Senior Writer Albert Breer breaks down five enticing storylines to eagerly anticipate during the Christmas break in Week 16 of the NFL season.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 We're gonna give you guys five things to watch for over the next few days Christmas weekend.
00:04 Number one, how does the AFC East race shake out after this weekend?
00:09 Buffalo has what looks like a layup playing against an interim coach and
00:12 Giff Smith and a backup quarterback and Easton Stick on that peacock only game on Saturday night.
00:18 So presuming they win Saturday night, that keeps the pressure on the Dolphins.
00:22 All the Bills need is the Dolphins to slip up once and they need to win out,
00:26 beating the Chargers and the Patriots to make that week 18 game for the AFC East title.
00:31 And the Dolphins have no layup this week.
00:32 They play against Dallas.
00:34 We'll get back to the Cowboys in a second.
00:35 The second thing to look for, the backup quarterbacks in the AFC playoff race.
00:39 Now we know some of the teams that are in.
00:40 The Ravens are gonna be in, the Dolphins almost certainly will be in,
00:43 the Chiefs will be there.
00:44 I think the Bills will be there too.
00:45 And that leaves it sort of wide open.
00:48 Otherwise, the AFC South race still up for grabs between the Jaguars, the Colts and the Texans.
00:53 And so we've got some games this weekend that are going to
00:56 hinge on depth at the quarterback position.
01:00 The Bengals and the Steelers play on Saturday.
01:02 There we'll have Jake Browning against Mitch Trubisky.
01:05 The Browns have the Texans on Sunday.
01:07 That's another couple backup quarterbacks in all likelihood.
01:10 Joe Flacco going for Cleveland and Case Keenum probably starting there for the Texans.
01:17 And then we have the Colts and the Falcons.
01:19 The Colts in that AFC race as well, they're gonna roll Gardner Minshew out.
01:23 They're going against Taylor Heineke.
01:25 The Jaguars also might not have Trevor Lawrence.
01:28 So lots of backup quarterbacks playing into the AFC race below the top tier right now.
01:34 Third thing to look for, can the Cowboys and Eagles bounce back?
01:37 They're presumably the second and third best teams in the NFC behind the Niners.
01:43 Some Lions fans might argue with that, but the Cowboys will try to avoid a second straight loss.
01:47 It's not gonna be easy for them to get the Dolphins.
01:49 And then the Eagles are gonna try to avoid a fourth loss in a row.
01:53 They all go up against the Giants on Monday.
01:55 And that Giants team, you know, they're not what they were a year ago, but they're frisky.
01:59 They're capable of an upset.
02:00 They've already shown that.
02:01 Fourth thing to look for, the Commanders have now lost five games in a row.
02:06 And I don't think the new owner there, Josh Harris, has been of a mind to fire Ron Rivera in season.
02:11 But you start to look at where they are.
02:14 They've already fired the defensive coordinator, Jack Del Rio.
02:17 And the coaching market is actually starting to ramp up a little bit.
02:22 We've got three teams that have already let go of their head coaches and are going with
02:26 interim coaches in Giff Smith and the Chargers, Antonia Pierce and the Raiders,
02:30 and of course, Chris Tabor and the Panthers.
02:32 So those three teams already looking for coaches.
02:35 The Commanders feel like they're behind a little bit right now.
02:37 Would they make a move if they lose a sixth straight game this weekend?
02:41 Finally, the fifth thing to look for, and this one's simple,
02:44 best game of the weekend is the last game of the weekend.
02:47 Christmas night, I sort of wish it wasn't on Christmas night.
02:49 I wish I could have the Christmas with my family and all that.
02:52 But we get a great one on Christmas night with the Ravens and Niners.
02:55 Potential, potential Super Bowl 58 preview there.
03:00 We could see the Ravens and Niners play again in Vegas.