Tag: Week 17

Predicting the Broncos’ 3 remaining games and final record

How many games will the Broncos win over the next three weeks? Here are our predictions.

Going into the final stretch of the 2024 NFL season, the Denver Broncos are 9-5 and on pace to make the NFL playoffs. With three games remaining, the Broncos need just one more win to clinch a playoff berth.

Here are our updated score predictions for Denver’s next three games.

Week 16: Denver Broncos @ Los Angeles Chargers

(Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)

Score prediction: Broncos 23, Chargers 22

Record: 10-5 (playoffs clinched)

Week 17: Denver Broncos @ Cincinnati Bengals

(Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)

Score prediction: Bengals 27, Broncos 25

Record: 10-6

Week 18: Denver Broncos vs. Kansas City Chiefs

(Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)

Score prediction: Broncos 29, Chiefs 18

Record: 11-6 (Wild Card berth)

The Broncos are currently the No. 6 seed in the AFC with the Baltimore Ravens (9-5) above them in the standings and the Chargers (8-6) right below them. If the season ended today, Denver would face the No. 3 seed, currently the Pittsburgh Steelers (10-4).

Sean Payton and Bo Nix going on the road to face Russell Wilson in the first round of the NFL playoffs would be must-watch TV. First things first, the Broncos need to win one more game to get into the postseason.

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NFL announces Saturday flex decisions for Week 17

The Broncos’ game against the Bengals in Week 17 has been flexed to Saturday, Dec. 28. It will be nationally televised on NFL Network.

The NFL has finalized its Week 17 schedule that will feature three Saturday games on Dec. 28.

As expected, the Denver Broncos‘ game against the Cincinnati Bengals has been set for Saturday with a 2:30 p.m. MT (4:30 p.m. ET) kickoff.

Before the Broncos-Bengals showdown, the Los Angeles Chargers at New England Patriots game will be played at 11:00 a.m. MT. After the Denver-Cincy matchup, the Arizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Rams game will be played at 6:15 p.m.

All three Saturday games will be nationally televised on NFL Network and available to stream on FuboTV.

Two other games that were in contention for the Saturday windows — Atlanta Falcons at Washington Commanders and Indianapolis Colts at New York Giants — have now been scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 29.

After facing the Bengals on the road in Week 17, the Broncos will host the Kansas City Chiefs in their regular season finale in Week 18. Denver will wear its iconic throwback uniform against Kansas City.

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Sean Payton hints Broncos-Bengals game will be flexed to NFL Network

Sean Payton expects the Broncos-Bengals game in Week 17 to be flexed to a Saturday window on NFL Network.

Get ready to watch the Denver Broncos in a pair of nationally-televised games with Christmas right in the middle.

The Broncos are currently scheduled to play the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday Night Football on Dec. 19. Nine days later, Denver is expected to play the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday, Dec. 28 as part of NFL Network’s triple header of games in Week 17.

“Christmas is always the challenge in the NFL, period,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said during a conference call with reporters on Monday when asked about the team’s upcoming schedule. “All I wanted them to know is we think we’re playing the Bengals on a Saturday. I don’t know if it’s been announced yet or not, but we’re just trying to manage the Thursday game and then the Saturday game so these guys can at least have answers for their wives. That was really the whole point of it.

“The focus obviously for us is this Thursday. For them with family traveling and whatnot… We’re basically going to next week create… Pretend Saturday is a Sunday and work backwards. Tuesday is going to be like a Wednesday for us, you guys. Wednesday will be like a Thursday. Thursday will be like a Friday, and Friday will be like a Saturday, and we’ll travel.”

The Broncos-Bengals matchup is one of five games in contention to be flexed into three Saturday windows on NFLN on Dec. 28. Payton expects the game to be flexed, with an announcement likely coming soon.

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Steelers fans outraged over ’10-day stretch of doom’ from Weeks 15-17

The Pittsburgh Steelers face a grueling 10-day stretch against top teams, leaving fans to voice their frustrations on social media.

From the seemingly apparent Hard Knocks impact that led NFL schedule makers to pack the Pittsburgh Steelers’ latter half with divisional games, to scheduling three Super Bowl contenders between December 15th and December 25th, fans of the Black and Gold have had enough.

It appears the NFL never expected the 10-3 Pittsburgh Steelers to boast such a dominant record heading into Week 15. Otherwise, it makes little sense to seemingly handicap a potential Super Bowl contender by forcing them to play three games in just 10 days.

Facing the 11-2 Philadelphia Eagles on the road is challenging enough, but following that with a matchup against the 8-5 Baltimore Ravens, with divisional supremacy at stake, and the AFC-leading 12-1 Kansas City Chiefs feels nearly impossible to classify as fair.

To make matters worse, one of the Steelers’ top players, WR George Pickens, is battling a hamstring injury that could sideline him for the entirety of this brutal stretch. Steelers fans are understandably and justifiably upset, and here are some of their most passionate reactions on social media.

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Week 15: Should you drop George Pickens in fantasy football?

Fantasy football managers may need to decide whether to keep George Pickens on their roster as he may miss the entirety of their playoffs.

For the lucky few fantasy football fanatics who have made it into the playoffs, congratulations are in order! However, if Steelers WR George Pickens is on your roster, things may be looking grim.

While league settings may vary, the majority of fantasy football leagues will be playing their playoffs between Weeks 15 and 17—the weeks Pickens might miss, according to one Steelers insider.

It is unlikely Pickens will end up on IR, forcing fantasy managers to decide if the Steelers WR is worth keeping around ultimately. His absence from Week 15 is all but confirmed, and insiders seem to agree that Pickens may not be able to recover from his hamstring injury in time for Weeks 16 and 17.

If Pickens is on your roster, it is important to consider when, if at all, he will return to action in the regular season. Can your roster sustain having the Pittsburgh Steelers WR taking up a spot on the bench, or will you ultimately need to let him go in favor of some other potential breakout Steelers players, like WR Mike Williams, WR Calvin Austin III, or TE Pat Freiermuth?

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Broncos-Bengals is one of 5 candidates for Saturday flex in Week 17

The Broncos-Bengals game is one of five candidates to be flexed to one of three Saturday windows in Week 17.

The Denver Broncos (8-5) have already played in two nationally televised games this season and they’ve been flexed into a third. Soon, they could be flexed into a fourth.

Two weeks ago, the NFL flexed the Broncos’ Week 16 Sunday afternoon game against the Los Angeles Chargers from Dec. 22 up to Thursday Night Football on Dec. 19. That marked the first TNF flex in NFL history.

Denver’s game in Week 17 is a candidate for a national spotlight as well.

The Broncos’ game against the Cincinnati Bengals (4-8) is one of five games in contention to be flexed into one of three Saturday windows in Week 17.

The other candidates are the Arizona Cardinals (6-6) at Los Angeles Rams (6-6), Los Angeles Chargers (8-4) at New England Patriots (3-10), Indianapolis Colts (6-7) at New York Giants (2-10) and Atlanta Falcons (6-6) at Washington Commanders (8-5).

Three of those games will be played on Saturday, Dec. 28. The remaining two will be played on Sunday, Dec. 29. Of those games, Broncos-Bengals, Cardinals-Rams and Falcons-Commanders appear the most likely candidates to potentially have playoff implications for both teams involved (if Cincinnati wins a few upcoming games).

The NFL will have three games on that Saturday with MT kickoffs at 11:00 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Unless the Bengals are eliminated from playoff contention before then (and maybe even if they are), the Cincinnati-Denver game appears to be a strong candidate to get flexed.

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Broncos approved NFL’s historic ‘TNF’ flex decision, but why?

The Broncos signed off on their Week 16 game against the Chargers being flexed to ‘Thursday Night Football.’ So, why did they agree to it?

For the first time in NFL history, the league announced a Thursday Night Football flex on Friday.

Flex scheduling for TNF was approved last year, but it hadn’t been utilized until the NFL announced that the Denver Broncos‘ game against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 16 would be flexed from Sunday to Thursday.

Because the Broncos already played a road TNF game against the New Orleans Saints in Week 7, they had to sign off on being flexed into a second road TNF game this season, and they did. So, why’d they agree to it?

One possible reason for agreeing to the flex might be so they get more rest ahead of their Week 17 road game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Denver will have a short week after hosting the Indianapolis Colts on Dec. 15 and they going on the road to play the Chargers on Dec. 19, but the Broncos will now get a mini bye before playing the Bengals on Dec. 28 or 29.

Cincinnati was originally scheduled to host the Cleveland Browns on TNF in Week 16, which would have given the Bengals extra rest going into the Denver game. Following the flex, the Broncos will now have extra rest.

That Denver-Cincinnati game could have huge playoff implications in the AFC, and it might be a candidate to get flexed to Saturday. If it is set for Dec. 28, that would give the Bengals another rest disadvantage.

So, it seems safe to assume the Broncos were taking that Cincinnati game into consideration when they agreed to the TNF flex.

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NFL might not be done flexing Broncos games this season

The NFL might not be done flexing Broncos games this season.

When the NFL announced the 2024 schedule earlier this year, the Denver Broncos were only given two initially-scheduled prime-time games: Thursday Night Football against the New Orleans Saints in Week 7 and Monday Night Football against the Cleveland Browns in Week 13.

Since then, the Broncos have been flexed into a third prime-time window. Denver’s road game against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 16 was moved from Sunday afternoon to a Thursday Night Football slot.

That might not be the Broncos’ last game in prime time this season.

After the Chargers game, Denver will go on the road to take on the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17. If the Bengals can secure a few wins and stay alive in the playoff hunt, that game would be a perfect candidate for a national spotlight. In addition to the possibility of a Sunday Night Football flex, the Broncos-Bengals game could also be a candidate for a nationally-televised Saturday window.

And if Denver needs to win in Week 18 to make the NFL playoffs, a home game against the Kansas City Chiefs could also be an intriguing candidate for either SNF or one of two Saturday windows that weekend.

As things stand now, the Broncos have a MNF game in Week 13 and a TNF game in Week 16. It wouldn’t be shocking to see the NFL add a SNF or Saturday game to Denver’s schedule before the end of the year.

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One year ago today, the Steelers offense changed forever

One year ago, the Steelers fired OC Matt Canada, starting a journey to rebuild their offense and achieve success under OC Arthur Smith.

One year ago today, fans of the Black and Gold danced in the streets of Pittsburgh, and excitement could be seen on the face of every member of the Steelers organization. On November 21, 2023, the Pittsburgh Steelers fired OC Matt Canada.

Under Canada’s 2023 offensive scheme, through his eleven games that season, the Steelers’ offense posted five games with 17 points or less. His last game as offensive coordinator came in Week 11, following a mere 10 points scored against the Cleveland Browns.

While it took some time, the Steelers would score 34 points against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 16 and 30 points against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 17.

While fans were forced to play the blame game between then-starting QB Kenny Pickett, backup QB Mitchell Trubisky, and former OC Matt Canada, the offense improved to 19.7 points per game without Canada calling the plays.

Ultimately, one year ago today marked the beginning of the journey to solving the Steelers’ offensive issues and resulted in an impressive offense led by OC Arthur Smith and QB Russell Wilson.

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WATCH: Chiefs DL George Karlaftis mic’d up vs. Bengals

Check out #Chiefs DL George Karlaftis’ mic’d up performance against the Bengals in Week 17.

George Karlaftis has been an integral part of the Kansas City Chiefs’ pass rush this season and leads the team in sacks ahead of its Week 18 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday afternoon.

The former Purdue Boilermaker was mic’d up during the Chiefs’ matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, and video of his outstanding performance hit social media channels as Kansas City prepares for its final tilt this weekend.

The second-year defensive lineman has turned a corner in his development, and his steady presence on the line has helped the Chiefs’ defense become one of the NFL’s top units.

With 10.5 sacks on the season, Karlaftis is blossoming into a force of nature on Kansas City’s defensive front, and in time he may be able to improve on his already impressive numbers.

Expect “Furious George” to do his best to add another sack against the Chargers to extend his lead on the team leaderboard.