Just call it Moving Week.
Week 17 is the NFL’s equivalent to Saturday on the PGA Tour as teams maneuver for playoff spots, playoff home games and hope against hope that there are no major injuries heading into the playoffs.
Lots of questions need to be answered.
Among them:
WHO MOST NEEDS A HOME PLAYOFF GAME?
Not much doubt on this. The Cowboys would give back all their presents to start the playoffs in Dallas, where they are 7-0 as opposed to 3-5 on the road. The last thing Dallas (10-5) wants is to travel to red-hot Tampa Bay, but leap-frogging the 11-4 Eagles and winning the East (and a home game) seems a bridge too far.
WHO IN THE NFC HAS THE MOST MOMENTUM?
Speaking of the Buccaneers, TB was left for dead after losing to Indianapolis in late November, but has won four straight and has averaged 31 in its last three games. Might be fool’s gold and a loss at home to New Orleans could put an end to the fun, but the Bucs are opening some eyes.
WHO HAS THE MOST ISSUES?
Just what is going on in Kansas City, where the Chiefs are angry with each other even though they are going to win the AFC West and get a home playoff game? Is it way too early to think that the Kardashians are off the hook and now there is a Taylor Swift Curse? The Chiefs’ road to the Super Bowl could now go through BOTH Miami and Baltimore.
WHO IS THE TEAM NO ONE WANTS TO PLAY?
Ask the 49ers, who got bent, folded, and mutilated – at home, no less – on Christmas by the Ravens. Baltimore has a top 5 offense, a top 6 defense, and is peaking at the right time. And that Lamar Jackson guy is pretty good. Remember six months ago any team could have had him for the right contract number. Despite the loss, however, SF is still the betting favorite to win the Super Bowl at +210, with oddsmakers figuring that the loss to Baltimore was a one-off.
WHO’S LEFT STANDING IN THE AFC?
Five AFC teams enter Week 17 at 8-7. One of them will win the South, and one of the others from a group of Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, and Houston will win at musical chairs and sneak into the final playoff spot. The insanely complicated tie-breaker rules will almost certainly be applied here, and right now the Colts seem to have the edge over several other teams.
WHAT’S UP WITH BUFFALO?
The Bills are in but will have to win at least one road game in the playoffs, and they have already lost at Denver, New England, and New York (Jets) this year. Still, Buffalo has won three in a row and is in a position to perhaps rest some key players this coming weekend in Foxboro and in a Week 18 matchup against Miami that is likely to be meaningless.
WHICH NFL DIVISION CHAMP GETS THE BYE?
San Francisco, Detroit, and Philadelphia head down the home stretch nose to nose, all at 11-4. The NFL is full of quicksand, but right now the Eagles seem to have the easier road home with games at home vs. Arizona and in New York against the Giants. San Francisco, licking wounds after the loss to Baltimore, gets to right the ship against the Commanders in Washington before closing against the Rams at home. Detroit has two nasty games – at Dallas and then at home against the Vikings.
WHO’S THE MVP THIS SEASON?
Heading into Week 16 it was Brock Purdy’s to lose, and he might just have done that with four interceptions in the awful loss to the Ravens. And it just so happens that the only player with a chance to catch Purdy was Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson. LJ did nothing to hurt his chances at winning his second MVP, throwing for 252 yards, two TDs, and zero interceptions while Purdy was throwing four picks. The two performances flipped the MVP odds upside down, with Jackson now -150 and Purdy now third at +600. Niners RB Christian McCaffrey is ahead of Purdy at +400. Had Purdy’s awful performance come in Week 3 he might have been able to survive it, but recency bias will likely end his chances.