not hot. The Steelers (and Aaron Rodgers) decided to base their entire offense around not letting Myles Garrett record a sack. That part of the offense worked; Chloe Kim’s other half was well and truly skunked.  

Strictly speaking, Baker Mayfield is the hottest of hot quarterbacks in Week 17, but anyone who has to throw 44 passes just to lose to the Dolphins is going to have to take a backseat this week (we still love Baker, but he’s clearly suffering with the shoulder injury, and the rest of the Buccaneers are disintegrating). 

Phillip Rivers is probably still hot (in the bad way), you can see the steam coming out of his ears! 

Derrick Henry is hot in Week 17, mainly because Todd Monken fed him the ball. 2025 has been an odd season in Baltimore, especially where the offense is concerned. Unless Henry is carrying an unspecified injury, they should have given their best player the ball a lot more than they have. 

 

King Henry’s 36 carries on the frozen tundra are 11 more than he’s had in any other game this season! Those carries resulted in 69 more rushing yards than he’s managed in any other game this season. 

If the Ravens had commit to a run-heavy offense next week, they will make the playoffs. 

Not only did Henry run for a whopping 216 yards and four touchdowns in Green Bay, but he also threw Carrington Valentine for a first down. The 2025 Ravens’ offense shall remain a mystery for years to come. 

In the very same game, Malik Willis demonstrated exactly what a hot quarterback looks like. Not only did the 26-year-old complete 85.7% of his passes for 288 yards and a touchdown, but he also ran for 60 yards, scampering in for two touchdowns. 

Not only did PFF give him an adjusted 100% completion rate, but more importantly, the Packers’ signal caller is this week’s “Malik of the Week”! 

Tyler Shough is hot in Week 17, too and whisper it quietly, but the Saints could be one of the most exciting teams to watch in 2026! Shough’s 67.8% completion rate is seventh in the league!

The 26-year-old rookie completed 22 of 27 passes against the Titans and, having thrown two touchdowns, ended the game with a 142.7 passer rating (out of 158.3). 

On the topic of rookies who shone in Week 17, Bears receiver Luther Burden III (whom Owain Jones highlighted back in February) filled the gap left by Rome Odunze. 

Burden III’s 138 yards not only lead the league this week, but are more than any other Bears receiver has racked up this season! All that and a side-step Barry John would be proud of (ask your parents). The former Missouri Tiger spun Chase Lucas out of his cleats. 

Chimere Dike is the final hot rookie in Week 17. Not just because he’s breaking records in a very ordinary Titans team.

But also because he showed up to work repping his other half, PWHL player Lexie Adzija! Everyone watches women’s sport after all.

Trey McBride? You better believe he’s hot and has been all season (just imagine how awful Jonathan Gannon’s Cardinals would be without him).

Offensive linemen catching passes isn’t technically hot, but it’s funny. First up, props to Cody Ford for hanging on to this Joe Burrow pass and secondly, spare a thought for poor Darren Hall, who found himself covering someone 150 pounds heavier than him!

That’s enough of the flash Harry’s on offense, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty, defense is where the real action is. 19 different defenders made interceptions in Week 17, and all of ESPN’s top 30 defenders recorded a sack (deja vu).

Jer’Zhan Newton is very hot in Week 17. The 23-year-old racked up three sacks against Dallas! Without wishing to cast aspersions on young Jer’Zhan, the Cowboys should be worried about that statistic; the second-year defensive tackle took 18 games to record his previous three sacks!

Jalyx Hunt (who had a busy day, more of him later), Aidan Hutchinson, Bradley Chubb, Alex Highsmith, Al-Quadin Muhammad and Derek Barnett all joined Week 17’s multiple sack club with two each. But only three of the seven guys who decked the quarterback more than once ran out winners! 

This week’s meeting of the hilarious interception club is now in session.

Nick Bolton has a strong case for the most ridiculous catch of the season with this one. Kristian Fluton must have been trying to slap the ball out of bounds, but Nick had a different idea!

T.J. Edwards showed that Bolton is the only middle linebacker with ball skills. 

Chargers rookie Oronde Gadsden II gave Azeez Al-Shaair a chance to join the linebacker pick party, and the 28-year-old gleefully accepted. 

But Gadsden isn’t the only spy in the camp this week. Bo Melton did his best to ruin Clayton Tune’s night! 

Now, about the hook and ladder craze that is sweeping the nation. Three different teams tried it, and two of them pulled it off. The Jaguars’ attempt went so poorly that it landed in the Knott section!  

The Bills tried the hook and ladder, more out of desperation than anything else. It wasn’t quite as successful as their Week 12 effort in Houston, but it still worked.

Then Ben Johnson dialled one up in Santa Clara. Chicago converted the first down, but as they were out of timeouts, D’Andre Swift would have been better off getting out of bounds.

It wouldn’t be Christmas without a bit of aggro, so the Browns’ social media gang slapping down their counterparts in Baltimore is seasonally hot!

Chig Okonkwo has his own special brand of Yuletide aggro to bring to the party!

Finally, we’re on to the Week 17 Hot Hall of Fame. Brock Purdy is pretty hot in Week 17, but not hot enough to topple Malik Willis’ performance. He did do this, though (although if you watch carefully, Kyle Juszczyk is actually wide open four seconds before Brock lets go of the ball. All’s well that ends well, though, eh? 

Vikings’ safety, Harrison Smith, is an absolute legend, so any excuse to include him in this nonsense is a good excuse! 

And, you probably can’t put a pair of cleats in the Hall of Fame, but what the hell, it’s Christmas. Our game, our rules! Check out these bad boys. Byron Murphy Jr. tinselled up his feet for Chrimbo!

What’s Knott in Football – Week 17

Briefly back to the Steelers’ nearly pointless visit to Cleveland. Myles Garrett wasn’t the only person who struggled to get the job done; the Steelers’ offense suffered some major performance anxiety. 

Two field goals on 11 drives is a level of impotence no blue pill could fix! Even though the Steelers averaged 5.5 yards per carry in the run game, Arthur Smith’s offense still turned the ball over on downs on three occasions.  

On a vaguely serious note, the annual injury plague the NFL endures is very Knott. If the league wants to extend the season to 18 games, then the NFLPA must demand extra Bye weeks or expanded rosters to give players more chances to rest.

On Christmas Day, three backup quarterbacks played in the three games. Those quarterbacks combined for 37 completions on 61 passes! Max Brosmer, Josh Johnson and Chris Oladukon managed just one touchdown pass between them! Those are International Series numbers, not primetime TV numbers.
 
On a slightly lighter note, taking a football to the facemask is definitely Knott. Taking the hit flush in the kisser when you’re just trying to call an audible is a whole new category, “Knott but make it funny”. Poor Malik Willis. His “Malik of the Week” award won’t make this sting any less!

As French author Eugene Sue once said, Revenge is a dish best served cold, and as everything was cold in Lambeau, Willis took exquisite revenge!  The Ravens’ pass rush has been Knott all season, but only allowing an opposing quarterback to run for two touchdowns on precisely the same play is incredibly Knott! 

Is catching your own pass Knott? It seems Knott, this one by Quinn Ewers, must be Knott.

Back to that Jaguars hook and ladder shemozzle. Jacksonville became the first team to try it, and let’s just say they won’t be doing this again. 

Kickers had a week to forget (when don’t they?). Brandon Aubrey’s fake field goal back in Week 14 seems to have broken him; he’s only kicking 72.7% of his field goals since then! 

In Los Angeles, “Dicker the Kicker” became “Dicker the Misser” with this slice.  

Then he delivered this shankopotamus on an extra point! Chargers were even lined up offside, but that didn’t help young Cameron. 

In total, seven kickers missed the big gap between the posts in Week 17, which is 22% of the kickers in the league! 

But Cameron might not be the most Knott Charger in Week 17. Derwin James out here making everyone feel self-conscious after their 17th turkey sandwich! Put some clothes on, dude. 

Finally, the Bills’ hook and ladder play wasn’t the only flashback to their Week 12 thrashing in Houston. Remember when Josh Allen thought he was Kyler Murray, but Will Anderson Jr. cut him down 21 yards behind the line of scrimmage? Well, it was Jalyx Hunt’s turn (him again) this time! Seriously, though, what is the rest of the Bills’ offense doing? 

RHYS KNOTT

NFL/FANTASY FOOTBALL ANALYST

Rhys has been watching the NFL for 30 something years and still hasn’t managed to pick a team to support. When he’s not fixatED on pass rushers you can find him blithering on about most sports on Twitter @wrhys_writes

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