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Elsewhere, we have a battle with playoff dreams on the line between the Seahawks and Panthers. The Seahawks need to win to stay ahead of the 49ers at the top of the NFC while the Panthers can clinch the NFC South with a win and a Buccaneers loss to the Dolphins. If Miami’s horrific 45-21 loss to Cincinnati last week is anything to go by then Tampa Bay should return to winning ways and force a title decider against Carolina next week regardless of the result in Charlotte.
The big injury news comes from Seattle who will be without two key pieces. Starting left tackle Charles Cross and safety Coby Bryant miss out. Josh Jones stays in for Cross after performing well and not allowing a sack last week against the Rams. Ty Okada replaces Byrant in the secondary who also did well in the second half against the Rams. Okada did well earlier in the season replacing Julian Love when he snagged his first career interception against the Commanders.
Preamble
Hello and happy holidays! I hope you all had a merry Christmas and are looking forward to a happy new year. Not to bring you all down to Earth with an almighty bump but after this week 17 slate we have but one more regular season Sunday left to savour. But what a year we have had full of upsets, fallen giants, rising stars and that epic Bills/Bengals blizzard game. Hopefully we still have some twists and turns left today with Pittsburgh aiming to seal a playoff spot with a win over Cleveland, Seattle trying to move closer to locking up the NFC’s No 1 seed and more in seven matches starting at 12pm CST/1pm EST/6pm GMT (home teams listed first):
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(8-7) Carolina Panthers v Seattle Seahawks (12-3)
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(5-10) Cincinnati Bengals v Arizona Cardinals (3-12)
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(3-12) Cleveland Browns v Pittsburgh Steelers (9-6)
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(8-7) Indianapolis Colts v Jacksonville Jaguars (11-4)
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(6-9) Miami Dolphins v Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-8)
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(3-12) New York Jets v New England Patriots (12-3)
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(3-12) Tennessee Titans v New Orleans Saints (5-10)
Can Cleveland stop division rivals Pittsburgh sealing the AFC North? They are going to be up against it considering their offense is 31st in EPA per play and averages one measly passing touchdown per game. The Steelers may not be spectacular in stopping an opponent but the experience of veterans such as Alex Highsmith and Cam Heyward should cause rookie quarterback Shadeur Sanders an almighty headache. Meanwhile the Browns are also without their impressive rookie running back Quinshon Judkins who has been sent to injured reserve after having surgery to repair a dislocated right ankle and fractured right fibula. Pittsburgh have a big miss of their own in star receiver DK Metcalf out through suspension after throwing a punch at a Lions fan last week.
When it rains it pours in Ohio. However, Myles Garrett still leads Cleveland’s defense and needs a single sack to break the regular season record of 22.5. Entering the history books by taking down future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers could just give Garrett and the Browns the vengeful juice they need to finish another bitterly painful season on a high.
