A lot of folks are real quick to complain when we get to this part of the year, and a couple of teams that were expected to be good (and aren’t due to injuries or otherwise) end up playing a bad game in primetime.

Next time, I hope they can remember what we saw over the past two late-night games.

I’d sit through a baker’s dozen of Chad Henne vs Charlie Whitehurst (not sure if this actually happened, but it may have) to get another thrill like last night.

I’m a bit biased, having bet on the Bears and as a holder of Seattle futures, but even from a neutral standpoint, I’m not sure we’ve ever had better back-to-back primetime games.

New England/Baltimore has a ton to live up to tonight.

Injuries 🤕

• Arizona Cardinals

  • Marvin Harrison Jr is expected to play today

  • Paris Johnson, Jalen Thompson, Evan Brown, Darren Hall, and Max Melton are out.

• Atlanta Falcons

  • Drake London is expected to play

• Baltimore Ravens

  • Kyle Hamilton is going to work out pre-game to determine if he’s good to go for today’s game

• Buffalo Bills

  • Mecole Hardman (calf) is questionable

  • The team elevated K Michael Badgley with Matt Prater injured

• Carolina Panthers

  • LT Ikem Ekwonu (knee): questionable

  • Tet McMillan is clear to go and has no designation heading into the game

• Cincinnati Bengals

  • Tee Higgins will return (again) from a concussion

• Cleveland Browns

  • Jack Conklin, David Njoku, Dylan Sampson, and Denzel Ward are out

• Dallas Cowboys

  • CB Daron Bland is out for the year

  • Quinnen Williams is on track to play Sunday as he returns from a concussion

• Denver Broncos

  • G Ben Powers is questionable after being activated off the IR

• Detroit Lions

  • Taylor Decker and Graham Glasnow are listed as questionable for the OL

  • Kerby Joseph remains out

• Houston Texans

  • Nick Chubb (ribs) and Christian Kirk (illness) are both expected to play.

• Jacksonville Jaguars

  • RB Bhayshul Tuten is out with a finger injury

• Kansas City Chiefs

  • Gardner Minshew gets the start with Mahomes injured

  • Trent McDuffie is out, along with Leo Chenal, Rashee Rice, Jawaan Taylor, Jaylon Moore, and Tyquan Thornton

• Las Vegas Raiders

  • Geno Smith will play, returning from his shoulder injury

  • Kolton Miller is still out

• Los Angeles Chargers

  • WR Quentin Johnston is questionable with a groin injury

  • T Trey Pipkins (ankle) is questionable

• Miami Dolphins

  • Quinn Ewers is getting the start with Tua BENCHED

• Minnesota Vikings

  • The Vikes will finish the season without safety Joshua Metellus and outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard

  • T Christian Darrisaw is out

• New Orleans Saints

  • Alvin Kamara is again out

• New York Jets

  • While Brady Cook is starting at QB, Tyrod Taylor is healthy enough to back him up this week

• Pittsburgh Steelers

  • TJ Watt remains out with his lung injury

  • G Isaac Seumalo is out

  • Nick Herbig is out with a hamstring

• Tennessee Titans

  • G Kevin Zeitler (groin) is questionable

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Weather ⛈

Not a ton for a Sunday in late December, but really, the two most concerning weather games (Seattle, Chicago) are likely in the rear view for the week.

• Buffalo @ Cleveland: 15 mph winds with gusts in the 25-30 mph range, plus it’ll be pretty cold.

• Minnesota @ NY Giants: Similar to Cleveland with sustained winds 15+ and some gusts nearing 30 mph on a cold day in the Meadowlands.

Situational 📆

• The Falcons have a rest advantage taking on Arizona coming of TNF, but are also playing on the road for the 2nd straight week.

• The Bills are on their 2nd straight week of travel, heading to Cleveland after last week’s comeback win at New England.

• This will be the first game the Kansas City Chiefs have played as an eliminated team since late in 2012.

• The Chargers are on the road for the 2nd straight week after beating KC last time out

• The Raiders are also traveling back-to-back weeks as they head to Houston

• Miami is on short rest after playing on Monday Night Football last week

• The Vikings are yet another team in a back-to-back travel situation, heading to New York after playing in Dallas. They also experienced some issues with their plane and were forced to return to Minneapolis before taking a different plane to Newark.

• The Jets are traveling for the 2nd consecutive week, heading to New Orleans after playing in Jacksonville.

• The Steelers are on a short week coming off their MNF win

• Tampa Bay will have extra rest coming into their divisional matchup with the Panthers, having played on TNF

Sunday Bets

Hope we can keep it rolling, feeling blessed to have gotten the Bears home. Hoping I haven’t used up all my luck for the week.

Carolina +3 -110

Both teams are coming off a loss, but Carolina is at home and again facing a defense that’s lost some steam down the stretch. Speaking of, after a hot start, Baker Mayfield and this Josh Grizzard-called offense have been anything but consistent over the past couple of months, even with the return of HOFer Mike Evans. It’s not easy to believe in Bryce Young, but I’ll be taking the home divisional dog like the old timers like to do.

Atlanta -3 -105

Maybe Kirk Cousins is only good against the Bucs? Willing to put that to the test against an extremely beat-up Cardinals team. While I’m not excited that MHJ is finally returning, it’s nice to see that London will be coming back as well to join Robinson and Pitts. The coach is a lame duck, the team is eliminated, the QB already has a giant contract, so I’m not sure how motivated they’ll be, but I love the pass rush in this spot versus an injured Cards line, and assume (what could go wrong?) they won’t be packing it in on the offense either.

New England +3.5 -111

Is this as simple as “I don’t think Lamar Jackson is remotely healthy”? I’ve also played some moneyline here and love the matchup for the Patriots' offense, which can take a few too many sacks at times (going up against a team with very little to offer in a pass rush). Lamar missing some practice due to an illness made me think of this old banger from one of the other 15 times he missed practice with the flu:

Also played some Saints, but when we got around to betting on them, it was a cheap -4.5, so giving out -6.5 doesn’t feel as good. Although, the hope is to get a big day out of Tyler Shough as he is running out of time to get his name seriously mentioned in the OROY conversations.

If you have the time and want a quick preview of any of the other games, we touched on them all last week. Time-stamped for your pleasure (and so you can skip over the first three games that already happened):

One last thing, do me a favor and forward this email to someone you think may like a little more football in their life.