Previewing NFL Week 14

All three primetime games this week have playoff implications for both teams. Detroit, the eighth NFC seed at 7-5, hosts Dallas, the ninth seed at 6-5-1. The loser will suffer its sixth loss and have a difficult road to the playoffs. The Sunday night game will pit the 7-5 Texans at the 6-6 Chiefs. The Chiefs bid to make the playoffs and return to the Super Bowl for the fourth straight year will be a longshot if they lose. But coach Andy Reid is talking about running the table the “tickling the tonsils” of opposing teams. The Monday night game features two teams at 8-4 when Philadelphia plays at the Chargers. But while the Eagles lead the NFC East and are the third seed, the Chargers are the fifth seed fighting for a wild card spot.

–CBS has the single games and two of its 1 p.m. games are for division leads. The Colts go to Jacksonville with both teams at 8-4 with the winner taking the AFC South lead. The Colts haven’t won in Jacksonville in a decade and have two defensive starters, DeForest Buckner and Sauce Gardner, out while quarterback Daniel Jones is playing with a tibia fracture that limits his mobility. But the Colts are a slight favorite. Baltimore and the Steelers are both 6-6 as they battle for the AFC North lead.

–Two other seeded teams, Denver and Tampa Bay, are playing unseeded teams on CBS with 7-5 Tampa Bay, the fourth seed in the NFC, hosting New Orleans in an early game and  10-2 Denver, the second seed in the AFC, going to Las Vegas in their in late game. Two unseeded teams play in an early game with Miami at the Jets.

–FOX has the doubleheader game Sunday with the 9-3 Bears, the top seed in the NFC, playing at Green Bay, the sixth seed in the NFC at 8-3-1. Their other late game has the 9-3 Rams,  the second seed in the NFC, playing at Arizona.

–FOX also has four other early games with Buffalo, the seventh seed in the AFC at 8-4, hosting Cincinnati and  Seattle, the fifth seed in the NFC at 9-3, going to Atlanta. The other two games involve unseeded teams with Washington at Minnesota and Tennessee at Cleveland.