The Aaron Rodgers the Jets waited for finally showed (at the worst time) and 8 things we learned in Week 18

Week 18, for the majority of the NFL, had little to no meaning.

The final week of the 2024 regular season was dominated by games between playoff teams and those waiting to find out their 2025 NFL Draft position. We saw the New England Patriots choose hard mode for their rebuild by playing their way out of the top spot of this spring's draft. The Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons each lost heartbreakers that in no way affected their playoff status. Kyler Murray threw four touchdown passes against a San Francisco 49ers team that rated Sunday's game as a shrug.

Fortunately, there were a few elements that will help untangle the 2025 NFL Playoffs and the looming offseason. Some in a good way, others not. Let's talk about them, from the Packers' very bad day to Aaron Rodgers's unlikely revival and what it may mean for the New York Jets.

1. The Chicago Bears did something right (by bringing back a trick play from 13 years ago)

It wasn't just that the Bears took a 7-0 lead over the Green Bay Packers Sunday afternoon -- their first lead since Week 12. It's that they did it by making their division rival look utterly stupid in the process.

Josh Blackwell's 94-yard punt return was only difficult due to distance. The Packers sold out so hard on D.J. Moore -- a player who hasn't fielded a punt since 2021 -- they never noticed the gunner-blocker retreating down the sideline away from the action. The only Green Bay special teamer with a clue was punter Daniel Whelan, who wound up purposely double-teamed for what may have been the first time in his life.

Local bars across Wisconsin and Illinois likely lit up for another reason. The old timers remembered seeing the exact same play more than 13 years ago.

This emboldened interim head coach Thomas Brown to experiment with more wackiness... with less productive results.

Still, Chicago found a way to break a 10-game losing streak and end the Brown era on a high note. Caleb Williams needed 30 dropbacks to throw for only 148 yards. Only three of his completions traveled more than eight yards downfield. But this was fine, because he got a special teams touchdown and, crucially, protected the ball on a zero-turnover day (for him).

Ultimately, the Bears gained just 224 total yards of offense. They averaged 3.2 yards per carry. They won, 23-22 in large part because...

2. The Packers' final, meaningless week went about as poorly as it could have

In a stretch of two minutes in the second quarter, both Jordan Love and Christian Watson were forced off the field. Neither returned and the Bears won their first game at Lambeau Field since 2015.

The outcome of the game did not matter; the Washington Commanders' win over the Dallas Cowboys locked the Packers into the NFC's seventh seed. Losing Love or Watson for any extended period -- not to mention seeing backup quarterback Malik Willis deal with a minor injury to his throwing arm -- could be catastrophic.

Love, to the naked eye, seemed well enough as the game wore on. He warmed up, slinging passes to teammates on the sideline after leaving the game with more than 40 minutes left to play. That included in the fourth quarter as Willis dealt with his own discomfort. Head coach Matt LaFleur told reporters after the game he expects him to play next week vs. the Philadelphia Eagles.

Watson was a different case. While he walked off the field alongside trainers, he looked anguished as he was carter to the locker room moments later. Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson's immediate reaction to the non-contact injury suggests the kind of injury that could take months to rehab.

The Packers can survive an offense without Watson. The mercurial young wideout has missed multiple games in each of his three seasons as a pro. He missed the final five games of 2023 and Green Bay still rallied to the playoffs (where Watson had just two catches in two games).

How much they can do if Love is unavailable or limited is a different story. Willis is 3-0 in games where he's thrown at least five passes as a Packer. But all three of these games were against the dregs of the AFC South. Not only are the Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans bad football teams, but also ones with whom Willis was well acquainted after spending his first two NFL seasons in Nashville.

Love was the alpha and omega of Green Bay's 2023 postseason run. He threw for 272 yards and three touchdowns in a Wild Card dismantling of the Dallas Cowboys. His sloppy play, including a game-sealing interception thrown across his body, doomed the Packers late a week later in San Francisco. If he's not great, a team already defined by its inability to beat good teams could be an easy out this postseason.

Fortunately, there are some safeguards in place. Coordinator Jeff Hafley's defense has gone from 12th to sixth in points allowed. In 2023 it ranked 23rd in expected points added (EPA) allowed. This year it's fourth, even with Jaire Alexander limited to only seven games.

That unit remains relatively healthy, especially with rookie Edgerrin Cooper fixing so many of the team's former woes in the run game. While no one may want to watch a Packers postseason rock fight, it may be what we're reduced to in 2025. If that's the case, blame the injury gods.

3. Joe Milton has a ton of raw talent (but c'mon)

Joe Milton was good enough to get New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo fired. Minutes after beating the Buffalo Bills and costing his team the top overall selection in this spring's draft, team owner Robert Kraft canned his head coach after a single 4-13 season.

Here's what that means for the Pats. From Joe Milton ensured the Patriots couldn't even tank right:

rbsdm.com/stats

4. Bryce Young makes the Carolina Panthers one of 2025's most interesting offseason teams

Eight weeks into the 2024 NFL season, the Carolina Panthers were 1-7 and looked like a lock to earn the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Instead, that pick won't even fall inside the top seven -- and that's totally fine, because the Panthers aren't looking for a quarterback right now.

It took longer than expected -- along with a benching and a promotion back to the starting lineup sparked by an Andy Dalton car accident -- but Bryce Young has finally begun to live up to his potential under first-year head coach Dave Canales. Canales was the guy who sparked Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield to revivals after they'd been discarded. Now he's put in the work to make sure Carolina doesn't throw away the player for whom the franchise mortgaged a treasure chest of draft picks after two seasons.

Young was responsible for five of the Panthers' six touchdowns in a 44-38 overtime win against an Atlanta Falcons team playing for its postseason life. That's great, but what's even better is this:

Lemme highlight the most important part.

Those downfield throws over the middle were the bane of Young's NFL existence early in his career. They were seemingly proof his diminutive frame was an obstacle he could not overcome in the NFL. They were the plays he frequently blanked when he had a man open or failed to complete when he did not.

On Sunday, however, he made his share of game-changing throws over the middle against a vulnerable Falcons defense. Some of this was a growing sense of composure and calmness in the pocket that allowed him to set his feet (especially against Atlanta's lacking pass rush). Some of it was a game plan that got overlooked players wide...

open.

That's ultimately going to be the grey cloud hanging over a five touchdown day and a win against a division rival.

The Falcons gave Young the equivalent of an open book quiz. Their pass rush didn't sack him. It didn't even record a quarterback hit.

The Buccaneers pressured Young on more than two-thirds of his dropbacks and beat Carolina 48-14 last week. Atlanta pressured him 15 percent of the time and allowed six touchdowns to the league's 25th-ranked scoring offense.

The second-year quarterback was content to stand in a clean pocket and got the ball where it needed to be, busting open an exhausted secondary in the process. The test wasn't especially difficult, but he aced it anyway.

Over the last three weeks, Young has thrown seven touchdown passes and run for two more without an interception. He's earned the chance to run it back, ideally with an upgraded supporting cast where his top target isn't a 34-year-old Adam Thielen. This is not Thielen criticism by the way -- just an obvious statement that the veteran, while still good, needs help out there.

The Eagles maxed out Jalen Hurts, a former Alabama quarterback with a rocky pro start to his career, by bringing in A.J. Brown to make those difficult catches downfield near the hashmarks and flanking him with one of the league's best offensive lines. The Panthers don't have a ton of money to spend this offseason -- somehow, they've only got $30 million to spend before cuts and restructurings, per Over The Cap. 

Could they throw cash at Tee Higgins despite the need to upgrade the defense? Settle for Amari Cooper or Hollywood Brown? Use that top-10 draft pick on a big bodied contested catch savant in Tetairoa McMillan? Focus on blocking instead and hope Jalen Coker continues his rise and Thielen has one more good year in him?

Either way, Young's earned another chance to prove he's a franchise quarterback. If the Panthers are going to maximize the potential, they'll need to keep him protected and give him playmakers who can turn on-time throws into massive gains. Carolina, Bryce Young in tow, will quietly be one of the league's most interesting teams this spring.

5. The Washington Commanders didn't quite "fight like hell" (and it didn't matter)

Commanders head coach Dan Quinn assured us Week 18 meant something.

All Washington had to play for was, depending on the outcome of Sunday's Bears-Packers game, the difference between the sixth and seventh seed in the NFC side of the playoffs. But when asked whether his team would rest players in advance of the games that actually matter, Quinn rebuffed the idea. He said his team would play "as hard as we can" and "fight like hell" to keep the sixth seed.

Then, at halftime of a game his team trailed by three points, Quinn pulled starting quarterback and likely offensive rookie of the year Jayden Daniels out of the lineup due to leg soreness. He replaced him with Marcus Mariota. Remarkably, things got better from there.

Mariota was the better quarterback in both phases of the game. He ran for a team high 56 yards and a touchdown. He threw for 161 yards and two touchdowns on just 18 attempts, including the game-winner to Terry McLaurin with three seconds to play.

This wasn't merely a clutch toss from a player who'd thrown only 26 passes this season but an act of mercy delivering us from any more Cowboys football than absolutely necessary. It was also confirmation that, no, Quinn hadn't lost his mind regarding a game that ultimately had no bearing on the team's postseason draw. Daniels wasn't being forced to fight like hell because, ultimately, that would have been very, very stupid.

Instead, Washington can sleep a bit easier knowing its starting quarterback is fine, its backup is significantly better than most teams (hello, Miami Dolphins) and its head coach understands how to maximize each.

6. Aaron Rodgers saved his best for last (and cost the Jets some draft capital in the process)

For a brief moment, it looked like the Jets' Aaron Rodgers experiment could end the way it began; painfully.

New York fell into an early 6-0 hole against Tyler Huntley and the Miami Dolphins that felt much worse than the score indicated. The Jets, with their four-time MVP quarterback, appeared once again stuck composing the worst song on the ugliest guitar. It would have been a fitting end to yet another lost season.

But somewhere along the way, Rodgers rediscovered the player who grew into a legend in Wisconsin. He scrambled and bought time in the pocket. He created openings downfield with the threat of his running, even if his mobility is a shadow of what it once was.

The pressure that had crumpled him into a foil ball of moldy leftovers too many times a week earlier now created the one-on-one:

or one-on-zero:

situations in which he could thrive.

Rodgers finished with his finest day as a Jet; a low bar to clear but one sailed over gracefully. He threw an interception on his first pass of the day and failed to turn the ball over on any of the 38 dropbacks that followed. His four passing touchdowns marked his most since 2021.

The degree of difficulty on those throws wasn't consistently high, but they still marked plays Rodgers had failed to make as he and New York struggled through the 2024 campaign.

In a season where Rodgers's average target distance dropped to a career low 6.6, he went out and completed five of eight attempts that went at least 14 yards downfield. The difference wasn't newfound competence from his receiving corps or suddenly upgraded blocking from an offensive line ravaged by injury. Rodgers found an extra gear with his legs, which bought enough time for him to be the first player since 2020 to throw four touchdown passes while under pressure, per NFL Pro.

Now comes the tricky part. What will this mean for Rodgers's future?

Will he ride off into the sunset on a relative high and begin an alternative media career? Will he use Sunday's performance as evidence he's still got it and will only be better at age 42 -- two years removed from his Achilles tear? Will the Jets, knowing there's limited opportunity to find an upgrade at quarterback for 2025, welcome him back despite the embarrassment that stalked the team throughout 2024?

Ultimately, Rodgers's revival only cost the Jets one slot of draft position, sliding from sixth to seventh in April's pecking order -- a spot to find an immediate starter but not a reliable QB. Rodgers's Week 18 performance could be the last giant leap of a dying buck. It could be the hope that kills the Jets in 2025. Or it could be evidence an all-time great still has enough left in the tank to earn the benefit of the doubt on the field.

Like most things Aaron Rodgers, no one knows which one is the actual truth.

7. Quentin Johnston may finally be the player the Los Angeles Chargers drafted him to be

Johnston was the 21st pick of the 2023 NFL Draft, chosen ahead of wide receivers like Zay Flowers, Jordan Addison, Jayden Reed and Rashee Rice. His 431 receiving yards as a rookie ranked 15th among all first year players last fall -- barely ahead of Jonathan Mingo.

Even amidst a dearth of viable targets on the Chargers roster, he still found himself upstaged by a young wideout. In this case it was Ladd McConkey, who immediately emerged as Justin Herbert's huckleberry and a rookie of the year candidate in a 1,000-plus yard debut. But in Week 18, with Los Angeles's sights set on the fifth seed in the AFC side of the playoffs and a road trip to face a struggling Houston Texans, no one shined brighter than the embattled second-year wideout.

Johnston had only two games with more than 52 receiving yards coming into Week 18's showdown with the Las Vegas Raiders. He had 183 total receiving yards in his first 10 games as a Charger. On Sunday, he surpassed that total in 60 minutes.

His 186 yards Sunday more than doubled his career high. This was not a case of easy quick throws and big runs after the catch. Johnston found gaps on deep routes. Five of his 13 catches came at least 12 yards beyond the line of scrimmage and three were are least 20 yards downfield. Herbert set out to prove he trusted his young ward in single coverage and Johnston delivered, repeatedly torching a slightly above average Las Vegas passing defense.

While Herbert's accuracy and vision were vital to the cause, Johnston's growth -- whether permanent or temporary -- was on full display. The rookie version of the former TCU star was a disheveled pile of potential stacked carelessly on an unstable base. The contested catches and yards after catch weren't there. The clutch receptions that helped take his Horned Frogs to the national championship game melted into the ether.

Now he's developed into a viable weapon behind McConkey for a dangerous Chargers offense. Sunday marked his fourth game in five weeks where he's had at least five receptions and 45 yards. While head coach Jim Harbaugh's playbook will always rely heavily on a stout defense and bruising run game, he rightfully understands a quarterback like Herbert is found money.

Johnston can accelerate that adjustment if he can tap into the downfield wizardry he unleashed in Las Vegas. He's still got a long way to go before he enters the circle of trust, but his performance in Week 18 is the stuff that will keep the Texans' defensive staff from sleeping ahead of their Wild Card matchup. Sunday's explosion may just be a one-off; if it's not, the Chargers are going to create some real havoc this postseason.

8. You want to see what a $3 million pass looks like?

Here you go:

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers could have kneeled out this game. They probably should have; a turnover here could have opened the door for an unlikely New Orleans Saints comeback in what was, at the time, a must-win game to claim the NFC South title (the Falcons' overtime loss negated this). Instead, they put in work to ensure veteran wideout Mike Evans had a chance to notch his 11th straight 1,000 yard season in an 11-year career.

This wasn't one man's quest. Tampa Bay's roster made sure we all knew how important this was not just to one Hall of Fame-bound player, but the guys who shared a locker room with him.

Only one other player in NFL history has started his career with 11 straight 1,000-yard seasons. Jerry Rice. Evans had the opportunity to join him -- a chance that probably wouldn't have, but kinda/sorta could have put his team's playoff hopes in jeopardy. The Bucs took that risk because his teammates were thrilled to rally around their respected leader.

Oh, and the catch triggered a $3 million incentive in Evans's contract, a good chunk of which you'd imagine is gonna go toward a "thank you" dinner for the guys who made it possible.

More NFL!

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NFL Draft order 2025 after Week 18: Titans secure hold on No. 1 spot

This article originally appeared on For The Win: The Aaron Rodgers the Jets waited for finally showed (at the worst time) and 8 things we learned in Week 18