NFL Week 18 -- Flipper's time?

The SJ old heads will get it...we miss you Buck. Also tangentially related to the final game of the NFL season.

Anyway...all times Pacific

Saturday (both on ESPN/ABC)
Pittsburgh (-3.5/36.5) at Baltimore, 130
Houston (-1.5/47.5) at Indianapolis, 515

Sunday early
Cleveland at Cincinnati (-6/38.5), CBS
Minnesota at Detroit (-3/45.5), FOX
Jacksonville (-5.5/39.5) at Tennessee, CBS
N.Y. Jets at New England (-2/30), FOX
Atlanta at New Orleans (-3/42.5), CBS
Tampa Bay (-5/37.5) at Carolina, FOX

Sunday late
Dallas (-13/45.5) at Washington, FOX
Chicago at Green Bay (-3/44.5), CBS
Denver at Las Vegas (-2.5/38.5), FOX
Philadelphia (-5/41.5) at N.Y. Giants, CBS
Seattle (-2.5/47.5) at Arizona, FOX
Kansas City at L.A. Chargers (-3/35.5), CBS
L.A. Rams at San Francisco (-3.5/42.5), FOX

Sunday night
Buffalo (-3/49.5) at Miami, 520, NBC

NFL Playoff Scenarios

* All scenarios listed in the link above. For brevity sake, the only teams that control their fate with a win are Dallas (NFC East title), Tampa (NFC South title), Green Bay (NFC wild card), Miami/Buffalo winner (AFC East title), Jacksonville (AFC South title), Indianapolis (AFC wild card). Every other team needs help.
* San Francisco (NFC 1), Baltimore (AFC 1), Kansas City (AFC 3) and Cleveland (AFC 5) are locked into their seeds.
* Betting lines on Week 18 is akin to betting the preseason. You have no clue who is going to be out there. If Dallas races to an early lead in Washington, Philly may sit everyone at halftime. There are a few games I'd still feel OK about betting, but the majority are stayaways.
* That said, I'm a little surprised the Colts are home dogs to Houston.

 

Nine teams have already clinched playoff spots.

AFC: Baltimore, Miami, Kansas City, Cleveland.

NFC: San Francisco, Dallas, Detroit, Philadelphia, Rams.

 

Pittsburgh road favorite. Understandable.

Will be interesting to see how much Baltimore plays.

There is a lot of talk of NOT repeating the 2019 collapse - not sure how the Ravens will maintain routines through this game and the bye week. But 2019 is a motivating factor.

 

It's a tough spot for the Ravens. Risk losing their momentum by effectively giving their starters two weeks off or risk losing key players for the playoffs. Maybe they go with a preseason approach, leaving all the starters in for a series or two, then going with backups, but I think that might bring even more risk for guys who are out there knowing they aren't really playing to win while their opponent is fighting for its playoff life.

Clearly, Vegas thinks Harbaugh will go the traditional route and sit his guys. I hope Vegas is right. The Steelers need every break they can get. I know they beat the Ravens the first time and the Steelers have a history of playing well against Lamar Jackson, but the current group is missing too many key guys and the Ravens look unbeatable lately. I don't think the Steelers stop Lamar Jackson with their current collection of practice-squad call-ups and guys they drew out of retirement at inside linebacker and safety.

 

Washington is on a backup QB and they will get the second pick if they lose. It’s hard to see that changing. But oh my God would I be laughing the next two weeks if they upset Dallas. If the Eagles by the skin of their teeth take the East and force Dallas to have to win road games, I would be so happy. I’m not going to lay a single dollar on that happening, but damn it would be funny and the Dallas fans meltdown would be epic.

 

As a Dallas fan I’m expecting it. I’m also certain the Cowboys will take a penalty on a tackle eligible play, and give up a TD on one.

 

Rams-49ers taking on a last preseason game vibe. McCaffrey out for SF and I'm not expecting Purdy to get a lot of snaps. For the Rams, Wentz gets the nod over Stafford.

 

I hate the last week. No wonder most fantasy leagues skip it.

 

Always thought a better way to do playoffs for FF was a re-draft. You can hold half your roster, and everyone else goes back into the pot.

 

Shanahan announced Darnold is starting.

 

Not expecting maximum effort out of many of these games. Houston-Indy is important because there's a chance Jacksonville will piss down its leg in Tennessee the next day. Atlanta-New Orleans is similar. I think Chicago-Green Bay will be good considering the stakes for the Packers and the Bears' desire to end a nine-game skid against their rivals. Buffalo may have already clinched a playoff spot by the Sunday night game, but there's a pretty massive difference between hosting two playoff games and having to go on the road twice, so both teams should be pretty motivated there.

 

The only intrigue with the Chiefs is if Kelce plays enough to hit 1,000 yards for the eighth consecutive season. He’s 16 yards away.