GKJ
Global Moderator
- Feb 27, 2002
- 194,175
- 44,149
Bah humbug! No, that's too strong because we gotta get moving apparently on this week's football as there must be football on Christmas. Even though it's on Wednesday. Once upon a time in this league, that was not only persona non grata, but it was that during the playoffs. Now we have to do it on a platform that's never aired any kind of serious sporting event. It also means we have 10 national windows, which I'm pretty sure is a first in NFL history. We're going to see 6 games before we even get to Sunday. So, if you forgot the cranberries, that guy or girl you've been chasing all year will probably be at home watching the NFL on Netflix instead of going back out into the snow at the all-night grocery.
Wednesday 1:00pm, Netflix
KC @ PIT: Obviously, the same four teams that played on Saturday will come back to play on Christmas Day. The Chiefs hosted on Saturday, so now they have to travel for this game - a short week in Pittsburgh. Two teams that have proven however many times over the years that they can pull wins out of their ass, so we'll see who is the best one at that in this game. The Steelers lost on Saturday to the Ravens, so those two teams are tied in the standings. The Chiefs are favored here, and did not score 31 points vs. the Texans, but they did win and are sitting at 14-1. A win here would clinch the #1 seed in the AFC. I think Mariah Carey is performing before the game.
Wednesday 4:30pm, Netflix
BAL @ HOU: We got a gut check game here for the Texans, as they're one of those teams who have lost to almost all of the best teams they've played (they did beat the Bills). The Texans are already AFC South champions, seem destined for the 4 seed (as usual), and a win here would likely mean that these two teams will play on the same field in two weeks. We also getting Beyonce at half time. Netflix wasting no expense here.
Thursday 8:15pm, Amazon Prime
SEA @ CHI: The Bears are blessed with a Thursday game for another holiday week, which is supposed to be a blessing to us, I guess, to line up a second streaming service this week. At 4-11, the Bears have not won since losing the Hail Mary game in Washington. The Seahawks don't have room for error here being a game behind the Rams and two behind WFT, and losers of two in a row. Geno Smith has been piling up the turnovers, which would be the most plausible path to victory for the Bears, who are playing their last home game of the year in prime time.
Saturday 1pm, NFL Network:
LAC @ NE: Last week, the Patriots were tough on the Bills. Almost got them in their letdown game. But they play again next week. This week they will play the Chargers, who make the long trip after beating the Broncos on Thursday. A win clinches a playoff spot for Jim Harbaugh, and another trip to somewhere cold, probably. Perhaps even another Harbaugh Bowl.
Saturday 4:30pm, NFL Network:
DEN @ CIN: This might be the most fun game of Saturday. The Bengals offense was slowed down last week, but they played the Browns, so they could afford to do that. Can the Broncos do the same? A win for them also clinched a playoff spot. But unlike the Chargers opponent, the Bengals are actually still alive at 7-8. While they have three teams to jump ahead, they get to play one of them here.
Saturday 8pm, NFL Network:
ARZ @ LAR: The Cardinals were the ones to lose to the Panthers last week, so they are eliminated from the playoffs. Could be a dead man walking scenario as the Rams can close the deal on the NFC West in their building. However, their offense has been slowed the past couple of weeks after hanging 44 on the Bills.
MAPS
NYJ @ BUF: The Bills sleepwalked past the Patriots last week, as expected. They showed up for one half and got a win. Can they do the same against the Jets, in what won't be a trap game. The Bills look destined for the 2 seed as they need the Chiefs to lose two games while they win two, so it's looking like the Bills will need to win in Arrowhead to get to the Super Bowl.
CAR @ TB: The Bucs were hot, but they laid an egg in Dallas on Sunday night, and that has ceded control of their destiny in winning the NFC South. They have two home games to close out, but the Panthers are a much tougher bunch as evidenced by their 36-30 OT win over the Cardinals last week, who also had their season to play for. If the Bucs lose, they cannot be eliminated before Sunday Night Football, but it would take them out of winning the division.
TEN @ JAX: No.
MIA @ CLE: This game had been flexed out of SNF, thankfully. The Dolphins are one of the 7-8 teams who need a collapse from either the Chargers or Broncos, while winning their games. Now, the Browns do stink, but we all know the story about the Dolphins playing in cold weather. They might get lucky as the forecasted temp appears to be around 50 degrees.
DAL @ PHI: Well, things have gotten bad enough for the Cowboys that a game in Philadelphia was flexed out of the late afternoon window as a schedued full-national, something that can only be attributed to their poor season and overall lack of relevance in the late season playoff picture as they've been eliminated. Still going to be the feature game in the early window, though. No idea if the Eagles will have Jalen Hurts available after being concussed early vs. WFT on Sunday. Some folks thought it would be funny if Kenny Pickett replaced him earlier this season, but they don't seem to be laughing anymore.
IND @ NYG: The Colts are in the 8 seed for the AFC right now, so they need to win out. They have the opponents do that, as the Giants hold the cards for the #1 overall pick in the draft here during their worst losing streak in 100 years.
LV @ NO: The state of play here is that we've reached a point where the 3-12 Raiders are road favorites, currently, as we await word on Alvin Kamara or if this will in fact be the Derek Carr Revenge Game. The Saints are otherwise running out practice squad guys at QB and WR, so it was no surprise they lost to the Packers 34-0 on Monday Night Football.
Sunday 4:25pm, Fox
GB @ MIN: The Packers and Vikings were flexed into the full national spot on Fox. So that means they will be one of only two other games going, everyone will have this game available, and that Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady will be in Minnesota for a big divisional matchup. The Packers are two games behind the Vikings, but the Vikings have to go to Detroit next week. Not that they can't win either or both game, but no many teams close their seasons as a 13-win team playing division teams who have won 11 and 13. The Vikings hold their destiny for the 1 seed in the NFC, while the Packers are locked out of it and will be a wild card.
Sunday 8:20, NBC
ATL @ WSH: Even though they beat a backup QB, the Washington Football Team pulled out a win against the Eagles despite 5 turnovers - one of them late - but Jayden Daniels may have put himself back in front for the offensive rookie of the year with another last second win, which also still has them alive for the NFC East title. They had already been rewarded by having this game flexed into Sunday Night Football, and this could potentially be a Wild Card round matchup in Atlanta. Michael Penix made his first start last week, which was fortunately a softball against the Giants. The stakes are raised considerably here, but Penix is not a stranger to real pressure situations. It's the second time this year that WFT has had a game flexed into a national slot with a rookie QB matchup, as the future of the NFL will be on display.
Monday 8:15, ABC/ESPN
DET @ SF: Well, this game looked a lot better as the NFC Championship Game rematch when it was made, or even a few weeks ago, but the 49ers have since been eliminated from the playoffs. I wouldn't expect them to check out against the Lions, though. Their defense isn't as ravaged as their offense, and the Lions path to winning in the playoffs looks like it's going to be scoring as many points as possible as they're down something like 8 starters on defense. They'll be rooting for a Packers win, which would make a Lions win here a clinching scenario for the 1 seed, and likely rest next week.
Wednesday 1:00pm, Netflix
KC @ PIT: Obviously, the same four teams that played on Saturday will come back to play on Christmas Day. The Chiefs hosted on Saturday, so now they have to travel for this game - a short week in Pittsburgh. Two teams that have proven however many times over the years that they can pull wins out of their ass, so we'll see who is the best one at that in this game. The Steelers lost on Saturday to the Ravens, so those two teams are tied in the standings. The Chiefs are favored here, and did not score 31 points vs. the Texans, but they did win and are sitting at 14-1. A win here would clinch the #1 seed in the AFC. I think Mariah Carey is performing before the game.
Wednesday 4:30pm, Netflix
BAL @ HOU: We got a gut check game here for the Texans, as they're one of those teams who have lost to almost all of the best teams they've played (they did beat the Bills). The Texans are already AFC South champions, seem destined for the 4 seed (as usual), and a win here would likely mean that these two teams will play on the same field in two weeks. We also getting Beyonce at half time. Netflix wasting no expense here.
Thursday 8:15pm, Amazon Prime
SEA @ CHI: The Bears are blessed with a Thursday game for another holiday week, which is supposed to be a blessing to us, I guess, to line up a second streaming service this week. At 4-11, the Bears have not won since losing the Hail Mary game in Washington. The Seahawks don't have room for error here being a game behind the Rams and two behind WFT, and losers of two in a row. Geno Smith has been piling up the turnovers, which would be the most plausible path to victory for the Bears, who are playing their last home game of the year in prime time.
Saturday 1pm, NFL Network:
LAC @ NE: Last week, the Patriots were tough on the Bills. Almost got them in their letdown game. But they play again next week. This week they will play the Chargers, who make the long trip after beating the Broncos on Thursday. A win clinches a playoff spot for Jim Harbaugh, and another trip to somewhere cold, probably. Perhaps even another Harbaugh Bowl.
Saturday 4:30pm, NFL Network:
DEN @ CIN: This might be the most fun game of Saturday. The Bengals offense was slowed down last week, but they played the Browns, so they could afford to do that. Can the Broncos do the same? A win for them also clinched a playoff spot. But unlike the Chargers opponent, the Bengals are actually still alive at 7-8. While they have three teams to jump ahead, they get to play one of them here.
Saturday 8pm, NFL Network:
ARZ @ LAR: The Cardinals were the ones to lose to the Panthers last week, so they are eliminated from the playoffs. Could be a dead man walking scenario as the Rams can close the deal on the NFC West in their building. However, their offense has been slowed the past couple of weeks after hanging 44 on the Bills.
MAPS
NYJ @ BUF: The Bills sleepwalked past the Patriots last week, as expected. They showed up for one half and got a win. Can they do the same against the Jets, in what won't be a trap game. The Bills look destined for the 2 seed as they need the Chiefs to lose two games while they win two, so it's looking like the Bills will need to win in Arrowhead to get to the Super Bowl.
CAR @ TB: The Bucs were hot, but they laid an egg in Dallas on Sunday night, and that has ceded control of their destiny in winning the NFC South. They have two home games to close out, but the Panthers are a much tougher bunch as evidenced by their 36-30 OT win over the Cardinals last week, who also had their season to play for. If the Bucs lose, they cannot be eliminated before Sunday Night Football, but it would take them out of winning the division.
TEN @ JAX: No.
MIA @ CLE: This game had been flexed out of SNF, thankfully. The Dolphins are one of the 7-8 teams who need a collapse from either the Chargers or Broncos, while winning their games. Now, the Browns do stink, but we all know the story about the Dolphins playing in cold weather. They might get lucky as the forecasted temp appears to be around 50 degrees.
DAL @ PHI: Well, things have gotten bad enough for the Cowboys that a game in Philadelphia was flexed out of the late afternoon window as a schedued full-national, something that can only be attributed to their poor season and overall lack of relevance in the late season playoff picture as they've been eliminated. Still going to be the feature game in the early window, though. No idea if the Eagles will have Jalen Hurts available after being concussed early vs. WFT on Sunday. Some folks thought it would be funny if Kenny Pickett replaced him earlier this season, but they don't seem to be laughing anymore.
IND @ NYG: The Colts are in the 8 seed for the AFC right now, so they need to win out. They have the opponents do that, as the Giants hold the cards for the #1 overall pick in the draft here during their worst losing streak in 100 years.
LV @ NO: The state of play here is that we've reached a point where the 3-12 Raiders are road favorites, currently, as we await word on Alvin Kamara or if this will in fact be the Derek Carr Revenge Game. The Saints are otherwise running out practice squad guys at QB and WR, so it was no surprise they lost to the Packers 34-0 on Monday Night Football.
Sunday 4:25pm, Fox
GB @ MIN: The Packers and Vikings were flexed into the full national spot on Fox. So that means they will be one of only two other games going, everyone will have this game available, and that Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady will be in Minnesota for a big divisional matchup. The Packers are two games behind the Vikings, but the Vikings have to go to Detroit next week. Not that they can't win either or both game, but no many teams close their seasons as a 13-win team playing division teams who have won 11 and 13. The Vikings hold their destiny for the 1 seed in the NFC, while the Packers are locked out of it and will be a wild card.
Sunday 8:20, NBC
ATL @ WSH: Even though they beat a backup QB, the Washington Football Team pulled out a win against the Eagles despite 5 turnovers - one of them late - but Jayden Daniels may have put himself back in front for the offensive rookie of the year with another last second win, which also still has them alive for the NFC East title. They had already been rewarded by having this game flexed into Sunday Night Football, and this could potentially be a Wild Card round matchup in Atlanta. Michael Penix made his first start last week, which was fortunately a softball against the Giants. The stakes are raised considerably here, but Penix is not a stranger to real pressure situations. It's the second time this year that WFT has had a game flexed into a national slot with a rookie QB matchup, as the future of the NFL will be on display.
Monday 8:15, ABC/ESPN
DET @ SF: Well, this game looked a lot better as the NFC Championship Game rematch when it was made, or even a few weeks ago, but the 49ers have since been eliminated from the playoffs. I wouldn't expect them to check out against the Lions, though. Their defense isn't as ravaged as their offense, and the Lions path to winning in the playoffs looks like it's going to be scoring as many points as possible as they're down something like 8 starters on defense. They'll be rooting for a Packers win, which would make a Lions win here a clinching scenario for the 1 seed, and likely rest next week.
