San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
As season winds down, not much is certain
It’s the holiday season, sure. Thus far, only one NFL team, the Packers, has something to celebrate.
Green Bay owns the NFC North title for the third straight year and holds a one-game lead over Arizona, Dallas and Tampa Bay for the NFC’s No. 1 seed and lone first-round playoff bye. The Cowboys secured a playoff spot on Thursday night when San Francisco lost to Tennessee. The Cardinals and Buccaneers can secure postseason berths this weekend.
Kansas City and New England have the clearest paths Sunday to earning a playoff berth in the AFC.
Beyond that, it’s bedlam. Except for the likes of Detroit, Jacksonville, Houston, Seattle, Carolina, Chicago and both New York teams, the entire pro football universe is still eligible for the postseason.
The Chargers (8-6) are in prime position for an AFC wild card — it doesn’t hurt to be playing Houston (3-11) on Sunday.
Buffalo (8-6) at New England (9-5)
The Patriots can clinch the AFC East with a win and a Miami loss. If the Bills win, they’d be back atop in the division, holding tiebreakers over the Patriots and Dolphins.
The Patriots are allowing a league-low 16.2 points per game.
Pittsburgh (7-6-1) at Kansas City (10-4)
With seven straight victories, the Chiefs have become the AFC’s dominant team even though their offense hasn’t truly hit its stride. Instead, the defense has been vastly improved.
But this could be a difficult go with Patrick Mahomes’ top targets, Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill, testing positive for the coronavirus. Kansas City clinches the AFC West with a win and a Chargers defeat, but just a victory puts the Chiefs into the playoffs.
Tampa Bay (10-4) at Carolina (5-9)
The defending Super Bowl champs are in the postseason parade if they win or tie, good enough for the NFC South championship. A New Orleans loss also would give the Bucs their first division title since 2007. Even with a defeat — Tampa could be without primary offensive playmakers WR Mike Evans and RB Leonard Fournette, and WR Chris Godwin definitely is out — the Bucs get in if Minnesota and Philadelphia lose, or Minnesota loses and Dallas wins.
Los Angeles Rams (10-4) at Minnesota (7-7)
A Rams win sends them into the playoffs, as would losses by Philadelphia and New Orleans. But both teams could be shorthanded.
Minnesota star running back Dalvin Cook tested positive for COVID-19 and outstanding receiver Adam Thielen (ankle) has missed two games. The Rams have had a loaded virus list, too.
New York Giants (4-10) at Philadelphia (7-7)
The Eagles have really come on from a 2-5 record, but should have their eyes on a potential wild card rather than catching Dallas. Their biggest stumble was a sloppy loss at the Giants, who have dropped five straight on the road and have failed to pass for 200 yards in six straight games. New York also might be using untested Jake Fromm at quarterback.
Miami (7-7) at New Orleans (7-7), Mon.
Another surging team, the Dolphins have gone from 1-7 to the wild-card mix. Indeed, with some help, they could still win the AFC East crown.
New Orleans is down to rookie quarterback Ian Book, who has yet to play. Taysom Hill and Trevor Siemian are in COVID-19 protocol. Look for lots of work for brilliant RB Alvin Kamara. Also missing could be safety Malcolm Jenkins from a unit that shut out the Bucs last week.
Baltimore (8-6) at Cincinnati (8-6)
A matchup for the AFC North lead, though both were a halfgame in front of Pittsburgh and one game ahead of Cleveland heading into Week 16.
The Ravens might be the most injury-ravaged team in the league and it has shown in their plummet from the top of the conference standings. They hope to have QB Lamar Jackson back from his ankle injury, though backup Tyler Huntley has played well.
In a turnaround from recent Bungles, uh, Bengals squads, Cincinnati has the fewest penalties (58) and penalty yards (481) in the NFL.
Denver (7-7) at Las Vegas (7-7)
The loser pretty much can forget about the postseason.
The Raiders have won three straight and five of six in the series. The Broncos have turned over the ball nine times in the past three meetings, including four interceptions by Drew Lock last season in Las Vegas. Lock starts with Teddy Bridgewater concussed.
Chicago (4-10) at Seattle (5-9)
Seattle will miss the playoffs for only the third time since Pete Carroll became coach in 2010.
Bears DE Robert Quinn is second in the NFL with 16 sacks and has 14 sacks in 12 games against Seattle. Linebacker Roquan Smith has a career-high 140 tackles for the season, ranking fourth in the NFL. Seattle’s Bobby Wagner leads the league with 158 tackles. Wagner needs 10 tackles to set a career high and establish a franchise record.
Detroit (2-11-1) at Atlanta (6-8)
Detroit comes off a rare victory and has a decent shot at another: Atlanta has not won in its home stadium in 2021.
Jacksonville (2-12) at New York Jets (3-11)
Not many reasons to stay awake for this one, except the top two draftees oppose each other: Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence and Jets QB Zach Wilson. It marks the fourth time in the modern NFL draft era (since 1967) that quarterbacks taken with the first two picks face each other as rookies.