—The NFL has two of the best attractions of the year this year that not only won’t be in prime time but they will go head to head against each other in the Sunday late games. So fans may be doing a lot of channel switching to keep up with both games.
–CBS will have the 12-1 Lions hosting the 10-3 Bills in a game that features two teams trying for the No. 1 AFC seed while Fox will have the 10-3 Steelers playing at the 11-2 Eagles. This is the first time since 1985 that the league has had two games with both teams having double digit wins in week 15 or earlier. That year the 13-1 Bears beat the10-4 Jets and the 10-4 Dolphins beat the 10-4 Patriots. The Bears wound up routing the Patriots in the Super Bowl. The Dolphins handed the Bears their only loss that year but lost to the Patriots in the AFC title game.
–Both games have a lot of playoff implications. The Lions are one game ahead of the Vikings and Eagles in the battle for the top seed in the NFC. Buffalo is two games behind the 12-1 Chiefs in the battle for the AFC top seed. The Steelers are also two games behind the Chiefs. If the Bills tie the Chiefs, they would get the tie-breaker because they handed the Chiefs their only loss. If either the Bills or Steelers suffer their fourth loss, they will likely be out of the race for the top seed. The Steelers need to win out including a win over the Chiefs on Christmas day and have the Chiefs lose one other game for the Steelers to catch them.
The other two late games on CBS are Indianapolis and Denver in a game with wild card implications as both teams are fighting for wild card spots in the AFC and New England at Arizona with the 6-7 Cards trying to stay in AFC West race.
–The CBS early games Sunday are the Chiefs at Cleveland, Miami at Houston and Baltimore at the Giants. The Chiefs, Texans and Ravens figure to win these three games. It will be interesting to see if the Chiefs can beat the 3-10 Browns without having to win it on the last drive the way they have won most games this year.
–Fox has four early games – Washington at New Orleans, Dallas at Carolina, Cincinnati at Tennessee and the Jets at Jacksonville. The Washington-New Orleans game has playoff implications for both teams. The 8-5 Commanders are three games behind the Eagles but are fighting for a wild card spot. The Bucs lead the Falcons by a game in the NFC South.
–The weekend starts Thursday night with the Rams at the 49ers, an old rivalry that has major playoff implications. The Rams are 7-6 and the 49ers are 6-7 in the NFC West while Seattle leads at 8-5 and Arizona is at 6-7, tied with the 49ers.
–The Sunday night game features the Packers at Seattle in another game with playoff implications for both teams. The Packers are 9-4 and while they are three games behind the Lions in the NFC North, they are in good position to get a wild card spot. Seattle is at 8-5, a game ahead of the Rams. If the Seahawks lose and the Rams win, they will be tied at 8-6.
—There will be a doubleheader on Monday night with the Bears at Minnesota and the Falcons at Las Vegas. Minnesota at 11-2 is expected to beat the 4-9 Bears while the Falcons at 6-7 are a game behind 7-6 Tampa Bay in the NFC South. The Chicago-Minnesota game will start only a half hour before the Atlanta-Las Vegas game with the first one on ABC and the second on ESPN so fans may be switching channels to keep track of both games.
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