We’re entering the final week of the season and it’s make or break for many teams. We’re excited for what the last week has in store for football and we’ll be breaking down each matchup and potential playoff implications with each. Our record through 17 weeks is 166-90.
Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens have clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs after two commanding wins against the San Francisco 49ers and the Miami Dolphins. The Ravens have no reason to play their starters for this game and will rest them. The Steelers have a chance to make the playoffs but need some help from other games across the league. The Steelers get the win but will still most likely end up missing the playoffs. The bright side for them is that Mike Tomlin kept his streak of having a winning record alive.
Winner: Pittsburgh Steelers
Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts
Minshew vs. Stroud for one of the last playoff spots is going to be a thriller. This game should be a shootout despite the poor weather that’ll be in play for the game. The Colts will have Zack Moss and Jonathan Taylor playing at the same time for the first time since November and the Texans will have CJ Stroud able to play. This is going to be a big game with a lot of playoff implications on the line. Stroud is the better quarterback, but Indianapolis is the better team on offense right now with more players healthy. We’re giving the edge to Indianapolis despite the valiant effort from CJ Stroud who will make the playoffs soon enough.
Winner: Indianapolis Colts
Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals
With the Browns resting most of their starters with the 5th seed locked up, the Bengals have a chance to make it the first time in over 50 years that all 4 teams in a division finished the season with a winning record. We think the Bengals are going to try to finish the season on a good note despite being one game short of missing the playoffs and try to get a good momentum heading into the offseason.
Winner: Cincinnati Bengals
Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions
The Lions won the NFC North for the first time in franchise history and have a shot at earning the #2 seed in the playoffs which they’ll be rooting for Dallas and Philadelphia to lose. The Lions also want to have a strong momentum heading into the playoffs which they already do and a win here against Minnesota will be the icing on the cake for a historic year for Detroit. We like the Lions to win, but if they get an early lead or go down early by double digits, then they should let Goff and the starters rest to prevent any injuries.
Winner: Detroit Lions
Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans
The Jaguars will most likely be without Trevor Lawrence and this will significantly hurt chances of winning this game. Christian Kirk could be back which could help if Beathard needs to play. We like the Jaguars chances regardless of who plays at quarterback but their chance of winning drops from around 80% down to around 55% with Beathard. The Jaguars are still a better team with Beathard than the Titans are.
Winner: Jacksonville Jaguars
New York Jets at New England Patriots
This will likely be the last game that Bill Belichick coaches for New England as he does not want to go out losing one last time. His days of being relevant are over, but beating the Jets to end his career is something that will be bittersweet for the Future Hall of Fame coach.
Winner: New England Patriots
Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints
Both the Falcons and Saints can sneak into the playoffs but need other teams to lose to make that happen. We don’t think that’s going to happen, but both teams will both be playing like it is a possibility which is why Derek Carr and the inconsistent Saints pull off the win.
Winner: New Orleans Saints
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers
It’s as easy as winning to make the playoffs for Tampa Bay and they get the worst team in the league as their opponent. It’s not going to be much of a challenge and Baker Mayfield earns himself the starting job at least for another season.
Winner: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers
It’s as simple as winning and the Packers are in the playoffs with the last wild card spot. The Bears are looking to play spoilers to that and should put up a good fight, but it’s Jordan Love who’s been leading the charge for Green Bay and keeping them alive despite a lack of weapons on offense. It’s going to be Green Bay who gets the last wild card spot riding on Love’s shoulders.
Winner: Green Bay Packers
Denver Broncos at Las Vegas Raiders
The Broncos benched Russell Wilson and have thrown in the towel on the season. The Broncos don’t care anymore and just want a fresh start. The Raiders take advantage of that and finish the season on a good note under interim head coach Antonio Pierce who earns himself the starting job for next year or a starting job somewhere else in the league.
Winner: Las Vegas Raiders
Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants
The Eagles let the division slip away from them in an embarrassing loss against the Arizona Cardinals at home. They haven’t looked as dominant as they were in the beginning of the season, but we don’t think they can lose two bad games in a row. The Eagles will bounce back against a Giants team with a decision to make at quarterback for next season.
Winner: Philadelphia Eagles
Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals
The Seahawks have fallen apart over the last month after a good start to the year and play a fellow NFC West team who’s been on the rise right before the end of the season which is the opposite of what the team needs to do to ensure they can get a better draft pick. The Cardinals want to lose and probably got a talking to from executives after last week’s big win, the Seahawks pull off the win only because Arizona needs to lose to get a shot at getting a top O-Line or Receiver in the draft.
Winner: Seattle Seahawks
Kansas City Chiefs at Los Angeles Chargers
The Chiefs have the 3 seed in the playoffs locked up. The Chargers season was over when Justin Herbert went down. This game means nothing to either team and the Chiefs will be sitting Patrick Mahomes. It will be a game of backups against backups and we think the Chiefs have better backups. The Easton Stick led Chargers are awful and the Chiefs have Blaine Gabbert who has some experience and should do better than Stick.
Winner: Kansas City Chiefs
Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers
Both the Rams & 49ers have already clinched a playoff spot. For the Rams, they’ll end up either as the 6 seed or the 7 seed, while the 49ers have clinched the 1 seed. Both teams will likely have starters rested for a significant chunk of the game, if not all to not risk any injuries. This will come down to which team’s backups are better and we think that’s San Francisco with Sam Darnold under center along with the dual running threat of Elijah Mitchell and Jordan Mason which can make some explosive plays happen from time to time. It will be interesting to see how Carson Wentz fares for the first time in what feels like forever watching him play.
Winner: San Francisco 49ers
Dallas Cowboys at Washington Commanders
A win and the Cowboys clinch the division and the 2 seed in the playoffs. The Commanders are trying to stop them from doing that and virtually make zero impact at doing that. The last time these two teams faced, the Cowboys won 45-10. Sam Howell has gotten worse and has led to Jacoby Brissett getting reps at times. This offense did nothing the last time and is going to fare even worse this go-around.
Winner: Dallas Cowboys
Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins
The biggest game of the week and one of the most anticipated matchups of the entire regular season is the Bills at Dolphins for the last game of the regular season. The Bills win and they win the division. Dolphins win and they win the division and also potentially eliminate Buffalo from the playoffs. Both teams have a lot to gain from a win and a lot to lose. The loss to Bradley Chubb last week and the injury to Xavien Howard is going to be the difference maker in this game and the postseason. Without Chubb and Phillips, the Dolphins won’t bring as much pressure to Josh Allen and if Howard also misses the game, receivers like Davis and Shakir can have breakout games.
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