NFL GAME DAY DISCUSSION 2024 Week 18 NFL Games

[jmt57]

The maps won't be up until Wednesday, but you can get a pretty good idea what games will be broadcast in your area based on the teams playing in that time slot, and who the announcers are. I'll add that here once they are published.

No Thursday or Monday night games this week, and we do get to enjoy two early games as well as two late games, a rarity. Boston area will get the Pats-Bills early, and presumably the Chiefs-Broncos & Dolphins-Jets late. The other early game should be Saints-Bucs (most important game in that time slot), but Fox absolutely loves Dallas, so it could be Washington-Dallas instead.

There are also some good college football games on this week. The college football playoff games are more compelling than the meaningless NFL games, other than Lions-Vikings and bad teams attempting to outdo one another in their race to the bottom for draft order.

Best Game: Minnesota at Detroit; winner gets a bye, loser drops to #5 as a wild card
AFC Playoff Implications: Browns at Ravens, Bengals at Steelers; Chiefs at Broncos, Dolphins at Jets
NFC Playoff Implications: Vikings at Lions; Saints at Bucs, Panthers at Falcons; Seahawks at Rams; Wash at Cowboys, Bears at Packers
Draft Order Implications: Patriots at Bills; if Pats win, they would fall behind the Titans, Giants, Browns and Giants
Train Wrecks/Potential Blowouts: Browns at Ravens, Saints at Bucs

506 Sports - NFL Maps: Week 18, 2024

National Broadcasts all times ET
Tuesday 12:00 #11 Alabama at Michigan (ESPN)
Tuesday 3:00: #15 South Carolina at #20 Illinois (ABC)
Tuesday 7:30: CFP, #6 Penn State at #3 Boise State (ESPN)
Wednesday 1:00: CFP, #5 Texas at #4 Arizona State (ESPN)
Wednesday 5:00: CFP, #8 Ohio State at #1 Oregon (ESPN)
Wednesday 8:45: CFP, #7 Notre Dame at #2 Georgia (ESPN)
Saturday 4:30: 3-13 Cleveland @ 11-5 Baltimore [-17½] (ESPN/ABC; Chris Fowler, Louis Riddick, Dan Orlovsky; Laura Rutledge)
Saturday 8:00: 8-8 Cincinnati [-1½] @ 10-6 Pittsburgh (ESPN/ABC; Joe Buck, Troy Aikman; Lisa Salters)
Sunday 8:20: 14-2 Minnesota @ 14-2 Detroit [-2½] (NBC; Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth; Melissa Stark)


CBS Early

█ 4-12 Carolina @ 8-8 Atlanta [-8½] - Ian Eagle, Charles Davis; Evan Washburn
█ 3-13 NY Giants @ 13-3 Philadelphia [-3] - Andrew Catalon, Tiki Barber, Jason McCourty; AJ Ross
█ 13-3 Buffalo [-3] @ 3-13 New England - Spero Dedes, Adam Archuleta; Aditi Kinkhabwala
█ 9-7 Houston @ 3-13 Tennessee [-1] - Tom McCarthy, Ross Tucker, Jay Feely; Amanda Balionis

CBS Late

█ 15-1 Kansas City @ 9-7 Denver [-10] - Jim Nantz, Tony Romo; Tracy Wolfson
█ 10-6 LA Chargers [-5½] @ 4-12 Las Vegas - Kevin Harlan, Trent Green; Melanie Collins

Fox Early

█ 5-11 New Orleans @ 9-7 Tampa Bay [-13½] - Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady; Erin Andrews, Tom Rinaldi
█ 11-5 Washington [-4½] @ 7-9 Dallas - Adam Amin, Mark Sanchez; Kristina Pink
█ 4-12 Chicago @ 11-5 Green Bay [-9] - Kevin Kugler, Daryl Johnston; Laura Okmin
█ 4-12 Jacksonville @ 7-9 Indianapolis [-5] - Jason Benetti, Brady Quinn; Sarah Kustock

Fox Late

█ 8-8 Miami [-1½] @ 4-12 NY Jets - Joe Davis, Greg Olsen; Pam Oliver
█ 9-7 Seattle [-5] @ 10-6 LA Rams - Kenny Albert, Jonathan Vilma; Megan Olivi
█ 6-10 San Francisco @ 7-9 Arizona [-3] - Chris Myers, Mark Schlereth; Jen Hale

 

[jmt57]

Most of the playoff spots are locked up, but there are still teams with something to play for.

AFC Playoff Picture

The AFC Playoff Picture table presents the probabilities that a team will win each NFL playoff spot.

www.playoffstatus.com

1.) 14-2 Kansas City Chiefs - locked in as the #1 seed
2.) 13-3 Buffalo Bills - locked in as the #2 seed
3.) 11-5 Baltimore Ravens - could be #3 seed or #5 seed
4.) 9-7 Houston Texans - locked in as the #4 seed
5.) 10-6 Pittsburgh Steelers - could be #3, #5 or #6 seed
6.) 10-6 LA Chargers - could be #5 or #6 seed
7.) 9-7 Denver Broncos - could be #7 seed, or miss playoffs
8.) 8-8 Miami Dolphins - could be #7 seed, or miss playoffs
9.) 8-8 Cincinnati Bengals - could be #7 seed, or miss playoffs

Ravens:
- Baltimore clinches #3 seed with a win over Cleveland
- Baltimore clinches #3 seed if Pittsburgh loses to Cincinnati
- Baltimore drops to #5 with a loss, plus Pittsburgh win

Steelers:
- Pittsburgh gets #3 seed with a win, plus Baltimore loss
- Pittsburgh gets #5 seed with a win, plus Baltimore win
- Pittsburgh gets #5 seed with a loss, plus Chargers loss
- Pittsburgh drops to #6 with a loss, plus Chargers win

Chargers:
- LAC gets #5 seed with a win, plus Pittsburgh loss
- LAC gets #6 seed in any other scenario

#7 Seed:
- Broncos get #7 seed with a win over KC
- Dolphins get #7 seed with a win over NYJ, plus Broncos lose to KC
- Cincy gets #7 seed with a win over Pittsburgh, plus Broncos lose, plus Dolphins lose
- Broncos get #7 seed if Denver, Miami and Cincy all lose

NFC Playoff Picture

The NFC Playoff Picture table presents the probabilities that a team will win each NFL playoff spot.

www.playoffstatus.com

1.) 14-2 Detroit Lions - could be #1 seed or #5 seed
2.) 13-3 Philadelphia Eagles - locked in as #2 seed
3.) 10-6 LA Rams - could be either #3 or #4 seed
4.) 9-7 Tampa Bay Bucs - could be #3, #4, or miss playoffs
5.) 14-2 Minnesota Vikings - could be #1 seed or #5
6.) 11-5 Washington Commandos - can be either #6 or #7
7.) 11-5 Green Bay Packers - can also only be either #6 or #7
8.) 9-7 Seattle Seahawks - eliminated
9.) 8-8 Atlanta Falcons - can either be #4, or miss playoffs

#1 seed / #5 seed:
- Winner of SNF game between Detroit and Minnesota is #1; loser is #5

Rams:
- Clinch #3 seed with a win over Seattle
- Clinch #3 seed with Tampa Bay loss to New Orleans
- Become #4 seed with either a loss, or Tampa win

Bucs:
- Become #3 seed with either a win, or Rams loss
- Become #4 seed with a win, plus Rams win
- Become #4 seed woth a loss, plus Atlanta loss
- Eliminated with a loss, plus Atlanta win

Falcons:
- Only hope is to win, plus Bucs lose, becoming #4 seed
- Eliminated with any other scenario

Commanders:
- Clinch #6 seed with win over Dallas
- Clinch #6 seed if Packers lose to Bears
- Become #7 seed otherwise

Packers:
- Become #6 seed with win over Chicago, plus Washington loses
- Any other outcome results in Green Bay becoming the #7 seed

 

[festy1986]

If you're the Patriots you hope to lose, obviously.

But outside of losing you want the following teams to win.

For if we win

Giants over Philadelphia
Tennessee over Houston
Browns over Ravens


For best SOS

Browns over Ravens
Giants over Philadelphia
Raiders over Chargers
Steelers over Bengals
Green Bay over Bears

To make SOS irrelevant

Jaguars over Colts

 

[FortressX]

Every CBS early game is a dud.

Jimmy G will be starting for the Rams this week.

Rams will start Jimmy Garoppolo against the Seahawks

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford won't be playing against the Seahawks on Sunday.

www.nbcsports.com

 

[WhatJustHappened]

I gotta give LA Credit, they were horrible, but once healthy, they started playing well, and that was WITH Donald retiring.

Dangerous team.

 

[Pape]

@jmt57 Buffalo is locked in the 2 seed

 

[FortressX]

I gotta give LA Credit, they were horrible, but once healthy, they started playing well, and that was WITH Donald retiring.

Dangerous team.

That's one of those teams that has those Wide Receiver guys I have heard about

Maybe some day the Patriots can get a few

 

[WhatJustHappened]

That's one of those teams that has those Wide Receiver guys I have heard about

Maybe some day the Patriots can get a few

They ALSO play some pretty aggressive D.

Thanks

 

[Big Bucks]

For every starter Buffalo drops for this game, we should do the same with that same position.. Excuse is looking at the back end of the roster for next season. IMO if this happened in any other sport it would be seen as match fixing by Buffalo.

Its why I keep saying.. the draft order should be non playoff teams being placed as follows.. 18 teams Worst team gets 18th pick.. The team that misses the playoffs get #1 pick. changing the ideology of wanting to win in every game.. instead of the constant BS WWF games of pretending to compete thus having the race to #1 overall. The worst team getting the 18th pick helps because it means they don't get loaded with the contracts constantly of busted top 5 picks. 1st overall is 38m.. 18th pick is 15m, both over 4 years.

 

[WhatJustHappened]

Even though we got screwed after ML Tanked, I don't think I would hate the Lottery the NBA has...
Scary ****.

 

[Pape]

For every starter Buffalo drops for this game, we should do the same with that same position.. Excuse is looking at the back end of the roster for next season. IMO if this happened in any other sport it would be seen as match fixing by Buffalo.

Its why I keep saying.. the draft order should be non playoff teams being placed as follows.. 18 teams Worst team gets 18th pick.. The team that misses the playoffs get #1 pick. changing the ideology of wanting to win in every game.. instead of the constant BS WWF games of pretending to compete thus having the race to #1 overall. The worst team getting the 18th pick helps because it means they don't get loaded with the contracts constantly of busted top 5 picks. 1st overall is 38m.. 18th pick is 15m, both over 4 years.

agree to the first part, not the second.

in no way should they invert the draft order for the non playoff teams. it virtually guarantees locking teams into a cycle of mediocrity.

 

[Big Bucks]

agree to the first part, not the second.

in no way should they invert the draft order for the non playoff teams. it virtually guarantees locking teams into a cycle of mediocrity.

Invert the top 5 then... 7 or 10. Something needs to change to stop the BS games. A third of the games right now are, let's not score.. Let them put up 17 unanswered, then they start playing to make it seem its legit. This all started IMO when Colts got Luck.. since the number of teams involved has got more and more making past the bye weeks an absolute joke.
Its wrong that some Pats supporters are actively hoping we lose to Buffalo.. and have also hoped since week 10

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Its wrong that some Pats supporters are actively hoping we lose to Buffalo.. and have also hoped since week 10

It's not wrong, the supporters are hoping for the best situation for the Pats. Nothing wrong with that because that is how the NFL's drafting rules are structured.

I agree with you that the rules should change to make losing games less beneficial.

 

[Clonamery]

Invert the top 5 then... 7 or 10. Something needs to change to stop the BS games. A third of the games right now are, let's not score.. Let them put up 17 unanswered, then they start playing to make it seem its legit. This all started IMO when Colts got Luck.. since the number of teams involved has got more and more making past the bye weeks an absolute joke.
Its wrong that some Pats supporters are actively hoping we lose to Buffalo.. and have also hoped since week 10

Hey BB, longtime listener, first time caller. Just want to say maybe if the Owner, HC and FO made more of effort to create a competitive environment over the Summer into Training Camp and not to collectively act surprised and dumbfounded when they won their 1st Game and then lost in OT in their 2nd with the HC then telling Reporters that they shouldn't expect the Pats to win the way they did in the 1st Game.

Wanting to win is an attitude the same as wanting to lose.

 

[Clonamery]

It's not wrong, the supporters are hoping for the best situation for the Pats. Nothing wrong with that because that is how the NFL's drafting rules are structured.

I agree with you that the rules should change to make losing games less beneficial.

If you watched the 2-13 Giants vs the 7-8 Colts Game, it was obvious that the Giants wanted to win, you could see it in the effort and the reactions of the players on both sides of the ball.

 

[p8ryts]

If you watched the 2-13 Giants vs the 7-8 Colts Game, it was obvious that the Giants wanted to win, you could see it in the effort and the reactions of the players on both sides of the ball.

Our team will try just as hard to win and be just as jubilant if successful. It doesn't mean some fans, unfortunately including yours truly, will be disappointed at missing the opportunity to garner more assets. I will still be excited if they do well.

 

[Clonamery]

Our team will try just as hard to win and be just as jubilant if successful. It doesn't mean some fans, unfortunately including yours truly, will be disappointed at missing the opportunity to garner more assets. I will still be excited if they do well.

I don't care what fans think (that includes me, too).

The Figurehead at HC is a sub moron and has sent mixed messages to the players through the media over the course of the season. Game plans have been complete **** with no halftime adjustments to indicate they were invested in trying to win. No Urgency is not the opposite of No Huddle.

 

[Pape]

Invert the top 5 then... 7 or 10. Something needs to change to stop the BS games. A third of the games right now are, let's not score.. Let them put up 17 unanswered, then they start playing to make it seem its legit. This all started IMO when Colts got Luck.. since the number of teams involved has got more and more making past the bye weeks an absolute joke.
Its wrong that some Pats supporters are actively hoping we lose to Buffalo.. and have also hoped since week 10

the issue then becomes some owners playing baseball - spending just enough to satisfy the cba, maybe be competitive, leaving their team on the hamster wheel, every once in a while hitting the playoffs, all the while they line their pockets with fat stacks of cash... we have an owner who is more than willing to not spend cash as long as fannies are in the seats... has been doing it for a decade now... our financial model is stuck in the mid 2000's... "time to burn some cash" my ass

I'd rather a team tank than play the baseball game.

 

[Uptown]

 

[KCSVEN]

Bailey Zappe starting for Browns! Are they tanking or trying to win? I don't know how to analyze that one LOL