BBNFL Week 17: Josh Paschal plays his best game of the season

It feels weird recounting with excitement the number of sacks Josh Paschal had in a relatively important game for the Detroit Lions when it comes to playoff implications, because football at large looks meaningless after what happened on Monday Night Football.

Gruesome injuries, scary collisions, and unnerving concussions are an unfortunate part of America’s favorite sport. However, as all-too-common players being carted off the field is, the game has not seen an injury with as much cultural impact as it did on Monday night when Bills’ safety, Darvin Hamlin, collapsed after a hard but routine-looking tackle.

The Bills are now reporting Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest. Medical personnel performed CPR on the field before an ambulance took him to the nearest trauma center, sending Hamlin’s teammates into tears. The NFL rightfully canceled the game and the cable news stations which would never normally cover sports reported the situation as breaking news.

Somber is too mild of a word to describe how utterly shaken it made everyone involved, including television onlookers. Of course, extreme tragedies like this bring out the best and worst of humanity. I will not highlight examples of the latter, but on a positive note, Darvin Hamlin’s 2020 toy drive fund, with a goal of $2,500, as of the time of this writing, is over $3.7 million.

Hamlin remains in critical condition.

Back to Josh Paschal, I suppose

With all the positive vibes sent Darvin Hamlin’s way, let’s dip back into our regularly scheduled program of how former Kentucky players faired during Week 17 of this NFL season, starting with Josh Paschal. The Detroit Lions are (somehow) in playoff contention. After starting the year 1-6, they have managed to crawl back to 8-8 and have a shot at cracking the postseason.

This week, they got there in part due to Paschal’s best game of his young career. Paschal debuted for Detroit in Week 7 but has only played intermittently since. On New Year’s Day, the former Wildcat linebacker racked up four tackles, two of which were tackles for a loss and two of which were sacks. It was all part of a tremendous defensive effort that held the Chicago Bears to zero points in the final three quarters and a 41-10 victory.

The Lions need to beat Randall Cobb‘s Green Bay Packers next week and get some help from Liam Coen and the Los Angeles Rams to beat the Seattle Seahawks, both very possible scenarios. Cobb, by the way, had two catches for 20 yards in his team’s win over the Vikings.

First career sack for Josh Paschal!#CHIvsDET | 📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/e9QibMFjQY

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) January 1, 2023

Commanders, Jaguars eliminated from playoffs despite Jamin Davis, Josh Allen’s big day

It was another nine-tackle performance for Jamin Davis this week, but the Washington Commanders fell to the Cleveland Browns, officially eliminating them from playoff contention. Davis has been on a tear in the back half of the season but will have just one more game to finish off the year strong. Washington needs a lot of help moving forward, but the way Davis has played, they may have found their starting middle linebacker for years to come.

Similar to Washington, the Jacksonville Jaguars also saw their playoff hopes squashed over the weekend, despite a win and solid performance from a former Kentucky pass-rusher. Josh Allen had a sack and six total tackles on the day but the Jags’ dominating 31-3 victory over the Texans was not enough to keep their playoff hopes alive. Allen also had an insanely high nine QB pressures, which bolsters him up to fifth in the league in that category.

The Jaguars pass rush recorded their highest pressure rate (54.3%) in a game since Week 1, 2017 (also against the Texans).

Josh Allen led the defense with a career-high 9 pressures and now ranks 5th in pressures this season (58).#JAXvsHOU | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/5WqeIJiWJp

— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) January 1, 2023

Corey Peters recorded two tackles in the Jaguars win and of course, Luke Fortner, once again played every snap at the center position.

Not unlike Josh Paschal and the Lions, the Jaguars are not far away from being playoff contenders. With Trevor Lawrence starting to find his groove, look for the Jags to end their five-year postseason drought next year.

Other BBNFL Notes

• Za’Darius Smith had three tackles (two solo) in the Vikings’ blowout loss. With a regroup needed before the playoffs, Smith could very well get some rest next week as the team’s final regular season contest against the Bears could only benefit them from a seeding standpoint if the 49ers lose to the Arizona Cardinals, an unlikely outcome.
• Mike Edwards recorded six tackles (five solo) in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ win over Carolina Panthers. Even if the Buccs lose their final week and drop below .500 (8-9), Tom Brady will have found a way to eke his team back into the playoffs once again, where we know anything is possible. Marquan McCall had one tackle in the Panthers’ loss.
• Rounding out the Week 17 games for former ‘Cats, Lonnie Johnson had three tackles (all solo) for the Tennessee Titans while Quinton Bohnanna had one tackle for the Dallas Cowboys.

Get well soon, Darvin Hamlin.