"The NFL's Week 17 slate of games feels like it has lasted forever, as the Thursday Christmas Day matchups led to the Saturday slate, before now turning the page to its plethora of Sunday games. Don't even get me thinking about the Monday night game tomorrow. Alas, these preceding games have given us playoff clarity, as only four teams (Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Carolina, and Tampa Bay) remain fighting for playoff spots."
"All the chatter around this game stems from a big prize for the loser: the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Technically, that spot can't be clinched by either team by losing this game alone, but their individual odds of holding it either skyrocket or plummet with a win/loss. That makes this perhaps the biggest game for draft order this season."
"These two teams know this, and they've responded by placing quite a few key players on the bench for "injuries" heading into the game. I don't see either team's tanking strategy putting them far enough behind the other for this game to get out of hand. The spread indicates a razor-thin margin, and I firmly believe that is what we will get. Expect this to come down to the wire."
Week 17 produced playoff clarity, leaving only four teams still fighting for postseason berths: Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Carolina, and Tampa Bay. Several remaining games carry important implications for playoff seeding and NFL Draft positioning, while other contests are essentially meaningless but can become electrifying late. The New York Giants at Las Vegas Raiders game carries major draft implications because the loser’s odds of landing the 2026 first overall pick change dramatically; both clubs sat multiple key players with injury designations ahead of kickoff. The matchup projects to be tightly contested with a razor-thin spread and a likely wire-to-wire finish. The Philadelphia Eagles at Buffalo Bills appears as a more meaningful Sunday contest with its own seeding stakes.
Read at Inside The Star
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]