VITO'S VIEWS

—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.

—The Kansas City Chiefs continue to defy the odds. They won another close one, beating the Chargers 19-17 on a field goal on the final play. Combined with Buffalo’s 44-42 loss to the Rams, they can clinch the top seed by winning three of their last four games. They are now two games ahead of the 10-3 Bills with a 12-1 mark but if the Bills tie them, they get the top seed because they handed the Chiefs their only loss. The conventional wisdom is that the Chiefs can’t keep pulling out close games but they keep doing it.

–The only other AFC team with fewer than five losses is 10-3 Pittsburgh, which beat the Browns, 27-14. The Steelers would have to win out, which means beating the Chiefs on Christmas Day, and hope the Chiefs and Bills lose one other game for them to be guaranteed the top seed.

–In the NFC, the Lions have the top seed at 12-1 after beating the Packers 34-31 as coach Dan Campbell went for it five times on fourth down and made four of them although the one time they didn’t make it on their own 30 and virtually handed the Packers a touchdown that almost cost the Lions the game. But gambling is his style.

–The Eagles and Vikings both won to go to 11-2 and remain just a game behind the Lions. The Eagles got a scare from the Panthers before winning 22-16 and the Vikings routed the Falcons 42-21. Detroit has Buffalo this week and Minnesota in the season finale plus road games at Chicago and San Francisco and while the Eagles play Pittsburgh this week, they close Washington, Dallas and the Giants so the Lions, Eagles and Vikings will likely go down to the wire in the battle for the top seed. Except for 9-4 Green Bay, no other NFC team has fewer than five losses so the NFC North could have three teams in the playoffs.

–The Dallas Cowboys need to learn the rules when a team blocks a punt. If it goes past the line of scrimmage it is like a regular punt and if a player from the receiving team touches it, it is a free ball.  When the Cowboys blocked a punt late in the fourth quarter of a tie game, Amani Oruwariye tried to field it, lost it and the Bengals recovered and Joe Burrow drove them for the touchdown to win, 27-20. A win would have given the Cowboys a 6-7 record and kept them in the playoff hunt but now at 5-8 their chances are remote. Burrow, meanwhile, had his house burglarized during the game.

 

—The Bills and Chargers will play back to back games Sunday as they continue their battle for the top seed in the AFC. The 10-2 Bills play in the late afternoon game at the Rams and then the 11-1 Chiefs will host the Chargers in the Sunday night game. If they both win or both lose, the Chiefs will maintain a one game lead. If Bills win and the Chiefs lose, the Bills will tie the Chiefs and have the tie-break because they handed the Chiefs their only loss so far. A Bills loss and a Chiefs win would give the Chiefs a two game lead so the stakes are high for both teams. The Chargers are 8-4 and could get within two games of the Chiefs with a victory. The Rams are 6-6  and tied with the Cardinals, a game behind the Seahawks.

–The weekend opens with Green Bay at Detroit Thursday night in a critical division game. A Detroit win keeps them in the lead for the top seed and would boost their record to 12-1. A Green Bay win would leave them a game behind with Detroit. A loss would leave them at 9-4 going for a wild card spot. Minnesota at 10-2 plays Atlanta in a Fox early game and needs a win to stay in the battle for the top seed. Atlanta is tied for NFC South lead at 6-6with the Bucs. Philadelphia also plays an early Fox game hosting Carolina and figures to get a win to go to 11-2.

–The Monday night game has the Bengals at the Cowboys. The Cowboys are 5-7 and trying to stay alive in the wild card race. The Cowboys are being featured in prime time despite their record because they draw good ratings. Cincinnati is a disappointing 4-8 despite Joe Burrow having a good season.

–CBS has five games with Cleveland at Pittsburgh the feature early game. The Steelers lead the AFC North at 9-3 and were upset by 3-9 Browns two weeks ago in aThursday night game. The other three early games are the Jets at Miami, Jacksonville at Tennessee and Las Vegas at Tampa Bay. Seattle is at Arizona in a late afternoon games. Seattle is 7-5 and the Cardinals are tied with Rams at 6-6 in the NFC West.

–Besides the Atlanta at Minnesota and Carolina at Philadelphia games, the third early Fox game is New Orleans at the Giants. The second late Fox game besides Buffalo at the Rams is Chicago at San Francisco. The 49ers are 5-7 and have lost Christian McCaffrey for the season and their Super Bowl window may be closing.

—Can the Buffalo Bills derail the Kansas City Chiefs’ bid for a theepeat? That is one of the interesting questions of the season as the teams head into December. The Chiefs have the best record in the AFC at 11-1 but barely escaped with a 19-17 win over the Raiders with the help of bad clock management by the Raiders and a premature snap the Chiefs recovered. The Chiefs last 14 wins by one score bu.t aren’t playing like a team ready for a playoff run

–Meanwhile, Buffalo boosted its record to 10-2 by beating San Francisco, 35-10, in a snowstorm.. Although the Bills are a game behind the Chiefs, they have the tie breaker if the tie the Chiefs because they handed the Chiefs their only loss and except for the upcoming game against the Lions, they should have no trouble in their final three games against the Pats (twice) and the Jets.

–In the NFC, it also looks like a two team race between the 11-1 Lions and the 10-2 Eagles. The Lions escaped with a 23-20 victory over the Bears with the of bad clock management by coach Matt Eberfluss that got him fired.  Meanwhile the Eagles continue to roll and beat the Ravens 24-19 as kicked Justin Tucker cost them seven points by missing two field goals and an extra point.

–The Vikings also remain a game behind the Lions at 10-2 as they got help from the opposing coach to edge the Cardinals. Facing a fourth-and-goal from the five-yard line late in fourth quarter, coach Jonathan Gannon decide to go for a field goal to go up by six instead of going for the touchdown and a chance 10-point lead. The Vikings then came back to score a touchdown and win, 23-22. Gannon was too conservative and it cost him.

–In the most talked about play of the week, Azeez Al-Shaair of the Texans hit a sliding Trevor Lawrence and knocked him out of the game with a concussion and that started a brawl. Not surprisingly, he was suspended for three games and that will cost him close to $2 million. The league noted he is a repeat offender who has been fined in the past. He issued an apology and said Lawrence slid too late for him to pull up but the league didn’t buy that explanation even when coach DeMeco Ryan defended him. The Jaguars signed quarterback John Wofford so Lawrence will probably be out a week if not longer.

—Can the Buffalo Bills derail the Kansas City Chiefs’ bid for a theepeat? That is one of the interesting questions of the season as the teams head into December. The Chiefs have the best record in the AFC at 11-1 but barely escaped with a 19-17 win over the Raiders with the help of bad clock management by the Raiders and a premature snap the Chiefs recovered. The Chiefs last 14 wins by one score bu.t aren’t playing like a team ready for a playoff run

—Meanwhile, Buffalo boosted its record to 10-2 San Francisco 35-10. Although the Bills are a game behind the Chiefs, they have the tie breaker if they tie the Chiefs because they handed the Chiefs their only loss. The Bills play the Rams and Lions the next two weeks and then they should have no trouble in their final three games against the Pats (twice) and the Jets.

–In the NFC, it also looks like a two team race between the 11-1 Lions and the 10-2 Eagles. The Lions escaped with a 23-20 victory over the Bears with the of bad clock management by coach Matt Eberfluss that got him fired.  Meanwhile the Eagles continue to roll and beat the Ravens 24-19 as kicked Justin Tucker cost them seven points by missing two field goals and an extra point.

–The Vikings also remain a game behind the Lions at 10-2 as they got help from the opposing coach to edge the Cardinals. Facing a fourth-and-goal from the five-yard line late in fourth quarter, coach Jonathan Gannon decide to go for a field goal to go up by six instead of going for the touchdown and a chance 10-point lead. The Vikings then came back to score a touchdown and win, 23-22. Gannon was too conservative and it cost him.

–In the most talked about play of the week, Azeez Al-Shaair of the Texans hit a sliding Trevor Lawrence and knocked him out of the game with a concussion and that started a brawl. Not surprisingly, he was suspended for three games and that will cost him close to $2 million. The league noted he is a repeat offender who has been fined in the past. He issued an apology and said Lawrence slid too late for him to pull up but the league didn’t buy that explanation even when coach DeMeco Ryan defended him. The Jaguars signed quarterback John Wofford so Lawrence will probably be out a week if not longer.

–The NFL has a holiday feast for the fans this weekend with seven national TV games – the traditional three on Thanksgiving Day plus one on black Friday plus the doubleheader game Sunday afternoon and the usual Sunday andMonday night games. If you count the 1 p.m. Sunday games, a fan could watch eight games this weekend. 

–Unfortunately, most of the matchups aren’t compelling. Detroit hosts Chicago in the traditional first Thanksgiving Day game with the Lions heavily favored. The Cowboys host the second game against the Giants with neither team a contender. And Green Bay is favored to beat the Miami Dolphins in the Thanksgiving Day night game.

–The black Friday game has the Chiefs hosting the Raiders at 3 p.m. on Amazon. The Chiefs usually play close games but figure to win. The Sunday night game has Buffalo hosting San Francisco with the Bills favored to win and the Monday night game has Denver hosting the Browns with the Broncos favored.

–CBS has the doubleheader game with the Eagles hosting Baltimore in probably the best game of the weekend. CBS has no other late Sunday games so this one will be on national TV. CBS has four early games with the Steelers at the Bengals, the Chargers at Atlanta, the Titans at Washington and the Colts at New England.

–Fox has five games Sunday with the Falcons at the Vikings, the Seahawks at the Jets and the Texans at Jacksonville in the early games and the Bucs at Carolina and the Rams at New Orleans in the two late games.

—As the NFL season nears the three quarter pole and the teams head down the stretch, the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs are leading the pack with 10-1 records. The Lions easily beat the Colts 24-6 while the Chiefs had their usual late drive to edge the surprising Panthers, 30-27. Now the question is whether they will both get the top seeds and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

–In the NFC, the Eagles and the Vikings are both 9-2, a game behind the Lions and have the best shot at challenging them for the top seed. The Eagles look like the bigger threat to the Lions now that Saquan Barkley has become such a threat. He rushed for 255 yards and had 302 total yards in a 37-20 victory over the Rams. The Vikings barely beat the Bears, 30-27. They have already lost the first game to the Lions and meet them again in the season finale.

–In the NFC, the NFC South and West divisions are wide open but neither division is expected to produce a contender. The Seahawks beat the Cardinals, 16-6, and the two teams are tied for first at 6-5. Atlanta had a bye and remains in first place in the South at 6-5 while the Bucs, who routed the Giants, 30-7, are a game back at 5-6.

–In the AFC, the 9-2 Bills had a bye and remain a game behind the 10-1 Chiefs. Except for the 8-3 Steelers, who lost to Cleveland, 24-19, Thursday night, all the other AFC teams have lost at least four losses so it looks like a Chiefs-Bills battle for the top seed. The Bills beat the Chiefs so they have the tie-breaker.

–In the AFC South, the Texans at 7-5 have a two game lead over the 5-7 Colts. Both teams lost last week as the Texans lost to the Cowboys, 34-10, and Colts were beaten by the Lions. The winner f this division is likely to lose a first round home playoff game. The Texans started the year with high expectations but haven’t lived up to them. In the North the 8-3 Steelers have a one game lead in the loss column over the 8-4 Ravens, who stayed in the race with the 30-23 victory over the Chargers.

—The NFL has to hope that Cleveland’s 24-19 victory in a snowstorm over the Steelers Thursday night was a preview of what is to come this weekend. Going into the game it appeared to be a mismatch with the Steelers at 8-2 and the Browns at 2-8. But it turned out to be a spectacle in the snow and an exciting game as the Browns lost a 12 point lead and came back to win it on Nick Chubb’s two-yard run for a touchdown with 57 seconds left. The loss raised questions about whether the Steelers are a real contender because their offense is struggling. Meanwhile, the majority of the games this weekend appear to be mismatches so the NFL hopes there will be more upsets.

–In the Sunday night game, Philadelphia is at the Los Angeles Rams with the Eagles figured to win to boost their record to 9-2 to keep at least a two game lead over the Commanders. The Monday night game has the Ravens at the Chargers. This is a big game for both teams but the Chargers appear to have the edge because of Ravens defense is shaky. The Chargers are 7-3, two games behind the Chiefs. The Ravens are 7-4 and a game behind the Steelers in the loss column.

–The two best Sunday games are the Fox double header games – San Francisco at Green bay and Arizona at Seattle. Fox is giving the 49ers-Packers game national coverage with Kevin Burhardt and Tom Brady announcing. The Packers at 7-3 are two games behind the Lions and can’t afford a loss. Meanwhile the 49ers are 5-5 but just a game behind the 6-4 Cardinals, who lead the division.

–The three early Sunday Fox games are Dallas at Washington, Minnesota at Chicago and Detroit at Indianapolis with the Commanders, Vikings and Lions all favored.

–CBS has five Sunday games night, four at 1 p.m. and one late game and one team is a solid favored in all five. Kansas City win a rare Sunday early game at Carolina, Tampa Bay is at the Giants, New England is at Miami and Tennessee is at Houston in the early games. Denver is at Las Vegas in the afternoon game. You know the five favorites.  So Redzone will be showing seven early games and unless there is an upset or two, the games are easy to predict. The one thing is to watch is the return of Tommy DeVito as the Giants starter now that Daniel Jones has been benched and released. The Giants signing Jones to a $40 million a year contract and let Saquan Barkley walk in free agency was a personnel blunder for the ages. Barkley is spearheading the Eagle offense.

—The Buffalo Bills pushed the Kansas City Chiefs off their tightrope Sunday. The Chiefs came into the game as the league’s last unbeaten team at 9-0 but they were like walking a tightrope all season as they came from behind eight times. But this time Josh Allen made sure there was no Chiefs comeback with his touchdown scramble on 4^th and 2 late in the game that gave the Bills a 30-21 win. And Allen became the first quarterback to beat Patrick Mahomes four times and left the Bills only one game behind the Chiefs in the battle for the top seed. Nobody will be surprised if they meet in the AFC title game. Despite his 4-1 record against Mahomes in the regular season, Allen is 0-3 against Mahomes in the playoffs. The Chiefs loss also left the 1972 Dolphins as the only unbeaten team but they only had to win 17 games to have a perfect season. A team today would have to win 20 or 21 games to do it and that is unlikely to happen in free agency era.

–In the other feature Sunday game, the Steelers didn’t score a touchdown and gave up two touchdowns but still managed to beat the Ravens 18-16 on six field goals It was only the 11^th time in NFL history that a team has won without a touchdown while giving up two. Russell Wilson is now 4-0 as the starter despite failing to get a touchdown.  Lamar Jackson could only put 16 points on the scoreboard for the Ravens and it wasn’t enough. The victory left the surprising Steelers at 8-2 while the Ravens are 7-4. Both are likely to make the playoffs and both teams have to prove they can win in the playoffs 

–Detroit coach Dan Campbell has a good problem this year. He often has a problem deciding when to pull his starters in routs. He let Jerod Goff stay in until he led the Lions to touchdown drives on the Lions first seven possessions in a 52-6 rout of the Jaguars. The Lions are now favred to make the Super Bowl for the first time. They are in the lead in the battle for the top NFC seed at 9-1.The Jaguars are now 2-9 and both coach Doug Pederson and general manager Trent Baalke are on the hot seat. 

–Jim Harbaugh is making a difference as the Chargers coach. The Chargers lost a 21 point lead to the Bengals but still came back to win 34-27 to boost their record to 7-3. They are just two games behind the Chiefs in the battle for the division lead and should at least make a wild card spot. The Bengals are a disappointing 4-7 and wasting a good season by quarterback Joe Burrow.

–The Colts-Jets game was a battle of a young and an old quarterback. Youth was served when Anthony Richardson was inserted into the starting lineup after a two game benching and led them to a 28-27 win over Aaron Rodgers. Richardson thrw for 272 yards and a touchwown and ran for two more. The Colts are 5-6 while the Jets are 3-8. After the game, owner Woody Johnson, who previously fired coach Robert Saleh, fired general manager Joe Douglas. The timing was puzzling since he could have waited until the end of the season. It also turns out Johnson wanted to bench Rodgers after four games but was talked out of it by the coaches. The Jets just continue to spin their wheels.

–The Kansas City Chiefs showed Sunday they are still so good at finding a way to win as they go for the first threepeat of the Super Bowl era. They boosted their record to 9-0 and remained the only unbeaten team in the league with a 16-14 win over the Broncos. The Broncos had a chance to beat the Chiefs with a 35-yard field goal at the end of the game but the Chiefs blocked it. They now have a clear path to the top seed and a berth in the Super Bowl. The only AFC teams with fewer than three losses are the 8-2 Bills and 7-2 Steelers. The Chiefs play the Bills next week and Steelers on Christmas Day. 

–The Bills posted their fifth straight victory by beating the Colts 30-20 to go to 8-2 for the first time since 1993 when they were on their four Super Bowl run. They now have a tough stretch coming up with a home game against the Chiefs, a bye, a home game against 49ers and road games against the Rams and Lions. They have the division title and a playoff berth virtually locked up with a four game lead in the loss column over the Dolphins. But they must beat the Chiefs if they are to have a shot at the top seed.

–Russell Wilson threw three touchdown passes including a 32-yarder to Mike Williams in the final three minutes to give the Steelers the 28-27 victory over the Commanders. The Commanders had two shots to rally but a fourth and nine catch was ruled just short of the first down on a questionable spot. And when the Steelers had a 4^th and 1 they lined up to go for it but rookie defensive lineman Johnny Newton jumped offsides when he was fooled by Wilson’s hard count. The Steelers remain in first place in the AFC North with a 7-2 mark while the Ravens, who go to Pittsburgh Sunday, are 6-3.

– The Lions overcame five Jared Goff picks to edge the Texans, 26-23, while the Vikings overcame three Sam Darnold picks to beat the Jaguars 12-7. The 8-1 Lions have already beaten the 7-2 Vikings and they meet again in the final game of the season.  

–The Cowboys, Jets and Bears are three of the most disappointing teams in the league. All three lost Sunday as the Cowboys were beaten by the Eagles, 34-6, the Jets lost to the Cardinals, 31-6, and the Bears lost to the Patriots, 19-3. The Cowboys  are 3-6 and Jets at 3-7 and both are virtually out of the playoff race. The Jets thought Aaron Rodgers would be their answer at quarterback and gave him a lot of control on personnel decisions, but Rodgers is showing his age at 40 and the Jets likely will likely be in the market for a new quarterback next year. Meanwhile, the Cowboys are so out of sorts that their stadium caused a controversy. It has glass doors on both ends and if it isn’t overcast the sun shines in. CeeDee Lamb lost a touchdown pass in the sun and complained about the sun. Owner Jerry  Jones has rejected the idea of putting curtains up to blocck the sun and got annoyed when reporters brought it up. Of course, the Cowboys have many more problems besides the sun issue, namely the fact that Jones insists on being the general manager. The Bears haven’t recovered from their Hail Mary loss to Washington and have lost three in a row to drop to 4-5.