We've reached the point in the season where we have Saturday football. Although, because this is 2020, the Saturday games are up against a full slate college games--including a number of conference championships. The NFL Saturday games don't start until mid-December specifically because of college football, but this year is weird, so why wouldn't another weird thing happen? I am curious to see how it'll impact the ratings, though, especially since the NFL games are only on NFL Network.
Thursday Night: Las Vegas (Loss)
Bills (10-3) at Broncos (5-8): Buffalo-Buffalo is thisclose to its first division title in 25 years. That crazy ending of the Browns-Ravens game prevented the Bills from clinching a playoff berth on Monday night, but they can take care of both that and the division with a victory in Denver. That should be a mere formality. Denver in December won't faze a team that's used to cold weather like the Bills. And Josh Allen played at Wyoming, so he had four years of this. The Bills won't have a problem.
Panthers (4-9) at Packers (10-3): Green Bay-After the Saints' shocking loss to the Eagles, it's now the Packers in the NFC's driver's seat. They win out, they get the bye and two games at Lambeau. And they'll have back-to-back primetime games against Southern opponents to help that cause. If they get a win and the Chiefs beat the Saints, then they're really in good shape. But they have to take care of their own business first.
Buccaneers (8-5) at Falcons (4-9): Tampa Bay-For some reason, Tampa Bay and Atlanta play two of their final three games against each other. My early prediction for Week 17 is that the Falcons win that one...because the Bucs probably won't care and will be sitting starters. Tampa Bay hasn't clinched a playoff spot yet, but it'll be simply mathematical if they win. And my guess is they won't care where their Wild Card Game is.
49ers (5-8) at Cowboys (4-9): Dallas-Dallas vs. San Francisco was supposed to be a marquee late-season Sunday night matchup. That, of course, didn't pan out the way the NFL planned, and it's been relegated to the 1:00 window. This is San Francisco's only remaining contest not in Arizona, while the Cowboys haven't played at home since their Thanksgiving debacle. Yet they're still alive in the NFC East. The 49ers, however, are playing out the string.
Lions (5-8) at Titans (9-4): Tennessee-There are several scenarios in play where the Titans can clinch a playoff spot this week, but let's look at the bigger picture for a second. If they win, they go to 10-4. They've finished 9-7 four years in a row and haven't won 10 games since 2008 (when they were 13-3). That's a testament to how great a job Mike Vrabel in his three years with the Titans. We all know what happened to Matt Patricia, another Belichick disciple, in Detroit. Fortunately for Lions fans, there are only three games left this season.
Texans (4-9) at Colts (9-4): Indianapolis-Two weeks ago, the Colts held on for a 26-20 victory over the Texans in Houston. They then made a statement with an emphatic win over the Raiders in Las Vegas. They also know that with Pittsburgh looming this week, they need to finish off a season sweep of the Texans to have any shot of winning the AFC South. Remember, they trail the Titans because of division record, so a third division loss would clinch that tiebreaker for Tennessee and send the Colts on the road for their Wild Card Game.
Patriots (6-7) at Dolphins (8-5): Miami-A loss officially knocks New England out of the playoffs. And wouldn't it be fitting for Brian Flores and Miami to be the team that does the honors? Even when they had Brady, the Patriots always struggled against the Dolphins in Miami. Now that the Dolphins are good, a New England win would actually be considered an upset. Although, the Patriots did beat the Dolphins in Week 1. These are both much different teams now than they were then, though.
Bears (6-7) at Vikings (6-7): Minnesota-Believe it or not, this game actually has some pretty big playoff implications. Three different teams can clinch if it ends in a tie. More importantly, though, the winner still has a very realistic shot at getting in themselves. Which sounds crazy considering how bad the Vikings were to start the season and how bad the Bears were from the middle until last week, when they crushed Houston.
Seahawks (9-4) at Washington (6-7): Washington-Suddenly, Washington controls its own destiny. If they win out, they're the NFC East champs and host a playoff game. In fact, this is currently what that Wild Card matchup would be. Washington enters on a roll, having won four straight, but I wonder how much of an impact Alex Smith's injury will have. The Seahawks bounced back nicely after their loss to the Giants, but they were playing the Jets. Seattle knows they need this if they don't want to have a return trip to DC in a few weeks. I'm not sure they get it, though.
Jaguars (1-12) at Ravens (8-5): Baltimore-It was crazy, but it was the win Baltimore needed. Now the Ravens can feel much more comfortable about their position with three weeks left. Playing the Jaguars at home certainly helps, too. They're still on the outside looking in at the moment, but that could change depending on how the rest of Sunday goes. Whatever happens, they know they can't lose at home Jacksonville.
Jets (0-13) at Rams (9-4): Rams-All the Rams need to do to clinch a playoff spot is beat the Jets at home. So, basically, the Rams will clinch a playoff spot this week. Of course, their priority is winning the NFC West, and next week's matchup with Seattle looms large. They also have an outside shot at the No. 1 seed, too, but they don't have control over that. What they do have control over is the fact that they're playing the Jets at home. And if you lose at home to an 0-13 team, you don't deserve to win your division!
Eagles (4-8-1) at Cardinals (7-6): Arizona-Where did that come from?! After weeks of frustrating losses, the Eagles beat the Saints and are suddenly very much alive in the NFC East (Eagles-Washington may very well end up the Week 17 Sunday night game). The Cardinals had a nice win last week, too. They fell out of the playoffs for the first time all season, then took it out on Daniel Jones (who came back a week too early). Arizona appears to be back on track, but the Eagles could very well have started their trademark late season run last week.
Chiefs (12-1) at Saints (10-3): New Orleans-This is arguably the Game of the Year, and it could easily be a Super Bowl preview. This is a huge game for both teams, too. The Chiefs have moved into the AFC's top spot, while the Saints have moved out of the NFC's. A loss here hurts New Orleans much more than it hurts Kansas City, though. And they get Drew Brees back this week. Combining those two things and the fact that Kansas City seems due for a loss after so many close ones, and I'm taking the Saints.
Browns (9-4) at Giants (5-8): Cleveland-If this one is anything like the Browns' game against the Ravens on Monday night, they made the right decision to flex it. They didn't win, but they certainly proved that they belong on the big stage. The Giants, meanwhile, looked like a completely different team in their loss to Arizona than the one that entered that game on a four-game winning streak. They need the team that played the previous four games to show up if they want to regain control of the NFC East.
Steelers (11-2) at Bengals (2-10-1): Pittsburgh-As crazy as it sounds, the Steelers are really in need of a win. They're 11-2, but they're headed in the wrong direction. Maybe that extended break they had with the Thanksgiving mess had more of an impact than we thought. Because they haven't played well in three weeks! Pittsburgh really needs to rebound, and playing Cincinnati gives them a good chance to do that. We can only hope that this game is as good as the one the other two AFC North teams played last Monday night.
This Week: 0-1
Last Week: 10-6
Overall: 131-77-1
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