NFL Week 16 early game thread: It’s a battle for the NFC South lead

NFL Week 16 early game thread: It’s a battle for the NFC South lead
Niners Nation Niners Nation

Most of the games on Sunday in Week 16 are between teams with nothing to play for. There are several examples, like Josh Allen traveling to Cleveland to take on the Browns. It’s somewhat of a sandwich spot for the Bills, as they are off a huge win against the Patriots and face the Eagles next week. How much will they be motivated to play the Browns?

The Dallas Cowboys looked like they were making a playoff run, but fell flat on their face last week. The Eagles’ loss ended their postseason dreams. The Cowboys host the 10-4 Chargers today. Jim Harbaugh is currently in the playoffs, but I think Dallas wins today.

The Chiefs aren’t in the playoffs. They take on the Titans. We’ll also see Quinn Ewers make his first start against the Bengals, another disappointing team. If you are watching the Jets and the Saints, you probably have a relative on one of the teams. The same is probably true for the Vikings and Giants.

The one game that means something this morning is between the Carolina Panthers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Both teams are coming off embarrassing losses a week ago. Neither team is predictable, which makes it difficult to draw conclusions from the game. I think it would be cool to see the Panthers make the playoffs. I’m sure the San Francisco 49ers feel the same way.