Fubo News presents the five main storylines to watch for Week 16 of the NFL season. Watch the NFL live and for free on Fubo.
Six teams no longer have playoff dreams and four have clinched spots as NFL Week 16 arrives on Thursday night with a showdown of 7-7 contenders. The New Orleans Saints take on the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium in L.A. That’s just the first of many important games in NFL Week 16. Eleven 11 AFC teams surround the playoff tree within one game of a spot. Another 11 NFC teams occupy a similar position.
As for the Carolina Panthers, Arizona Cardinals, Washington Commanders, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans and New York Jets, thanks for playing. Embrace the spoiler role. Or tank for a higher draft pick, though in Carolina’s case, the latter option is rather pointless.
Much of the talk in the ramp-up to NFL Week 16 focused on the NFL MVP “race,” because sports journalists are incapable of not treating awards like they were political campaigns. Brock Purdy’s performance last week won him the Super Tuesday primaries and he’s the new favorite, just for the record.
With a huge Christmas Day table of delicious options to pile on the plate, here are the five storylines we are watching in NFL Week 16.
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5. Playoff showdown at the kids’ table
The New Orleans Saints get leading receiver Chris Olave back for Thursday night’s Lucky 7-7s showdown with the Los Angeles Rams.
The Saints currently lose the tiebreaker with the 7-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South on their head-to-head loss in Week 4. New Orleans gets a chance to even the score at Tampa Bay on New Year’s Eve.
But they are also fourth among four 7-7 teams competing for two wild-card positions. The Minnesota Vikings are sixth, the Rams seventh, the Seattle Seahawks eighth and the Saints ninth based on conference winning percentage. Three of New Orleans’ victories are against AFC teams.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles roared into contention with four wins in its last five games. The lone loss came in overtime on the road to the Baltimore Ravens, the AFC’s best team. If the Rams are going to make a run, the next two weeks are critical. Los Angeles finishes on the road at the New York Giants and at the San Francisco 49ers.
4. How the North could be won
The Detroit Lions face a simple proposition. Beat the Minnesota Vikings in Minneapolis on Christmas Eve and celebrate the franchise’s first division title since the Clinton administration.
The year was 1993. Plastic snap-back hats were everywhere because they had not yet fallen out of fashion only to return a couple of decades later. And, for the second time in three seasons, Detroit owned the NFC Central crown. Yes, the Lions have never won the NFC North championship since the division was created with the 2002 realignment.
Minnesota owns the No. 6 spot in the NFC playoff picture at 7-7. The fifth spot likely stands out of reach with either the Dallas Cowboys or Philadelphia Eagles (both 10-4) having claimed it.
The Lions eviscerated the Denver Broncos on Saturday in their best overall performance since October. Detroit visits the Cowboys on Dec. 30, sandwiched between two games against the Vikings. At 10-4, Detroit maintains a puncher’s chance at the top seed and a first-round bye.
At the very least, the Lions could host a playoff game for the first time since Jan. 8, 1994. That day, Detroit’s secondary decided it didn’t need to cover Sterling Sharpe deep downfield with less than a minute remaining and turned a 24-21 lead into a 28-24 loss.
Full disclosure: A then-young reporter covering his first NFL playoff game witnessed a heated postgame discussion between a pair of Detroit defensive backs arguing over the coverage. In any event, the Cover None strategy was a bold one, Cotton. But it did not work out for them.
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3. The Dallas Cowboys get another chance to lose to a good team
The Dallas Cowboys lead the NFC East at 10-4 with a schedule softer than an SEC team’s non-conference slate. The Cowboys are 9-1 against teams with records .500 or worse and 1-3 against teams that win regularly. On Sunday, Dallas took a 31-10 beating from the Buffalo Bills on the road and now visits the 10-4 Miami Dolphins on Christmas Eve.
Miami clinches a playoff berth with a win on Sunday. The Dolphins can claim the AFC East title with a win and a loss or tie by the Bills – or with a tie and a Bills loss. Side note: Ties complicate things, even as neckwear.
The Marine Mammals shut out the New York Jets on Sunday and have won four of their last five. But Miami’s closing schedule is a gauntlet: After hosting the Cowboys, the Dolphins visit the Baltimore Ravens before hosting the hard-charging Bills in the season finale.
Dallas already has a postseason ticket in its pocket. But the Cowboys gained a season-low 195 yards at Buffalo on Sunday and were held to 197 in their ugly 42-10 loss at San Francisco in October. They desperately need a strong performance on the road against a quality opponent to at least turn down the volume on their detractors.
2. Who had Cleveland at Houston as a huge Week 16 game back in April?
The 9-5 Cleveland Browns visit the 8-6 Houston Texans on Sunday in a game just dripping with playoff implications. The Browns, who are on their fourth quarterback in the resurrected Joe Flacco, have sole possession of the AFC’s first wild card. Houston trails the Cincinnati Bengals and Indianapolis Colts on tiebreakers and sits in eighth place.
Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud did not play in Sunday’s overtime road win over the Tennessee Titans and remains in concussion protocol. According to ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime, Stroud is not likely to be cleared in time for Cleveland. Case Keenum was 23-of-36 for 229 yards at Tennessee with a touchdown and an interception. Keenum would start again if Stroud is unable to go.
Houston signed Tim Boyle, recently cut by the New York Jets, to the practice squad because they needed another quarterback to practice.
Meanwhile, the Browns — the only team in the NFL with a longer division title drought than the Detroit Lions — have won nine games with four starting quarterbacks. Flacco was limited in practice on Wednesday with a calf injury, which would put Dorian Thompson-Robinson back in the picture as a starter.
Cleveland’s quarterback play as a whole reminds no one of Tom Brady … or even Baker Mayfield. The quartet of Deshaun Watson, Thompson-Robinson, P.J. Walker and Flacco has:
- Combined for 16 touchdowns and 18 interceptions
- Completed 56.2% of their 525 throws
- Have averaged a paltry 6.0 yards per attempt
- Have somehow authored four fourth-quarter comebacks and five game-winning drives
The Browns skated past the Chicago Bears 20-17 on Sunday on a failed Hail Mary attempt by the Bears. But barring a total collapse (never impossible because, hey, these are the Browns we’re talking about), Cleveland looks like a playoff team. One that may answer the question of how far a defense can carry a team in the modern NFL.
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1. Ravens-49ers
Three of the top five candidates in the NFL MVP election … ahem … race show their wares on Christmas night when the Baltimore Ravens visit the San Francisco 49ers.
Lamar Jackson leads the Ravens into Levi’s Stadium to face Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey and San Francisco. The winner leaves with the undisputed best record in the NFL at 12-3. (Unless there’s a tie, which, as mentioned earlier, is complicated.)
Purdy is putting up unprecedented numbers. His 9.9 yards per attempt would be the highest since the merger and third-best in NFL history. Only Otto Graham of the 1953 Cleveland Browns and Norm Van Brocklin of the 1954 Los Angeles Rams have higher marks. Both were set in the era when post routes were run toward the goal posts … which were on the goal line. So, yeah, a long time ago.
McCaffrey, meanwhile, leads the NFL in rushing, yards from scrimmage, yards after contact and runs of 10 or more yards. His 20 rushing and receiving touchdowns are tied for the most in the league.
Jackson, thriving in his first season with new offensive coordinator Todd Monken, has thrown for 3,105 yards and 17 touchdowns while adding 741 yards and five scores with his feet.
Baltimore has won four straight games and eight of its last nine. San Francisco comes in with six straight wins after losing three in a row back in October and 10 of its 11 wins have been by 12 points or more.
The Ravens manufactured some outrage at being disrespected as the underdogs in the matchup. It’s one of the most tiresome trends in modern sports; teams claiming disrespect for anything. But if it makes them feel better, hey, go for it.
The matchup is a Christmas night dream — the two best teams in the NFL facing off in a late-season showdown. Here’s hoping it lives up to the hype.
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