It’s the final week of the regular season in the NFL and there are some games that actually mean something. Let’s see if we can find them.
The Baltimore Ravens control their own destiny in the AFC North. All the Ravens have to do is beat the Cleveland Browns and they’ll win the division and go into the playoffs as a 4th seed. If the Ravens lose they can still win the division if the Cincinnati Bengals can beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now if the Steelers win and the Ravens lose it will be the Steelers that win the division and head into the playoffs. There’s no fallback wild card spot for ether of these teams. One of them will win the division and head into the playoffs while the other one heads into their off season.
Over in the NFC all of the divisions are locked up, but there is still one wild card spot up for grabs. The Minnesota Vikings currently hold that last playoff spot and if the beat the Chicago Bears on Sunday they’ll take that last wild card spot. Now if the Vikings lose that opens the door for the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles to find their way into a wild card spot. The Eagles will need that Vikings loss and then they have to beat the Washington Redskins to get into the playoffs.
Now don’t think that the Bears aren’t playing for anything in their game against the Vikings. If Chicago beats Minnesota and the Los Angeles Rams lose their game to the San Francisco 49ers the Bears would be the #2 seed in the NFC and get a 1st round bye.
There is one more win and they’re in scenario and it’s for the final AFC wild card spot. The final game of Week 17 on Sunday night features the Indianapolis Colts at the Tennessee Titans. Both teams are 9-6 heading into this game and it’s a pretty plain and simple set up on who gets into the playoffs. Win the game and you’re in the playoffs; that’s it.
If you’re looking to put a wager on the game Indianapolis is currently a 3 point favorite with the over/under for the game being 43.5 points.
The biggest question heading into the Sunday night game is who will be the Titans quarterback. Marcus Mariota is listed as questionable for the game after suffering what was reported as a “stinger” in Tennessee’s Week 16 win over the Redskins. Mariota missed practice on Wednesday and was limited in practice on both Thursday and Friday as he was still bothered by his neck. Mariota is also dealing with a foot injury. Titans head coach Mike Vrabel mentioned that there’s a chance that Tennessee will have not only Blaine Gabbert active, but possible Austin Davis as well. This was if there is an issue with Mariota the Titans would have a back up for Gabbert. I’m sure that Mariota will be a game time decision; so you’ll have to keep an eye on the Titans quarterback situation.
There are a couple of other injuries that could affect this win and your in game. Titans pass rusher Brian Orakpo has been ruled out due to an elbow injury while Indianapolis’ two top receivers are listed as questionable for this game. T.Y. Hilton is dealing with a ankle injury and Eric Ebron is recovering from a knee injury and a concussion.
Hilton is the Colts leading receiver with 74 receptions and 1209 yards. Ebron is right behind Hilton in both of those categories with 62 receptions and 690 yards. Ebron has caught 12 touchdowns this season while Hilton has grabbed 6. Hilton has been playing through his injury for a few weeks now and you’d have to think in an all or nothing type of game he’ll attempt to play again. Ebron was forced out of the Colts Week 16 game against the New York Giants with his injuries and it hasn’t been reported if he has cleared concussion protocol.
There is one more Tennessee injury that hasn’t gotten a lot of attention. Titans top receiver Corey Davis has been dealing with a hamstring injury. Davis leads the Titans in receptions (60) yards (843) and receiving touchdowns (4). Davis has a total of 17 receptions since Week 10 and it’s unknown what his status for Sunday nights game is.
Who do you think wins the Colts/Titans match up? If you want to know who we’re picking to win this game tune in to the Sports Time Radio podcast tomorrow (Sunday) morning at 10:00 a.m. cst to find out who Mr. Fantasy, Schaumburg Stu, Dan the Man and I and picking to in not only this game, but all of the Week 17 games.
Sports Time Radio is live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but if you don’t catch the podcast live it is also available for you to listen to whenever you want at TuneIn.com. Listen and find out how we do.
Now there have been a lot of signings in Major League Baseball so far this off season, but the two guys Bryce Harper and Manny Machado that everyone is waiting to sign still haven’t and I’m not surprised by that at all.
With Harper being represented by Scott Boras you had to know that his signing would be one of the last one made. This seems to be how Boras handles his clients even if it hurts them in the first year of their contract; see Jake Arrieta. I honestly believe that even if Harper knew where he was going to sign and had a contract in place that Boras wouldn’t let him announce it until a week before spring training was to start.
As for Machado I’m sure that he’d like to see Harper sign first; so his agent could compare salaries, but I don’t think that will happen. There seem to be lot better fits with teams for Machado than there are for Harper; so if Machado gets a contract offer he likes from a team that he wants to play for he should sign. I fully expect Machado to sign before Harper, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
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