Week 1 starter Lucas Niang lost his job and went down in December with a torn patella. Swing tackle Mike Remmers is on injured reserve with a back issue. Andrew Wylie , who started at right tackle in the Super Bowl loss to the Buccaneers, will be the starter against the likely Defensive Player of the Year.
Key players such as Orlando Brown Jr. Losing Hill allows opposing defenses to squeeze the field, creating more opportunities for the tipped interceptions that plagued Kansas City during the first half of the season.
Few teams in the NFL are better at creating interceptions on a year-to-year basis on those sorts of plays than the Steelers. The problem for the Steelers is that there isn't much doing on the other side of the ball. It would be one thing if we could count on them to pick up a blocked punt for a score or a short field, as they did in the Week 1 win over the Bills , but the Chiefs have the league's third-best special teams unit.
The Steelers don't have the offensive line to protect Ben Roethlisberger , the running game to control the clock or the consistent big-play ability to scare the Chiefs in coverage. This could be closer than expected, but I would expect Roethlisberger's career to end here.
Prediction: Chiefs 24, Steelers These teams have played twice since the start of December, with the Patriots overcoming howling winds to win in Buffalo before the Bills returned the favor with a victory in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Western New York is expected to face subzero conditions Saturday night, but the wind gusts that rendered the passing game irrelevant in Week 13 aren't expected to be in place. Unfortunately for the Patriots, opening up the passing game reveals the biggest advantage between these two teams.
Josh Allen played one of the best games of his career in the win over New England, threading immaculate passes through tight windows against one of the league's best defenses.
He has been inconsistent over the past month -- he followed that Patriots game by going of for three picks in a win over the Falcons -- but we know he typically has the sort of ceiling that rookie Mac Jones hasn't really shown so far.
If the Patriots can get an early lead, as they did against the Bills in the first matchup, they won't need to take the training wheels off Jones and the passing attack. Forced into a shootout, he has not often been able to keep up. Even in the overtime loss to the Cowboys, he threw just 21 pass attempts. Jones was 14 of 32 for yards with two picks against the Buffalo defense in Week Since producing his best NFL game -- yards and two touchdowns against the Titans in Week 12 -- he has turned the ball over six times in five games and posted a passer rating of It's difficult to imagine Jones suddenly turning things around against the league's best pass defense by DVOA.
The other advantage the Bills have, as the wonderful Mike Reiss noted on Twitter , is health. The Patriots have a number of defensive starters who either aren't percent or might be out for Saturday's game, notably breakout rookie tackle Christian Barmore , who left the Week 18 loss to the Dolphins with a knee injury. The Bills are relatively healthy outside of the long-term absence of star corner Tre'Davious White.
I'd expect a low-scoring slog and a home win for Buffalo over its hated rival. Prediction: Bills 19, Patriots While the regular-season finale against the Chargers came down to a frantic conclusion, the Raiders got their just deserts when Daniel Carlson hit his winning field goal.
They outplayed the Chargers throughout Sunday's game, only for Justin Herbert to bail out the offense with a series of preposterous plays on fourth downs. The Raiders dominated the line of scrimmage, as the offensive line did an excellent job of protecting Derek Carr , while Maxx Crosby dominated Storm Norton and harassed Herbert throughout the contest. To get to that point, though, the Raiders rode their luck against a series of compromised quarterbacks.
After dropping to , they landed consecutive games against backup quarterbacks Nick Mullens Browns and Drew Lock Broncos. Wentz averaged just 5. The Raiders won those games by a total of just nine points.
Of course, you could make the same case that the Bengals might be overrated by their recent performance. Joe Burrow played like an MVP candidate in consecutive wins over the Ravens and Chiefs , throwing for a combined yards and eight touchdowns.
Those games matter, but they're also way out of line with his performances from week to week. The No. Burrow and the Bengals are for real on offense, but expecting them to be the Greatest Show on Turf Rams is probably an exaggeration.
The problem for the Raiders is that I'm not sure another dominant game from Crosby would even be enough. When the Raiders played the Bengals earlier this season, the star end posted a The Raiders were able to muster only 13 first downs, even with Darren Waller in the fold.
Unless the knee injury Burrow rested in Week 18 is more significant than publicly reported, I don't think the Raiders have enough to keep their winning streak going. Prediction: Bengals 27, Raiders We're looking at four backups, a guy who was benched, two players who were salary dumped this offseason, a struggling top-three pick and Ryan. When Tom Brady faced this secondary in Week 6 , he went 34 of 42 with yards in a game the Bucs led before two late Philly scores.
That game preceded Philadelphia's midseason awakening to run the ball more with Jalen Hurts at quarterback, a shift it was able to pull off in part because its schedule got much easier. I don't love the Eagles' matchup against one of the league's best run defenses, especially with Hurts possibly slowed by an ankle injury. New Orleans still won , but it needed to shut out the Bucs to do so. I don't like Philly's chances of repeating that feat.
Prediction: Bucs 34, Eagles The 49ers have the sort of roster capable of giving any team fits, and they are one of the few organizations with the sort of star-laden core that can match the Cowboys. We just saw Jimmy Garoppolo produce one of the best drives of his career in marching the 49ers down the field for the winning score against the Rams , which helped push San Francisco back into the postseason.
As was the case for the No. Kyle Shanahan's team struggles to stay afloat when it turns the ball over; the 49ers have gone when they turn the ball over two or more times this year and otherwise. They're facing a Cowboys defense that has forced two or more takeaways 12 different times this season, a feat last accomplished by the Steelers and the Legion of Boom Seahawks.
With the 49ers bereft at cornerback against a team with multiple star receivers, they will need a heroic effort on the ground to stick with Dallas, and while that's possible, I don't trust an injured Garoppolo to protect the football, especially with star left tackle Trent Williams questionable to play.
Prediction: Cowboys 27, 49ers I'm not sure there are many teams that have seemed less convincing while winning five of six than these Rams. Matthew Stafford has alternated white-hot stretches of passing with halves in which he has made inexplicable decisions with the football.
In Los Angeles' season-ending loss to the 49ers , he went of for yards with two touchdowns in the first half, then threw two picks after halftime, including a game-ender to rookie Ambry Thomas.
Facing an inconsistent Seattle offense, the Cardinals looked like they were still working out preseason mistakes. Blown coverages led to long touchdowns for Tyler Lockett and Freddie Swain , while the defense left a gap unfilled on the yard Rashaad Penny touchdown.
Arizona has the roster to overcome the occasional lapse or mental mistake, but the margins are tighter against the league's best teams. Perhaps more disconcertingly, the Arizona offense has undergone yet another second-half fade. During their run to finish the season, the Cardinals ranked 17th in offensive EPA per play, below the Texans and Lions. It's hard to believe the Cardinals are suddenly going to turn things around without him. Eli Manning. Lucas Oil Stadium.
XLV Aaron Rodgers. XLIV Drew Brees. Sun Life Stadium. XLIII Santonio Holmes. XLII XLI Dolphin Stadium. XL Hines Ward. XXXIX Deion Branch. Dexter Jackson. Qualcomm Stadium. XXXVI Louisiana Superdome. XXXV XXXIV Pro Player Stadium. XXXII XXXI Miami, Florida 04! Miami, FL 4 [note 2]. Oakland Raiders 02! Minnesota Vikings 04! Rose Bowl 01! Rose Bowl. Pasadena, California 03! Pasadena, CA 3 [note 1]. Denver Broncos 01! Louisiana Superdome 01! Louisiana Superdome.
New Orleans, Louisiana 04! New Orleans, LA 4. Pittsburgh Steelers 03! Dallas Cowboys 05! Orange Bowl 05! Orange Bowl 5. Miami, Florida 05! Miami, FL 5 [note 2]. Pittsburgh Steelers 04! Louis Rams 01! Rose Bowl 02! Rose Bowl 2. Pasadena, California 04!
Pasadena, CA 4 [note 1]. Oakland Raiders 03! Philadelphia Eagles 01! Louisiana Superdome 02! Louisiana Superdome 2. New Orleans, Louisiana 05! New Orleans, LA 5. San Francisco 49ers 01! Cincinnati Bengals 01! Pontiac Silverdome 01! Pontiac Silverdome.
Pontiac, Michigan 01! Pontiac, MI [note 1]. Washington Redskins 02! Miami Dolphins 04! Rose Bowl 03! Rose Bowl 3. Pasadena, California 05! Pasadena, CA 5 [note 1].
Oakland Raiders 04! Washington Redskins 03! Tampa Stadium 01! Tampa Stadium. Tampa, Florida 01! Tampa, FL. San Francisco 49ers 02! Miami Dolphins 05! Stanford Stadium 01!
Stanford Stadium. Stanford, California 01! Stanford, CA. Chicago Bears 01! New England Patriots 01! Louisiana Superdome 03! Louisiana Superdome 3. New Orleans, Louisiana 06! New Orleans, LA 6. New York Giants 01! Denver Broncos 02!
Rose Bowl 04! Rose Bowl 4. Pasadena, California 06! Pasadena, CA 6 [note 1]. Washington Redskins 04! Denver Broncos 03!
Jack Murphy Stadium 01! Jack Murphy Stadium [note 4]. San Diego, California 01! San Diego, CA. San Francisco 49ers 03! Cincinnati Bengals 02! Joe Robbie Stadium 01! Joe Robbie Stadium [note 4]. Miami, Florida 06! Miami, FL 6 [note 2]. San Francisco 49ers 04! Denver Broncos 04! Louisiana Superdome 04! Louisiana Superdome 4. New Orleans, Louisiana 07! New Orleans, LA 7. New York Giants 02!
Buffalo Bills 01! Tampa Stadium 02! Tampa Stadium 2. Tampa, Florida 02! Tampa, FL 2. Washington Redskins 05! Buffalo Bills 02! Metrodome 01! Minneapolis, Minnesota! Minneapolis, MN. Dallas Cowboys 06!
The Chiefs had a chance to beat the Bengals in the first game, but blown coverages and some unlucky calls caused them to lose the game. This has to be the year for Aaron Rodgers to get that elusive second Lombardi right? Mahomes missed the first matchup in with an injury and Rodgers missed the most recent bout by landing on the COVID reserve list.
It should be a close, tightly fought game, but I think the Packers have a better roster than the Chiefs. Apex Legends could be getting a PS5 and Xbox Series upgrade soon, according to a listing on a patch tracking website.
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