Of course, the one time I actually pick the Colts to beat the Texans, Houston wins. And it was a big one for the Texans. It keeps them as the No. 3 seed in the AFC and, more importantly, they avoided getting swept by Indianapolis, which really might've been costly in the division race. In fact, it could be the thing that gives Houston the division and knocks Indy out entirely.
And now that we've finally reached the final week of byes, the playoff picture is going to become an even bigger focus. It's usually starting on Thanksgiving that we see the playoff standings at the end of every game involving good teams. And there are plenty of those this week. All three national games (all four including Thursday night) include at least one first-place team. In fact, the Rams are the only non-first-place team playing in prime time this week.
Thursday Night: Indianapolis (Loss)
Buccaneers (3-7) at Falcons (3-7): Atlanta-Where did this come from? After starting 1-7, the Atlanta Falcons suddenly have this dominant defense. They've only given up 12 points combined in their last two games, both wins. Now they look to make it three in a row against division rivals. Considering the fact that they play five straight in the division and six of their last eight are division games, maybe Atlanta's season isn't lost, after all. They still have no chance at winning the division, but, like the Steelers, they can at least make their record look a lot more respectable at the end.
Broncos (3-7) at Bills (7-3): Buffalo-Criticize the Bills all you want for beating up on bad teams. You can only play who's on the schedule, and those bad teams have put the Bills in a good position to make the playoffs. The tough part of their schedule is coming (at Dallas, Baltimore, at Pittsburgh, New England), but a win here gets them to 8-3 and gives them a two-game lead over seventh place in the AFC. Win here, win against Miami in Week 17, and that should be enough even if the Bills lose all four of those games.
Giants (2-8) at Bears (4-6): Giants-As the NFL celebrates its 100th season, two of the league's marquee franchises are struggling. The Giants have lost six straight, while the Bears have dropped five out of six. Chicago will be the early game on Thanksgiving, so this gives them a chance to carry some momentum into that nationally-televised contest in Detroit. I think the Giants see this as one of the few remaining winnable games on their schedule, though. The Bears' defense will give the Giants problems, but Chicago's not having an offense will be a bigger problem and the Giants snap their skid.
Steelers (5-5) at Bengals (0-10): Pittsburgh-The first time these two teams met, they were both in danger of falling into the abyss. They were both 0-3 on that Monday night and the Steelers dominated. That started Pittsburgh on a 5-2 run that has them seriously thinking playoffs. The Bengals, meanwhile, are still winless, which isn't as crazy as how badly they've been losing. They haven't even been close in most of their games! This is the Steelers' first game since the disgusting events last week in Cleveland, so we'll see if there's any carryover. Fortunately, against the Bengals, the loss of Mike Pouncey shouldn't have too much of an impact.
Dolphins (2-7) at Browns (3-6): Cleveland-Speaking of the disgusting events last week in Cleveland, Browns fans found a way to make it worse. There was actually a petition going around online seeking Myles Garrett's reinstatement that has gathered more than 60,000 signatures. Seriously??!! Did they see the guy commit assault on national television? Anyway, Garrett is rightfully suspended for the rest of the season, which severely damages the Browns' faint playoff hopes. They shouldn't need him to beat Miami, even if the Dolphins have somehow suddenly won two in a row (blowing their chances at wresting the No. 1 pick away from Cincinnati).
Panthers (5-5) at Saints (8-2): New Orleans-Cross flexing has been a thing for at least like five years, and it still confuses me. For example, Jets-Redskins was on FOX instead of CBS last week for some reason. I have no idea why. And this one was flipped to CBS as their marquee game. But that's because all of the AFC road games suck and CBS wanted at least one good game. So Panthers-Saints it is. New Orleans rebounded from that random loss to Atlanta by dominating the Bucs last week. A win here should all but wrap up the NFC South with a month to go.
Raiders (6-4) at Jets (3-7): Oakland-Don't look now, but the Oakland Raiders are right smack in the middle of the playoff race. And they can move into a wild card spot (and a first-place tie with the Chiefs) with a win over the Jets at Met Life Stadium. The weather in this area isn't supposed to be good on Sunday, but the Raiders are hot. And the Jets need to prove that they can beat an AFC team. They're 3-1 against the NFC East, 0-6 against their own conference.
Seahawks (8-2) at Eagles (5-5): Settle-It got flexed out of Sunday night, which says nothing about the quality of this game. Because this matchup has a big bearing on the NFC playoff standings. Seattle is firmly in a playoff position, while the Eagles probably have to focus on the division race. Especially if they drop this one, which would put them four games behind Seattle and give the Seahawks the tiebreaker.
Lions (3-6-1) at Redskins (1-9): Detroit-Those faint playoff chances that Detroit was clinging to are all but gone now. The Lions have dropped six out of seven, with the only win coming against the Giants. Fortunately for them, the Redskins are in the same company as the Giants. Although, I'm still not sure what this team looks like without Matthew Stafford. It's going to be a long six weeks without him one way or another. They'll get even longer if they lose to the Redskins.
Jaguars (4-6) at Titans (5-5): Tennessee-That Texans win on Thursday night had major implications on this game, too. Because the Titans haven't played Houston yet and play Indianapolis next week. So, a win over the Jaguars to get to 6-5 and keeps them right in the thick of it. A loss, though, and they're tied with Jacksonville, two games behind Houston. That's a big difference. Especially since both wild cards are wide open.
Cowboys (6-4) at Patriots (9-1): New England-Get ready to see a lot of the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys are the national game a lot anyway, but their next five games are all national TV affairs. Starting with a heavyweight matchup in Foxboro. The Patriots haven't lost a home game in what seems like three years and their two toughest games remaining (Dallas, Kansas City) are both at home. Dallas always shows up for games like this, though, so I think they might give New England all they can handle. In the end, though, expect Bradicheck to make it another 10-win season.
Packers (8-2) at 49ers (9-1): Green Bay-Now things get serious for the 49ers. They beefed up against weaker teams, but now they've got a three-game stretch of Packers, Ravens, Saints. It's make-or-break for San Francisco, which doesn't just have to worry about the 1-seed. They've also got the Seahawks to worry about. Green Bay and New Orleans don't play this season, but they both play San Francisco. So, yeah, this game has major implications all around. And, frankly, the Packers are a better team than the 49ers. They get the big road win and take over the NFC's No. 1 seed.
Ravens (8-2) at Rams (6-4): Baltimore-Call me crazy, but I think the Ravens might be the best team in football. They've always been all about defense, yet suddenly they're this offensive juggernaut. We'll really see they're made of when they travel cross country for a Monday night game at the LA Coliseum. Last year around this time, the Rams played the Game of the Year on a Monday night against the Chiefs. Do we have another one in store this year?
BONUS GAME--Grey Cup: Tiger-Cats vs. Blue Bombers: Hamilton-They're the only two teams that haven't won the Grey Cup in the 2000s. Hamilton last won in 1999. Winnipeg last won in 1990. That was so long ago the entire American experiment happened and failed since then...and that ended 25 years ago! Even Baltimore has won the Grey Cup more recently than Winnipeg! (Browns and Lions fans are probably thinking "cry me a river," but in a nine-team league, 20 and 29 years is even longer). Anyway, Hamilton was the dominant team in the CFL all season, so I think they cap it off by hoisting the Grey Cup and bringing the Bombers' drought to an even 30 years.
This Week: 0-1
Last Week: 11-3
Overall: 95-67-1
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