Thursday Night: Seattle (Win)
Eagles (3-5-1) at Browns (6-3): Cleveland-Philadelphia may be the "best" team in the NFC East, but that description becomes looser and looser every week. Especially when you consider the Eagles' upcoming schedule. Cleveland, Seattle, Green Bay, New Orleans, Arizona. Five potential playoff teams in a row before ending the season with two division games. It's incredibly realistic that the Eagles could be 3-10-1 and those games would still matter. Oh, how the mighty have fallen!
Falcons (3-6) at Saints (7-2): New Orleans-I've gotta admit, I'm skeptical of the decision to start Taysom Hill instead of Jamies Winston. The Saints obviously have to change their offense without Drew Brees, but will Hill be as big of a weapon if he's starting? I guess we'll find out. And they can always go to Winston mid-game if it's not working. Either way, New Orleans has far too many weapons to have to worry about Atlanta.
Bengals (2-6-1) at Washington (2-7): Cincinnati-Rumor has it Washington is considering permanently not having a name. I sure hope they decide against that, but that's an issue for another day. The issue for today is their game against Cincinnati. For the Bengals, with Washington and the Giants in consecutive weeks, this is a chance to actually gain some momentum. Don't forget, they already have a tie against the Eagles.
Bengals (2-6-1) at Washington (2-7): Cincinnati-Rumor has it Washington is considering permanently not having a name. I sure hope they decide against that, but that's an issue for another day. The issue for today is their game against Cincinnati. For the Bengals, with Washington and the Giants in consecutive weeks, this is a chance to actually gain some momentum. Don't forget, they already have a tie against the Eagles.
Lions (4-5) at Panthers (3-7): Detroit-Christian McCaffrey came back for one game, and now he's out again! Pretty much sums up the Panthers' season in a nutshell. Meanwhile, for all the complaining everyone's doing about the fact that the Lions always play on Thanksgiving, they might head into the game with a .500 record. Which, frankly, is a very realistic possibility.
Steelers (9-0) at Jaguars (1-8): Pittsburgh-The Steelers have been very quick to point out that they're not gonna let this become a trap game. It would be easy to see how. Taking their undefeated record to face an opponent on an eight-game losing streak just four days before a Thanksgiving night showdown with their archrivals. Fortunately, they've still got the Chiefs to worry about, so they've got every reason to stay focused against Jacksonville. Look for them to still have that zero in the loss column on Thursday.
Titans (6-3) at Ravens (6-3): Baltimore-This is a very important game for potential tiebreakers in the AFC. Not to mention the fact that the Ravens need to win if they have any hope of catching the Steelers. Losing to the Patriots could really end up hurting them! Baltimore will probably have a little extra motivation after last season's playoff loss to Tennessee, too. The Titans, meanwhile, have that rematch with Indianapolis next week and would really prefer to not enter that first-place showdown on a two-game losing streak. So, yeah, this is a big game for both.
Patriots (4-5) at Texans (2-7): New England-We should've known better. You can never count a Belichick-coached team out. That was by far New England's best game of the season on Sunday night, and suddenly they're still relevant in the playoff race. It'll obviously take some work for them to get there, but a win in Houston gets them back to .500 with six games left. Will it happen? Probably not. But it's definitely still possible.
Dolphins (6-3) at Broncos (3-6): Miami-Believe it or not, a win here puts the Dolphins in a first-place tie with the Bills. We need to start taking the possibility of a playoff game in Miami seriously. Winning in Denver in November is never easy, but the Dolphins will catch a little bit of a break weather-wise, as the temperature will be in the low 50s. More importantly, with all of the other 6-3 teams facing a tough opponent this week, this is a chance for the Dolphins to pull one game ahead of that pack. They'll be ready for this one.
Jets (0-9) at Chargers (2-7): Chargers-Both of these teams were supposed to be off this week. Instead they end up playing each other in the last of the COVID rescheduled games. It's a chance for the Chargers to finally not blow a fourth quarter lead and lose a close one. Because they should be able to have complete control against the Jets. Of course, the Jets, who are coming off their bye, look at this one as their opportunity to finally get their first win.
Packers (7-2) at Colts (6-3): Green Bay-With all the craziness that's been going on in the NFC South and West, it's the Packers who currently hold the No. 1 seed in the conference. A loss here wouldn't hurt them that much on the tiebreaker front (it wouldn't hurt at all, actually), but the margin is so close that every game is important. This game is just as important to the Colts, who own the division tiebreaker thanks to their win over the Titans, who they play again next week. They're in that jumbled AFC wild card mix, too, so they may even need this one more than Green Bay.
Cowboys (2-7) at Vikings (4-5): Minnesota-Dallas may get Andy Dalton back this week after his concussion-COVID double whammy. And that could make a huge difference for a Cowboys offense that has been non-existent since he went down. Yet, despite that (and the fact that the NFC East is terrible), Dallas is still in the mix. Minnesota is on a roll, though. The Vikings have won three in a row since their bye and are starting a three-game homestand that could make them suddenly relevant.
Chiefs (8-1) at Raiders (6-3): Kansas City-A Week 5 home loss to the Raiders is the only blemish on Kansas City's record. And how did Las Vegas do it? They outscored them 40-32. I'm not saying it was a factor, but that game was during that stretch when the Chiefs had two of three games moved to Monday evenings. This week they're not only on their regular schedule, they're also coming off their bye week. And we all know how good Andy Reid's teams are coming off a bye. I also just can't see them getting swept by a division rival.
Rams (6-3) at Buccaneers (7-3): Tampa Bay-What a difference a week makes! After being held to a field goal by the Saints, the Bucs went into Carolina and put up 46 points last week. The Rams kinda have that same thing going on. They lost in Miami, then went and beat the Seahawks to create that short-lived three-way tie. It's important to note, however, that all three of the Rams' losses this season have come on the road. Not just on the road, on the East Coast. Make that 0-for-4 on Monday night.;
This Week: 1-0
Last Week: 8-6
Overall: 97-50-1
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