This is Week 14 of the NFL season and things are coming to a head. The AFC top seed is down to 2 teams, the NFC is down to 3 teams, and the draft has 4 in play for the #1 pick. As for the other end of the playoff picture, a ton is up for grabs with the Colts and Bucs dying slow deaths and Detroit and KC on the outside looking in.
Thursday Night Football
- Dallas Cowboys at Detroit Lions
- I know we are supposed to act above the Cowboys and their bullshit, but I needed a Dallas loss like I need Oxygen. They didn’t just lose either, they played in the kind of way that we are used to Dallas playing: bad defense, impulsive QB, and shotty effort. Dem Boys are back! With 4 games to play, the Cowboys sit 2.5 games out in the division and 3 games behind SF for the final wildcard. They aren’t done, and their schedule is easy, but they need huge collapses from the Eagles or both SF and Detroit to make it.
- The Lions needed that game bad. They have some good losses this season, but not a lot of good wins. Next week is basically their final stand of the year. Beat the Rams and we’ll talk, but lose and the season is over. In the end, they are probably too injured for this season but they aren’t going away.
1pm Games
- Seattle Seahawks at Atlanta Falcons
- The Seahawks are one of three teams in the NFC at 9-3 which puts them very much in the mix for the #1 seed. After Atlanta they have Indy, the Rams, Carolina, and SF to end the year. If they get through that, then they deserve the #1 seed.
- The Falcons aren’t contenders and do not have a first round pick. If you consider the Browns to be playing at the kids table, then Atlanta is the worst run team in the league. They are a disaster and need a new GM desperately.
- Cincinnati Bengals at Buffalo Bills
- Joe Burrow made it very clear that he is playing in order to spoil other team’s seasons. Maybe they should go out on their backs for a better draft pick, but that’s not going to happen. Instead, Burrow will aim to screw things up first for Josh Allen and then for Lamar Jackson next week.
- When the Bills win, Josh Allen is the MVP. When they lose because he throws a few mind-boggling picks, he doesn’t have enough weapons. What we get is a flawed team hanging on to the playoffs by a thread despite being 8-4. Lose to the Bengals and they will face must win games against the Pats on the road and the Eagles at home. They have the same record as the Colts, Jags, and Chargers with no head-to-heads, but lose a tie break to the Texans who are right behind them.
- Tennessee Titans at Cleveland Browns
- TANK GAME OF THE WEEK!!!
- The Titans might seem like they have a game in hand on the rest of the NFL for the #1 pick, but thanks to the most difficult schedule and football, they will lose all tiebreaks if they win once. If there was ever a must lose game, it’s this one. A win here and they have to bank on the Giants, Raiders, and Saints, all getting one more win before the end of the season and that won’t be easy.
- Cleveland is just the opposite, they win all tiebreaks by having one of the easiest schedules in the league. Their problem is that they beat the Raiders two weeks ago and took themselves out of the lead pack. Now they not only have to lose to the Titans, but also hope the Titans and the other three win one more.
- Washington Commanders at Minnesota Vikings
- Washington will blame its lost season on QB injuries, but they were risking it all this season anyway by going old and trading draft picks. For their efforts, the oldest team in the league may stumble into a top 5 pick though if they lose out. They are sitting 6th, but a meeting with JJ McCarthy this week and then the Giants next week loom large for their overall prospects. As I was typing this, the team announced that Jayden Daniels is back. Just in time to ruin their draft position.
- The Vikings spent a lot in free agency this year and looked talented on both sides of the ball. The only variable was the QB. Damn. Not only did they get rid of Sam Darnold (not a bad move, he isn’t winning a title) but they threw JJ McCarthy into the fire and despite some heroics, looks terrible and injury prone. It will be tough sledding in the future as they navigate an aging roster without a QB (sorry Max). The best thing they can do is probably trade away the team and reset this offseason.
- Miami Dolphins at New York Jets
- The Dolphins were the most inept team in football up until the trade deadline when they fired their GM and let the coach do his thing. Now they have won 4 out of 5 and are facing a Jets team that beat them at their worst. Are the 5-7 Dolphins going to finish .500??? Is that a good thing?
- After starting 0-7, the Jets have won 3 out of 5 and have played themselves out of the #1 pick they desperately need. The worst part is that most of that has come since they gutted the team at the deadline. They did everything right but lose the games. A big date with the Saints looms in 3 weeks.
- New Orleans Saints at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- The Saints have been doing their job week after week with lunch pail losses to both the good teams and the bad. For anyone who thinks Kellen Moore’s job is in jeopardy, you really need to go back and look at the situation he came into. The Saints were in cap hell, were old, had little talent, and were starting Spencer Rattler at QB. Yikes. This year was all about losing and hopefully getting the #1 pick. They control their own destiny with games against the Jets and Titans coming up.
- After losing 4out of 5, the Bucs narrowly escaped the Cardinals last week. The Bucs are only in the playoffs because the division is that bad. That being said, things have gotten VERY close in the NFC South. The Bucs have a .5 game lead on the Panthers but they play twice to end the season. Who would have thought the once formidable Bucs would fall so low.
- Indianapolis Colts at Jacksonville Jaguars
- The Colts went from darlings of the league to in playoff jeopardy pretty damn week. They were 8-2 but sit 8-4 entering the first of two late season matchups against the Jags. After losing last week to the Texans, they might be their biggest worry since they travel to Houston to end the season. Things might fall completely apart in Indy after they went all in for Sauce Gardner, who is now hurt and the reason they owe their first round pick to the Jets. This is a must win game.
- I don’t know how the Jags are 8-4 with 3 of their losses being to the Seahawks, Rams, and resurgent Texans. That’s really good! If they beat the Colts, they will be in the driver’s seat for the division. It’s a good thing too, because remember on draft night when they traded their top pick in 2026 to draft a WR/CB who doesn’t play either now?
- Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens
- Steelers, yikes. It’s been 4 years since Ben Roethlisberger retired and they haven’t done much to address the QB position know they led the division most of the year, but it’s time for them to embrace the plunge. People are coming down on Mike Tomlin lately, but why? He hasn’t had a good QB in years. (I guess that might his fault, I do not know the power structure in Pittsburgh)
- After a horrendous 1-5 start to the season that was equal parts injury and scheduling, the Ravens are right back where everyone expected them, at the top of their division. They still aren’t playing well, but win this week and it’s a 1 game lead with the tiebreak in hand over a Steelers team that is withering on the vine.
4pm Games
- Denver Broncos at Las Vegas Raiders
- The Broncos have won 9 in a row and I believe are in the driver’s seat for the AFC’s top spot. Granted, it will be easy this week, but their next 4 games are against the Packers, Jags, Chiefs, and Chargers while the Pats have the Bills, Ravens, Jets, and Dolphins. It is going to be tight.
- The Raiders had a plan to be good. It didn’t work, spectacularly. They have a legitimate shot at the worst record in the league with a big game against the Giants on Dec 28th. Lose that one and get some help and it’s theirs. No team looks more demoralized and has less to play for than the Raiders.
- Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers
- Game of the Week
- The Bears beat the crap out of the Eagles last week and announced themselves are for real. They didn’t just win, they had a plan and executed it to a tee. We’ll see how Caleb Williams operates under pressure (And he wasn’t good last week) because their ceiling is as far as he can take the other high level parts of this offense. This is the first of two meetings with the Packers in three weeks.
- What a weird season for the Packers who are 8-3-1 with losses to the Browns, Panthers, and Eagles and a tie with the Cowboys. The end of their season is tough with the Broncos next week in the middle of a Bears sandwich. That tie looms large since it is what keeps Green Bay from vying for the #1 seed with Seattle, Chicago, and LA. Even the locals don’t think they are for real though.
- Los Angeles Rams at Arizona Cardinals
- Just when everyone was ready to crown the Rams, Matt Stafford threw a dud and brought them back to the pack. This is a trap game against the always-play-hard Cardinals with the Lions coming next week followed by a trip to Seattle. We’ll see if they get back on track.
- The Cardinals are having an ideal season. They have very clear QB trouble as a built-in excuse to their bad record that gets them a high draft pick all while the team competes every week. They are 3-9 and probably can’t get to #1 because of their SOS, but they have been drafting well and should get a pick hopefully around #5 if they keep losing. With the Rams twice, and trips to Houston and Cincy, that’s on the table. They just have to lose to the Falcons in 3 weeks…no easy task.
Sunday Night Football
- Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs
- The scariest team in football is in Houston. This defense is 3 phases dominant and as long as the returning CJ Stroud doesn’t screw it up, they are dangerous despite still not being in the playoffs. They have a legit chance to win out on top of their 4 game winning streak. Get through the desperate Chiefs this week and it’s the Cardinals, Raiders, Chargers, and fading Colts. If they do, they are looking at the 3 seed in the AFC.
- At 6-6, the Chiefs are 10th in the AFC. Who saw that coming? Even worse, they lose tiebreaks to Buffalo, Jacksonville, and LA. They aren’t winning the division either. A loss to Houston puts them possibly 3.5 games behind the final playoff spot with 4 to go. They desperately needed to beat the Cowboys last week and couldn’t do it. That should tell you all you need to know.
Monday Night Football
- Philadelphia Eagles at Los Angeles Chargers
- I don’t have much to say about the Eagles. We have to win this game. It’s that simple. If we don’t we still might make the playoffs, but spiritually it will be over. Last week was about as demoralizing as the SF game 2 years ago when we were 10-2 but completely exposed as soft, unprepared, frauds. We might be already there, but losing to the Chargers will confirm it. It would be 3 in a row and a full revolt would be on the team’s hands. I’m already thinking about next year.
- Justin Herbert is a fraud who gets a pass because of where he plays and how he looks. Hell, I still want to write San Diego, that’s how irrelevant the Chargers are. They have some horrific losses this season but are also the last team to defeat Denver. This week Justin Herbert has a broken hand but doesn’t have to face Jalen Carter. Lucky bastard. Stay tuned for my weekly Eagles preview titled Justin Herbert: Super-Fraud which will be published on Goldenrod, Canary, Saffron, and Paella.
Philly Front Office 
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