By Thanksgiving leaves many lethargic and in a food coma.
But for 22 NFL teams on Sunday, they will have to shake off that rust as a full slate of games takes place on Week 13 of the 2024 season.
The traditional Thanksgiving games kicked off the week’s action, with the Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers all picking up victories on Thursday.
And then on Friday, the Kansas City Chiefs became the first team to clinch a playoff spot after beating the Las Vegas Raiders in a dramatic finish.
Here’s a look at three of Sunday’s standout matchups.
It has been strange seasons for both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals.
One is atop the AFC North division and the other is languishing outside the playoff positions. If you had asked many before the season, they might have predicted the Bengals would be the team thriving while the Steelers go through a season of transition.
But that is not the case. Pittsburgh is riding high through 12 weeks of the 2024 season while the Bengals sit third in the AFC North.
The Bengals’ 4-7 record has come despite an excellent season from quarterback Joe Burrow who is having arguably his best year in the NFL so far. The 27-year-old has thrown 27 touchdowns and just four interceptions but Cincinnati has struggled to convert those performances into victories.
Close defeats have come to define the Bengals’ campaign, losing by a point to the Kansas City Chiefs, five points to the Washington Commanders and two heartbreakers to the Baltimore Ravens, first by three in overtime and then one point.
Despite their standing and increasing probability they miss the playoffs – NFL.com predicts the Bengals currently have a 15% chance of reaching the postseason, with a win on Sunday improving those to 23% and a loss reducing it to 4% – the Steelers are still wary of the challenge they present, with Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin calling Burrow “MVP-caliber.”
“It’s a 60-minute game. I think that’s reflected in watching them play,” Tomlin said of the Bengals. “I think oftentimes you see teams are capable of slowing (Burrow) or slowing them down at the early portions of the game, but in the fourth quarter, he and they are coming on like gangbusters.
“I’ve been around long enough to have an appreciation for that. I know how and why that happens. You better carry enough defense. They get comfortable as the game goes on with what it is that you’re doing, what it is they need to do to be successful.”
Conversely, it’s been a season to remember for the Steelers who have surprised many as they’ve all but wrapped up a playoff spot.
It’s not been an offensive masterclass by the Black and Gold but between serviceable quarterback play from at first Justin Fields and now Russell Wilson has provided just enough at the key moment. And, as is commonplace under Tomlin, the Steelers’ defense is once again one of the best in the league.
They are coming off a disappointing loss to the Cleveland Browns last time out, but that was a game played in heavy snow so many of the miscues could be put down to that.
If the Steelers want to keep their noses in front of the Baltimore Ravens and guarantee a division-winners spot in the playoffs, this clash against the Bengals could prove pivotal.
The Chiefs survived a rain storm and an injury scare to quarterback Patrick Mahomes to defeat the Buccaneers 30-24 in overtime and improve to 8-0 on the season.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1600″ width=”2239″ loading=’lazy’/>
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Saquon Barkley vs. Derrick Henry. Two running backs with new teams and both having MVP-contending seasons.
It seems reductive to boil down a match-up of two Super Bowl contenders to two players, but all eyes will be on Barkley and Henry when the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens take to the field at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday.
The pair lead the league in rushing – Barkley with 1,392 yards and Henry with 1,325 – and have both added missing elements to their respective teams.
Barkley’s big touchdown runs and athletic evasion of defenders has made him a weekly highlight reel producer while Henry’s rumbling, powerful style of running wears down defenders and by the end of the game, the 30-year-old is an almost unstoppable force.
Their ability to keep picking up first downs and mean the team can rely on the ground game which has taken the pressure of the teams’ quarterbacks.
After a slow start to the season, Eagles QB Jalen Hurts has cleaned his game up with just two turnovers in the last seven weeks compared to 18 total touchdowns.
On the other hand, Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson is the favorite to retain his MVP award and join only a handful of players to win three or more MVP trophies.
Between their star running backs and their mobile quarterbacks, there are plenty of similarities between the Eagles and the Ravens on offense.
It’s been a different story on the other side of the ball though with the Ravens having one of the worst passing defenses in the league but the second-best run defense while the Eagles have allowed the second-fewest passing yards and the sixth-fewest rushing yards.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh expressed his enthusiasm for the tough matchup against the Eagles.
“It’s always exciting to play in big games. It’s another big game for us,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “We had a big game last week; we had a big game the week before that; we had a big game the week before that, and this is the next one, and this is a really big game.
“This is a really good team we’re playing. I think some people think that they might be the best team in the league, and that’s the way they’re playing. It’s a challenge for us, a challenge for our run defense – yes – because they do it with their offensive line, they do it with their back, they also do it with their scheme – which the quarterback is a part of, too – and they can throw off the runs. So, there’s a lot going on there.”
With the Ravens at 8-4 and second in the AFC North and the Eagles at 9-2 and top of the NFC East, it’s a game in which playoff seedings will be impacted depending on the result.
In years prior, this would be a high-powered showdown of Super Bowl hopefuls. The San Francisco 49ers are typically playoff regulars, losing in the Super Bowl twice in recent editions, while the Buffalo Bills are also no strangers to January football.
And while the Bills look set to make the postseason in emphatic fashion at 9-2, the 49ers are going through a down season in their lofty standards.
A combination of injuries and failing at the key moments have hampered any progress San Francisco has made this year. The latest to succumb to the injury bug is quarterback Brock Purdy who missed last week’s beatdown at the hands of the Green Bay Packers with an injury to his throwing shoulder.
Although Purdy returned to practice earlier in the week, he could miss the trip to Buffalo on Sunday. Even if he does, the 49ers look set to miss two more vital cogs – left tackle Trent Williams and defensive end Nick Bosa – both missed practice with their respective injuries.
For one of the NFL’s superpowers, it is a surprising down year and one which require a remarkable turnaround if it hopes to achieve similar success.
On the other hand, the Bills come off their bye full of optimism having handed the Chiefs their first defeat of the season in their last appearance on the field.
After a midseason blip, Buffalo have recalibrated in emphatic fashion by winning six consecutive games to reestablish themselves as one of the AFC’s heavyweights with the stretch run of the season to come.
Quarterback Josh Allen is playing his best all season and making the most of an improving set of skill position players – the improvement seen in rookie Keon Coleman and third-year receiver Khalil Shakir has added further weapons to their arsenal.
Ahead of their high-powered game vs. the 49ers, Allen stressed that although they’ve had a promising start to the season, the “job’s not finished” for Buffalo.
A defeat on Sunday could go a long way in eliminating the 49ers from playoff contention – their chances of reaching the postseason would stand at 10%, according to NFL.com – while the Bills would keep up their pressure on the Chiefs for the No. 1 spot in the AFC conference and the first-round bye that comes with it.
Away vs. home
Los Angeles Chargers vs. Atlanta Falcons – 1:00 p.m. ET
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cincinnati Bengals – 1:00 p.m. ET
Houston Texans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars – 1:00 p.m. ET
Arizona Cardinals vs. Minnesota Vikings – 1:00 p.m. ET
Indianapolis Colts vs. New England Patriots – 1:00 p.m. ET
Seattle Seahawks vs. New York Jets – 1:00 p.m. ET
Tennessee Titans vs. Washington Commanders – 1:00 p.m. ET
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Carolina Panthers – 4:05 p.m. ET
Los Angeles Rams vs. New Orleans Saints – 4:05 p.m. ET
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Baltimore Ravens – 4:25 p.m. ET
San Francisco 49ers vs. Buffalo Bills – 8:20 p.m. ET
