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The NFL does its best to get interesting matchups late in the season. It’s not always easy.
Injuries hit teams, some teams clinch early and other teams get eliminated before Christmas. The league has to get creative sometimes. This year it designated five matchups, three of which could be moved to Saturday for a tripleheader. The NFL announced its Week 17 games for Saturday last week. All three have some playoff implications.
All three games will be on NFL+, as well as NFL Network.
Here are the main storylines for each of the three Saturday games:
Chargers at Patriots: Los Angeles can clinch
Making the playoffs isn’t entirely new to the Los Angeles Chargers. But given the talent on the roster, they should have more on their resume since 2018 than one playoff berth, which is known for one of the biggest collapses in NFL history. The Jacksonville Jaguars came back from a 27-point deficit to beat the Chargers in a 2022 season wild-card round game. That’s Los Angeles’ only playoff appearance the last five seasons.
The Chargers will clinch another playoff spot if they beat the New England Patriots in the first game Saturday. The Chargers also clinch with a Dolphins loss or tie combined with a Colts loss or tie, but it would be more satisfying to get in with a win.
The Patriots are 3-12 and perhaps playing on a national stage Saturday will motivate them. New England did give the Buffalo Bills a scare last week in a 24-21 loss, so the Patriots are still playing hard. They are getting solid play from rookie quarterback Drake Maye. The best the NFL can hope is that a three-win team keeps the first game of a tripleheader interesting.
Broncos at Bengals: Cincinnati trying to get into postseason
The Cincinnati Bengals’ playoff hopes aren’t dead, but they aren’t looking good either. The only thing Cincinnati can do is win and hope, and that starts Saturday afternoon against the Denver Broncos.
The story of the Bengals’ season is unusual. It’s rare to get MVP-level play from your…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-saturday-tripleheader-whats-at-stake-in-chargers-patriots-broncos-bengals-and-rams-cardinals-003504373.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-12-27 00:35:00
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