The NFL gives us all a Christmas gift in Week 16: Four straight days of games
Merry Christmas, everyone!
The NFL's gift to you is a weekend filled with football: Four straight days of action beginning with a rare Friday contest on Christmas Day. But before we dig deeper into the pivotal matchups of Week 16, we set the stage with our staff picks and latest power rankings:
Game of the week: Indianapolis Colts at Pittsburgh Steelers — The sky is falling in the Steel City after the hometown team lost its third straight game, this time to the lowly Cincinnati Bengals. JuJu Smith-Schuster has vowed to stop the dancing; Can his team now stop the losing against an AFC contender?
Sneaky-good game of the week: Tennessee Titans at Green Bay Packers — Perhaps this is stretching the definition of "sneaky" – this is the Sunday Night Football game, after all – but the matchup should be a good measuring stick of the strength of the AFC vs. the NFC. The Pro Bowl-laden Packers currently hold the top seed in the conference at 11-3; Ryan Tannehill – hot about his own Pro Bowl snub – and the Titans are the current No. 4 seed in the AFC at 10-4. If Tennessee wins this one, it's safe to say the AFC is definitively the better conference this season.
Survival pool pick of the week: Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints — Jim Reineking, the normal author of this here newsletter, continued his winning ways. But after 15 weeks of play, survival pool choices are starting to get slim. This week he's going with the Saints to snap their current two-game losing streak and get some revenge on the Vikings for last season's playoff ouster. (Prior picks, starting with Week 1: Steelers, 49ers, Colts, Rams, Cowboys, Dolphins, Bills, Chiefs, Texans, Packers, Chargers, Seahawks, Vikings, Titans, Ravens).
- PHOTOS: Fans and cheerleaders | Celebrations
Week 16: Picks, news, analysis and more
- Week 16 picks: Who will win this week across the NFL? Our staff makes their picks.
- Lorenzo's Locks: Paste BN Sports' Lorenzo Reyes provides his three best bets for the weekend.
- Power rankings: The bottom of the league sees a shakeup following the Jets' shocking win. How all 32 teams measure up.
- Fantasy Football rankings: It's championship szn. Rankings and late-season sizzlers you need to win your league.
- RIP: Pro Football Hall of Famer Kevin Greene, ranked third all-time in sacks, has died at 58.
- Panthers shake up front office: General manager Marty Hurney has been fired by Carolina (for the second time).
- Carson Wentz's future: What are some possible landing spots for the quarterback should he leave the Eagles.
- They played to win the game ... but did they lose the war? The Jets' victory over the Rams makes sure they won't go down in history with the infamous 2008 Lions and 2017 Browns. But now they might lose out on the right to draft Trevor Lawrence – and much more.
- Feels like '89: The Cowboys have no Pro Bowlers for the first time since their 1-15 campaign 31 years ago.
- Change in Washington: Quarterback Dwayne Haskins was fined and stripped of his captaincy for violating COVID-19 protocols.
- Talking about practice: Cardinals star DeAndre Hopkins doesn't care what you think about his practice habits.
- Naughty or nice? Breaking down the NFL's good and bad this holiday season.
Week 16 schedule
(All times Eastern)
Friday
Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints, 4:30 p.m. (Fox/NFL Network)
Saturday
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Detroit Lions, 1 p.m. (NFL Network)
San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals, 4:30 p.m. (Amazon Prime Video)
Miami Dolphins at Las Vegas Raiders, 8:15 p.m. (NFL Network)
Sunday
Cleveland Browns at New York Jets, 1 p.m. (CBS)
New York Giants at Baltimore Ravens, 1 p.m. (Fox)
Indianapolis Colts at Pittsburgh Steelers, 1 p.m. (CBS)
Cincinnati Bengals at Houston Texans, 1 p.m. (Fox)
Chicago Bears at Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 p.m. (CBS)
Atlanta Falcons at Kansas City Chiefs, 1 p.m. (Fox)
Denver Broncos at Los Angeles Chargers, 4:05 p.m. (CBS)
Carolina Panthers at Washington Football Team, 4:05 p.m. (CBS)
Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys, 4:25 p.m. (Fox)
Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks, 4:25 p.m. (Fox)
Tennessee Titans at Green Bay Packers, 8:20 p.m. (NBC)
Monday
Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots, 8:15 p.m. (ABC/ESPN)
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