NFL Musings, Week 15: Odell Beckham and Josh Norman Go on Tilt, All Playoff Spots Could Be Claimed Before Week 17

Odell Beckham’s Big Day

Odell Beckham and various members of the Carolina Panthers, including Josh Norman in a leading role, and Cortland Finnegan in the supporting category, provided entertainment and recklessness away from the plays between the lines yesterday. You probably saw it. We had several posts on it, as it began early with several incidents and just built from there.

On the Giants’ third play, Luke Kuechly is called for pass interference on Beckham on a pass down the seam. Safety Kurt Coleman bumps Beckham as he bounces up. Nothing major, but the first physical moment of the game involving Beckham.
On the fourth play, Beckham beats Norman deep and drops the pass.
On the fifth play, Norman and Beckham get locked up on a running play, Beckham throws his hands out, and Norman slams him to the ground, as we detailed here. No flag was thrown.

At 11:26 of the 1st quarter, on the Giants’ third play of the next possession, Beckham peels back after the pass has been thrown to the opposite side of the field and the play is ending, and nails Norman with a shoulder. Another wrestling match ensues. Beckham removes his helmet on the field. No flags are thrown again. Terry MacAuley talked to both coaches after the punt on the next play.

On the very first play of the next series, at 5:33 of the 1st, another running play where Beckham and Norman start to mix it up. Norman appears to briefly put his hands to Beckham’s facemask as they run down the field. (I believe this is the play for the image up top). After separating, Beckham returns and intentionally runs into Norman and pinballs into another Carolina defender in a move that would make an Italian midfielder proud.
On the next play, another running play, Beckham delivers a forceful slap to the facemask of Norman. No flag.

The next play is a low throw to Beckham, which is not caught. There appear to be words and Norman holds both hands up in some gesture.
The next play, a completion to Hakeem Nicks for a first down, Beckham lines up in the slot. There is uncalled illegal contact downfield as the pass is thrown from Cortland Finnegan, and Beckham goes down.
On the very next play (at 3:36 of 1st), Beckham is again in slot across from Finnegan. It’s a run. They lock up, then Beckham throws a punch at Finnegan’s facemask. They then go down in a heap and Finnegan is flagged.
At 2:44, on a run up the middle, Beckham and Norman again lock up. Beckham goes to Norman’s face and grabs under his facemask, which prompts Norman to push away on Beckham’s facemask. Norman turns and complains to the official. Again, no flag.

Very next play, another run, another play where they lock up, and Beckham throws an extra shove after the whistle. The Giants score on the Randle touchdown reception on the play after that, temporarily ending the conflicts.
On the first play of the next possession, 13:52 of the 2nd quarter, it’s another run, and after Andre Williams goes into the pile, Beckham turns and locks up with Norman, going up to the facemask again with his hands. A flag is finally thrown. Jared Allen is seen yelling at Beckham while the flag is announced. After that, there are no other incidents for the rest of the half.

SECOND HALF

First possession was uneventful. At 10:03, on 1st play of 2nd series of half, Beckham went and shoved on Norman as the whistle was sounding, but would have been relatively harmless but for all the other history in this game.
At 8:44, Beckham was called for offensive pass interference on third down. He started blocking on Finnegan early and drove him all the way out of bounds on the block. The two exchange words afterwards.
At 5:25, Beckham makes first catch of game. Norman tackles him and the ball goes out of bounds on the fumble. Norman gives him an extra shove as they are getting up, and is talking.
At 3:43, Beckham catches one for a first down. Norman throws him down, then climbs over his head on his way up. Beckham grabs Norman’s leg in response and gets a personal foul penalty.

Very next play, Beckham takes a shove from a safety as he runs a crossing route, as ball is in the air being thrown away out of bounds.
The next play is a false start. Norman walks up talking. Beckham can be seen pointing at Norman and others in the Carolina secondary. He is upset.
The next play after that is the helmet hit from Beckham on Norman. Both are given penalties.
Two plays later, Norman is penalized for attacking Beckham at the snap and delivering a blow to the head. Aikman initially tries to blame this on Beckham as it is within 5 yards. Other than standard trash talk and the celebrations, that is the end of the conflicts.

I have no personal bias against either. Here’s what I think will happen.

Josh Norman will get fined. He is everything he claims that Beckham was postgame also. He acted petulantly when things happened, like Beckham getting behind him. He slammed him to the ground. He was no innocent bystander. He climbed over Beckham in an act of disrespect in the classic wrestling move, and did draw the flag on Beckham. He went after Beckham’s facemask on several occasions.

Odell Beckham, despite the concerns for fantasy football and his drawing power on Sunday Night Football, will get fined a hefty amount, over $50,000, and suspended. I mean, if a stomp on a player in one moment can draw a suspension, I don’t know how Beckham’s behavior, culminating in the head shot, doesn’t. Beckham wasn’t the only one causing problems, but that one shot will result in a suspension, combined with all the other behavior.

The officials will be reprimanded. This was handled poorly. The initial Norman slam wasn’t penalized. Beckham went several plays dishing out things and didn’t get flagged. At some point, someone had to take control before it came to that hit. Beckham should have been tossed after that hit.

The Other Late Shot You Didn’t Hear About

Here’s Cody Wallace launching into the pile late in the Denver-Pittsburgh game. He’s not a diva wide receiver and no one probably noticed, but it wouldn’t seem to be much different from the Beckham flying into a pile late. It’s dangerous and the kind of thing the NFL is trying to prevent. We’ll see if there is any punishment for this act (then again, Wallace wasn’t involved in about 15 other incidents).

The Playoff Spots Could All Be Claimed by next Monday Night

The net effect of what happened this weekend is this … there is an outside chance that all twelve playoff spots could be claimed by the end of next week. That would leave week 17 to decide some division titles and playoff seeding, but there would be no last-second drama.

Here’s how it could happen:

NFC East–Washington beats Philadelphia Saturday Night: That would clinch the NFC East early. It remains in doubt if Philadelphia wins.

NFC Wildcard–Minnesota or Seattle win, or Atlanta loses to Carolina: Atlanta is technically alive. Their only chance is to be in a 3-way tiebreaker with Seattle and Minnesota at 9-7. That means winning out AND both Minnesota and Seattle losing both remaining games. If any of those things happen (highly likely, with the Falcons having to beat the Panthers, and the Seahawks hosting the Rams), then the NFC is set if Washington also wins.

AFC South–Houston beats Tennessee (and gets the necessary results to clinch Strength of Victory): Houston didn’t officially clinch the tiebreaker with the Colts yesterday. But they can pretty much wrap it up with another division win. Houston is 3-1, and can get to 4 division wins (the Colts can only get to 4 with the win in the final week). That would take the tiebreaker to Strength of Victory. The Texans would almost certainly win that. Houston has wins over the Jets, Saints, and Bengals. Colts would have wins over Broncos, Falcons, and (maybe) Dolphins, among games not in common. The difference between the Jets and Dolphins should mean playoffs for Houston with a win.

AFC Wildcard–Jets lose to Patriots and Denver, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh all win: As I detailed last week, Denver will lose a tiebreaker to any of the Chiefs, Steelers, or Jets, if they fall to 11-5. So Denver needs to win against Cincinnati at home, or be at risk of not controlling their own destiny entering week 17.

The Jets have the toughest matchup, hosting the Patriots. If they lose, then they are eliminated if the Chiefs beat the Browns at home, Denver beats Cincinnati at home, and Pittsburgh wins at Baltimore. Then, all that would remain is AFC West winner, AFC North winner, and seeding within the group.

I think it’s fair to say that the NFL would not want a week 17 where all the playoff spots are locked up, and teams are just deciding whether to rest starters or jostle for seeding, coming off a three-day stretch of College Football Playoffs and major bowl games.