Breaking Down NFL Week 16

Sports Illustrated

Senior Writer Albert Breer breaks down five enticing storylines to eagerly anticipate during the Christmas break in Week 16 of the NFL season.

Transcript

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.

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