Vincent Frank
With the NFL regular season drawing to a conclusion, there’s a whole heck of a lot that’s still not decided. Some of that will come to a culmination during Week 16’s holiday slate.
It’s in this that individual matchups will help determine the outcome of games and playoff races throughout the NFL.
Following a dominating performance against Seattle last week, Los Angeles Rams running back Toddy Gurley will look to help his team capture the NFC West this weekend. It won’t be easy sledding against a Titans defense that has yielded the third-fewest rushing yards on the season.
We’re also pretty pumped up about Rob Gronkowski taking on the Buffalo Bills after what we saw unfold between the two sides just a few short weeks ago. New England is battling for the top seed in the AFC, while the Bills control their own destiny in an attempt to make the playoffs for the first time since 1999.
These are among the top matchups for NFL’s Week 16 slate.
Todd Gurley vs Titans run defense
This should be fun. Despite their late-game loss to the suddenly red-hot 49ers last week, the Tennessee Titans control their own destiny in the AFC Playoff race. They also held a pretty darn good 49ers rushing attack to 51 yards in the two-point loss. Tennessee now enters Week 16 with the third-ranked run defense in the NFL.
It’s not going to get any easier against a player in Todd Gurley who absolutely embarrassed Seattle to the tune of 152 yards and three touchdowns on just 21 attempts last week. At 10-4, Los Angeles is playing tremendous football. And really, it has Gurley to thank for this. He’s put up north of 1,800 total yards with an NFL-high 17 touchdowns on the season.
Jordy Nelson vs Xavier Rhodes
In Aaron Rodgers’ return to action this past week against Carolina, his previously elite connection with Jordy Nelson just wasn’t there. Nelson caught 3-of-6 targets for 28 yards, playing third fiddle behind Randall Cobb and Davante Adams. With Green Bay now eliminated from playoff contention, the team has once again placed Rodgers on IR. That means Nelson will have to up his game with Brett Hundley under center. It’s a two-game audition to see if this veteran receiver fits into the Packers’ long-term plans.
Despite some inconsistency this season, Rhodes remains the Vikings’ best cover corner. Pro Football Focus grades him out as the fifth-best cover guy in the NFL and Rhodes himself is coming off a dominating performance against Cincinnati last week. Should he play well here, the Vikings could very well end up clinching a first-round playoff bye.
Ryan Schraeder vs Cameron Jordan
In an otherwise pedestrian performance by his Saints last week, Jordan came to play big time against the New York Jets. He might not have recorded a sack, but the Pro Bowler deflected five passes and had two more passes defended. With one more pass defended, Jordan will become the first NFL player since 2001 with double digit sacks, tackles for loss and passes defended. He’s most definitely an underrated Defensive Player of the Year candidate.
On the other hand, Schraeder has also flown under the radar as a solid pass-protecting force in front of reigning NFL MVP Matt Ryan. He’ll have to keep this up in Week 16 in order for the Falcons to keep their playoff hopes strong and fend off a potential division-clinching win for the Saints.
Derek Carr vs Eagles pass defense
To say that Carr has been abysmal this season would be an understatement. He’s fallen victim to a lack of accuracy, happy feet in the pocket and an inability to actually progress past his first read. It’s just stunning regression from a player that was a true MVP candidate prior to a late-season injury in 2016. Carr’s season took an even more unfortunate turn late Sunday night against Dallas when he fumbled the ball into the end zone for a touchback with Oakland driving for the potential game-winning score.
At 6-8, Oakland is technically still alive for a playoff spot in the AFC. That comes by virtue of tiebreakers in the team’s favor. But a whole host of things would have to happen in order for this to come to fruition.
It starts Christmas Eve with the Raiders set to take on a 12-2 Eagles squad that’s battling for home-field advantage in the NFC Playoffs. It also comes against an Eagles defense that’s yielded an average of 32 points and north of 300 passing yards over the past two games. Carr will have to revert back to 2016 form if the Raiders have any chance here.
A.J. Green vs Darius Slay
The Cincinnati Bengals might have quit on soon-to-be former head coach Marvin Lewis last week against Minnesota, but they have a chance to end the Lions’ playoff aspirations in Week 16. Whether the team finds it within itself to get up for this game remains to be seen.
But we know that Green, always the true professional, will be more than ready to go. Despite struggling through a difficult season, Green always brings his top-level game. We expect no different as the Bengals’ lost season concludes.
It will surely be interesting to see how he performs against a cornerback in Darius Slay who intercepted two Mitchell Trubisky passes last week and boasts a league-high seven picks on the season. Then again, Andy Dalton is doing the passing. That’s proven to be a whole lot of messy through 14 games.
Rob Gronkowski vs Bills defense
It wasn’t an absolute shock to see Gronkowski dominate this past week after serving a one-game suspension. Among the best pass-catching tight ends in NFL history, he has always come up big in important games. Gronkowski put up nine catches for a career-high 168 yards in New England’s dramatic late-game win over Pittsburgh last week. This has the defending champs in the driver’s seat for home-field advantage in the AFC heading into Week 16.
For their part, the Bills also control their own destiny. If they win out, we’ll be seeing playoff football in Western New York for the first time since 1999. That’s where containing Gronkowski will be a huge key here.
It was just a couple short weeks ago that the tight end caught 9-of-11 targets for 147 yards in that now infamous game against Buffalo. We can be sure that the Bills will be ready to levy some sort of punishment here. Though, the hope is that it comes in the form of actual football, and not retaliation for that ugly Week 13 scene.
Michael Thomas vs Desmond Trufant
Two of the better young players in the NFC South going at it with the playoffs and division title on the line. This will be an absolute blast. Trufant did an excellent job on Mike Evans this past Monday night, helping Atlanta hold the Bucs’ star receiver to 79 yards on 10 targets. It played a role in Atlanta maintaining playoff positioning heading into Week 16.
With a chance to win the NFC South this weekend and put a hamper on the Falcons’ playoff hopes, Thomas will need to continue bringing it. Recently named to the Pro Bowl, the second-year pass catcher has tallied 94 receptions for 1,085 yards on the season. He’s also caught 19 passes for 210 yards over the past two games.
Tyreek Hill vs Xavien Howard
Hill is the most-electric player in the NFL and it’s not really that close. Here’s latest evidence of just how dominating he’s been for the first-place Kansas City Chiefs. Coming off a three-game span that’s seen him put up 348 receiving yards and three scores, this second-year playmaker is one of the primary reasons Kansas City found a way from a mid-season swoon to recapture the top spot in the division.
If the Chiefs are able to take care of business at home against a bad Dolphins team this week, the AFC West should be theirs for the taking. Miami’s only real hope here is that Xavien Howard repeats the Week 14 performance that saw him pick off two Tom Brady passes. While that might have been more of a fluke than anything else, it’s sure the heck beats betting the house on Jay Cutler not pulling a Jay Cutler.
Lane Johnson vs Khalil Mack
Despite starting left tackle and future Hall of Famer Jason Peters missing the past seven games to injury, the Eagles’ offensive line has done a tremendous job in pass protection. It’s not a great unit by any stretch of the imagination, but this line has held up well enough to see its quarterbacks put up 37 touchdowns compared to seven interceptions on the season.
In order for the Raiders to have any real chance to win this game, reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Khalil Mack must dominate. He’s now put up 10-plus sacks in each of his first three seasons, joining some elite company in that category. And with a pass defense that’s yielded 20 touchdowns compared to four picks this season, Mack is the first and last line of defense against quarterback in Nick Foles who threw four touchdowns in his 2017 starting debut for Philly last week.
Jimmy Garoppolo vs Jaguars defense
This is the best possible matchup Garoppolo and the 49ers could have asked for to see where they are to close out the 2017 season. With three consecutive victories to start his career in San Francisco, Garoppolo is the first NFL quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger to win his first five NFL starts. And the numbers themselves are absolutely staggering.
In last week’s win over a contending Titans team, Garoppolo completed 31-of-43 passes for 318 yards with a touchdown and zero picks. He’s now the first 49ers quarterback to throw for 300-plus yards in consecutive games since Jeff Garcia in 2000. He’s also led the 49ers to points on 20-of-28 possessions since taking over late in Week 12.
Sunday’s game against Jacksonville is going to be a major test here. The Jaguars’ defense has racked up a league-high 51 sacks. This unit is first in the NFL in total defense, pass defense and points against. Did we mention Jacksonville is yielding a 65.2 passer rating? With a win in Santa Clara this weekend, the Jags can potentially remain alive for the No. 1 seed in the conference. Yeah, this is a major test for Jimmy. And it’s an under-the-radar huge game for Jacksonville.
Ezekiel Elliott vs Seahawks run defense
Both the Cowboys and Seahawks enter Week 16 on the playoff fringe. However, the two teams are headed in vastly different directions. Dallas is riding a three-game winning streak and will get Elliott back in the mix after he served a six-game suspension.
On the other hand, Seattle was absolutely embarrassed at home by the Rams last week, 42-7. It’s a game that saw the artists formerly known as the Legion of Boom yield 244 rushing yards. Now over the past two games, Seattle’s defense has given up 400 yards on the ground.
With fresh legs after working out in Cabo over the past several weeks, we expect Elliott to have a huge first game back. It might not be enough to get Dallas into the playoffs, but it could end Seattle’s postseason aspirations.
