New York Jets (3-13) at Buffalo Bills (11-5)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET (CBS)
FanDuel odds: Bills -1.5, Total 50.5
Series Rewind: Buffalo has won five of the past six meetings with the Jets.
The Bills bid a likely farewell to Highmark Stadium where the franchise is 246-163 record dating to the original nameplate of Rich Stadium when it opened in 1973 and later Ralph Wilson Stadium. Buffalo will play its home games in a new facility next season and already has a playoff spot secured, but the Bills’ streak of five straight AFC East titles ended when last weekend’s 13-12 loss to Philadelphia handed the division title to New England. That also means the Bills will hit the road to begin the playoffs. The Bills can be seeded as high as No. 5 for the AFC playoffs if they beat the Jets, but their seeding will depend on the results of Week 18 games that involve the Los Angeles Chargers, Jacksonville and Houston. The Jets have lost their last four games and six of their last seven. When New York coach Aaron Glenn was asked Wednesday how he felt about his job security, he said his focus is on Sunday’s game. Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen, the 2024 NFL MVP, has completed 69.3% of his passes this season. He’s thrown 25 touchdown passes and has been intercepted 10 times. Allen has also run for 14 TDs, which is third in the NFL, but he has been dealing with a foot injury and didn’t practice Wednesday. McDermott said Allen is moving in the right direction. Although Tyrod Taylor has returned to the Jets after dealing with a personal situation, Glenn said rookie Brady Cook will be the starting quarterback Sunday. It will be the fourth straight game Cook has started. He has one TD pass and seven interceptions during that span.
Detroit Lions (8-8) at Chicago Bears (11-5)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET
FanDuel odds: Bears -3, Total 50.5
Series Rewind: Detroit destroyed the Bears when they met in September, a 52-21 final and the Lions’ sixth victory in the last seven games against the Bears.
The Chicago Bears, surprisingly, are playing for a higher playoff seed with the NFC North title already clinched. The visiting Detroit Lions, unexpectedly, are playing for pride. Chicago lost any chance of gaining the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs when it dropped a 42-38 thriller to San Francisco on Sunday night. The Bears can still gain the No. 2 seed with a win over the Lions or a Philadelphia home loss to Washington. In that scenario, the Bears would host Green Bay during the wild-card round next weekend. The Bears would be the No. 3 seed with a loss to Detroit and a Philadelphia victory. Chicago would then host either the Los Angeles Rams or the 49ers in the wild-card round. Williams exceeded 300 passing yards for the first time this season against San Francisco, throwing for 330 yards and two touchdowns. He can become the first QB in franchise history to reach 4,000 yards in a season by throwing for 270 yards on Sunday. Detroit fell out of the playoff race by losing three straight following a win over Dallas to open the month of December. The Lions were held to 231 total yards and quarterback Jared Goff was sacked five times in a 23-10 loss to Minnesota on Christmas Day which formally ended the team’s playoff hopes. Goff plans to play against the Bears.
Los Angeles Chargers (11-5) at Denver Broncos (13-3)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET (CBS)
FanDuel odds: Broncos -12.5, Total 37.5
Series Rewind: The Chargers are undefeated in the AFC West. Broncos QB Bo Nix lost for the third time in three career tries when the teams met Sept. 21 in Los Angeles.
The Chargers stumbled last week and the Broncos clinched the division when Los Angeles lost at home to Houston. The Chargers head to Denver as a wild-card team trying to secure the highest seed for the playoffs. They could be anywhere between the fifth and seventh seed, but would fall no further than sixth with a win. The Broncos would secure the AFC No. 1 seed, a first-round bye and homefield advantage for the postseason with a win. QB Justin Herbert won’t play for the Chargers on Sunday, improving the Broncos’ chances of getting the top seed. Herbert, who has been playing through a fractured left hand since Week 13, has thrown for 3,727 yards, 26 touchdowns and 13 interceptions and has a career-high 498 rushing yards. Denver will face Trey Lance, who is 7-for-13 passing for 90 yards in three games this season. The Broncos have been without running back J.K. Dobbins for the past six games after he had season-ending foot surgery, and rookie RJ Harvey has become the lead back. He has 512 yards rushing on 131 carries and 46 receptions for 351 yards with 12 total touchdowns. Nix has nearly matched Herbert’s stats for the year. He has 3,790 yards passing with 25 touchdowns and 11 interceptions and has rushed for 307 yards and five more scores. Nix has spread the ball around but his top receiver is Courtland Sutton, who has 73 receptions for 1,012 yards and seven touchdowns. It is the second straight season and third time in his eight-year career he has surpassed 1,000 receiving yards.
Arizona Cardinals (3-13) at Los Angeles Rams (11-5)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET (FOX)
FanDuel odds: Rams -7.5, Total 45.5
Series Rewind: Arizona has one victory over the Rams in the past five head-to-head meetings.
If the Seattle Seahawks defeat the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday, then Los Angeles will land the No. 5 seed with a win. That will put the Rams on the road to open the playoffs with a less daunting challenge against the NFC South champion. A 49ers win or a Rams loss makes Los Angeles the No. 6 seed with a visit to either Chicago or Philadelphia ahead in the wild-card round. Stafford has thrown a franchise-record 42 touchdown passes, but he threw a season-high three interceptions in a 27-24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday that was a blow to his MVP chances. He also had two interceptions in a Nov. 30 loss at Carolina. He tossed just two picks in the Rams’ first 11 games. The Cardinals are playing out the string in a disappointing season that has them on an eight-game losing streak following a 37-14 road loss to the Cincinnati Bengals last Sunday. Kyler Murray is done for the season with a foot injury sustained in a devastating Week 5 loss to the Tennessee Titans, who scored 16 fourth-quarter points. Jacoby Brissett has taken over and completed 64.5% of his passes in 13 games (11 starts) with 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions. At issue has been a Cardinals defense that has allowed 35.0 points per game during the current losing streak. That includes allowing a season-high 45 points to the Rams in a Dec. 7 blowout loss.
Miami Dolphins (7-9) at New England Patriots (13-3)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET (FOX)
FanDuel odds: Patriots -11.5, Total 44.5
Series Rewind: New England claimed a 33-27 win at Miami on Sept. 14, the Patriots’ first win over the Dolphins in three seasons.
The Patriots can win 14 games in a season for the first time since 2016 when they won Super Bowl LI and can clinch the top seed in the AFC plaoyffs with a win over the Dolphins and a loss or tie by the Denver Broncos against the L.A. Chargers. New England would like this pursuit to be its sole focus but has been dealing with legal issues surrounding two key players — receiver Stefon Diggs and defensive tackle Christian Barmore. The Patriots were fresh off celebrating their first division title since 2019 when reports surfaced of Diggs facing charges of felony strangulation or suffocation, and misdemeanor assault and battery stemming from an incident that took place on Dec. 2. Diggs is scheduled to be arraigned on Jan. 23. In an unrelated incident, Barmore faces a misdemeanor charge of one count of assault and battery on a family/household member alleged to have occurred on Aug. 8. New England coach Mike Vrabel said before the team’s practice Wednesday he hadn’t heard anything that would keep either player from being available to play against Miami, though Diggs’ status for the postseason remains unclear. The Patriots’ tumultuous week came after a stress-free 42-10 victory over the New York Jets during which quarterback Drake Maye threw a career-high five touchdown passes. Maye threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for another in Week 2 when the Patriots beat the Dolphins 33-27 in Miami. Since being eliminated from postseason consideration, the Dolphins have turned their focus toward their future over the past two weeks. That has included benching starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Rookie Quinn Ewers is expected to make his third career start — and first on the road — on Sunday. After struggling during a 45-21 loss to Cincinnati in which he threw two interceptions, Ewers bounced back last week and led Miami to a 20-17 win over Tampa Bay. Ewers tossed his first two touchdown passes, committed no turnovers and completed 14 of 22 passes for 172 yards.
Kansas City Chiefs (6-10) at Las Vegas Raiders (2-14)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET (CBS)
FanDuel odds: Chiefs -5.5, Total 35.5
Series Rewind: The Chiefs are 9-1 in the past 10 games with the Raiders.
When the Raiders hired Pete Carroll in January, the expectation was that the Super Bowl-winning head coach would help return the franchise to relevance, with the support of minority owner and decision-maker Tom Brady and general manager John Spytek. At the very least, the belief was that Carroll would be a steadying force for a team that had used four different coaches since 2021. The reality hasn’t matched the expectations, to say the least. The Raiders are even worse under Carroll than they were under the much-maligned Antonio Pierce regime a year ago. The team traded away a star receiver for the second straight season in Jakobi Meyers, and even stalwart defensive end Maxx Crosby had a highly publicized spat with the team after being shut down for the season ahead of their Week 17 loss to the New York Giants. Carroll, 74, has been adamant throughout the season that the decisions he’s made since taking over the Raiders were made with the intention of meaningfully competing in Year 1. The word “rebuild” was essentially forbidden in the facility. As for the Chiefs, it was reasonable to believe this season would have been somewhat of a trip back to earth after three straight Super Bowl appearances. It turned out to be far more humbling. They were eliminated from playoff contention Week 15.
Washington Commanders (4-12) at Philadelphia Eagles (11-5)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET (CBS)
FanDuel odds: Eagles -3.5, Total 38.5
Series Rewind: The Eagles are winners of four of the past five in this NFC East series and aim for a series sweep for the sixth time in nine years.
Philadelphia took both meetings from Washington in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023 and registered a 29-18 victory two weeks ago in Landover, Md. The rematch features a familiar Week 18 NFL storyline with both teams wrestling with whether to play their starters. The Eagles still have a chance to secure the No. 2 seed in the NFC — if they beat the Commanders and Chicago loses to Detroit — but reportedly are planning to rest their regulars for the wild-card round. At worst, they will have the No. 3 seed. The Commanders have lost 10 of their last 11 games and have little to play for — other than the proverbial pride and a few potential personal payouts — and may decide to give younger players a chance to audition for 2026. The Eagles will sit quarterback Jalen Hurts and several starters. Tanner McKee, the Eagles’ sixth-round pick in 2023, will make his second NFL start in place of Hurts. He also started in Week 18 last year, throwing for 269 yards and two TDs in a 20-13 win over the New York Giants. This season, McKee has completed 3 of 3 passes for 33 yards in three cameo appearances. With Marcus Mariota (quad) ruled out, Washington will give 39-year-old journeyman quarterback Josh Johnson his second straight start. Johnson, who has only one win in 10 career starts since he was drafted in 2008, took over after Mariota sustained hand and quad injuries in the Week 16 loss to the Eagles. Johnson completed 15 of 23 passes for 198 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions in a 30-23 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas.