Every week of the NFL season tells a story. GIFs -- pronounced "gifs", "jifs" or "gee-oafs" -- can do the same thing. So let's tell the story of Week 17 through GIFs.
If I had to pick one head coach/quarterback combination most likely to have a clunky and awkward high-ten scenario -- if I had to pick one combo to bust out a high-ten, period -- Marvin Lewis and Andy Dalton would sit atop that list. They did not disappoint Sunday. The celebration came after Dalton ended the Ravens' season with a 49-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Boyd that counted, to me anyway, as the most shocking moment of the 2017 regular season.
Andy Dalton going Full Montana on fourth-and-12? Against one of the best defenses in football (or so we were led to believe)? That was ... unexpected. No wonder Ravens defensive coordinator Dean Pees retired immediately after the game. Here's sorrow literally splitting John Harbaugh in half:
"We went from having all our dreams come true to them going away in a matter of seconds," Terrell Suggs said after the game, according to The Baltimore Sun. "It's like a bad dream. You can't believe it happened to us like this."
And just a reminder that the Ravens' 2016 season also ended in heartbreak when Antonio Brown reached across the goal line in the final seconds of a division-deciding Week 16 loss. Sports can be cruel.
You have to be a real monster not to feel some joy in your heart for the Buffalo Bills, who ended their infernal playoff drought when their Week 17 win in Miami synced up with the Ravens' collapse in Baltimore. And no one deserved the moment more than defensive tackle Kyle Williams, who grinded for 12 seasons in Buffalo, going from relative unknown to franchise stalwart in that time. On a perfect day for the Bills, it was fitting that Williams actually scored a rushing touchdown.
And there wasn't a more heartwarming moment this season than Williams, in the company of his two young boys, crying tears of joy after the Bengals' stunning touchdown punched Buffalo's playoff ticket.
That's the good stuff right there. Props to Sean McDermott pulling the stoic head coach routine in the midst of all that joyful noise. This is a movie scene.
And there's the physical embodiment of the New York Jets' situation at quarterback since Joe Namath left town, oh, 48 years ago. Tony Romo gave a solid take on Bryce Petty's inner-monologue during the equipment drama: "And now he's like, 'Ah, the camera is right in front of me.' That's the worst. That's the worst."
Related: How bad does Christian Hackenberg have to be to get stuck on the bench behind a guy who can't put his helmet on? I'm guessing really bad.
This is not going to quiet critics who believe that the Patriots' dynasty was built on a bed of lies and deception. Johnson Bademosi has been watching too much of the other futbol.
Let's face it: The Browns had been dancing around 0-16 for years now. Now it's finally happened, and consider it fitting that their ignominious fate was sealed when wide receiver Corey Coleman -- the latest in a long list of first-round underachievers since Cleveland's '99 reboot -- dropped a sure thing on fourth down.
There was a time when watching the Browns struggle amounted to a fun pastime for NFL fans. Like watching The Room, the Browns were in that so-bad-they're-good territory. But Cleveland in the Hue Jackson era is more like a late period American Pie sequel. You just feel badly for everyone involved, staring at the screen while wondering, "How did this get made?"
The Browns have the first and fourth pick in April's draft. They need to get this right. It's time for a fresh script.
What would Vince Lombardi do if his punter came on the field with an extra pair of pants on? Would the state of Wisconsin find him criminally responsible for his punitive decision? For the record, I'm totally cool with Donnie Jones here. No human should be outside when it's 5 degrees out. In 100 years, people will view us as barbarians.
Don't say the 2017 Chicago Bears never gave us something fun. That's the good deception. More of this kind of deception, Patriots. Stay up, John Fox.
Chargers coach Anthony Lynn instructed personnel at the StubHub Center not to display the scores of outside games Sunday. Undaunted, Philip Rivers got the intel he needed from his family situated in a distant luxury suite.
Yes, it was more disappointment for Chargers fans, who have had more than their fair share. At least they haven't lost their sense of humor:
Until next week.
Dan Hanzus runs the End Around section of NFL.com and hosts the award-winning Around The NFL Podcast. Follow him on Twitter if you want.
