Best and worst: 2018 season

by Andrew Pasquini – Sports 1140 KHTK

The NFL regular season has come to an end and playoffs are just about to get under way. It’s never too late to reflect on the season that just happened though.

Here’s the best and worst of the 2018 NFL season:

Best: Patrick Mahomes

Nobody burst onto the scene this season quite like Mahomes did with the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs weren’t too bad in 2017 with Alex Smith as their starting quarterback finishing with a 10-6 record but with Mahomes this season, Kansas City finished 12-4 and winning their third-consecutive AFC West title. Mahomes led the NFL in touchdown passes with 50, tying Tom Brady for second-most all-time and just five behind Peyton Manning for most. Mahomes is only 22-years old and seems to be a lock for the MVP.

Worst: Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars might have been the most disappointing team in the NFL this season coming off a season where they finished 10-6 and had an appearance in the AFC Championship Game.

This season, the Jaguars finished 5-11 and benched quarterback Blake Bortles half way through the season after signing him to a 3-year, $45 million extension. The Jaguars offense suffered due to the poor play from Bortles, going from the fifth-best offense last season the second-worst this season.

Best: Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson

These two quarterbacks were drafted on opposite ends of the draft with Mayfield going first overall to the Browns and Jackson falling to the 32nd pick to the Ravens but both had great impacts on their teams.

Mayfield took over the Browns’ starting job in Week 3 after Tyrod Taylor went down with an injury and led the Browns to their first win since 2016. Mayfield led the Browns to a 6-7 record over his 13 starts throwing for 27 touchdowns, which broke Peyton Manning’s record for most touchdown passes by a rookie.

Jackson replaced Joe Flacco after Flacco got hurt in Week 9. Flacco led the Ravens to a 4-5 record but after Jackson took over, the Ravens finished the season winning six of their last seven games and leading Baltimore to the playoffs.

Worst: Hue Jackson

The Browns fired Jackson after they started the season 2-5-1 following their 0-16 season. After Jackson was relieved of his duties, the Browns went 5-3 and weren’t eliminated from playoff contention until Week 16.

Jackson was then hired by the Cincinnati Bengals on November 13 as a special assistant to head coach Marvin Lewis. The Bengals had a 1-6 record after Jackson was hired and finished the season with a 6-10 record.

It’s not all bad for Jackson as he is being considered to replace Lewis as the Bengals head coach.

Best: George Kittle and Travis Kelce

Both Kittle and Kelce broke the NFL record for most receiving yards in a season by a tight end in 2018. Kelce finished the season with 103 receptions for 1,336 yards, breaking the record held by Rob Gronkowski in 2011 when he had 1,327. Less than an hour later, Kittle scored on a 43-yard touchdown pass to put his season total to 1,377 yards, breaking Kelce’s newly-minted record.

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