National Football League 2016 Week 17 preview

And so too, therefore, is the final week of our Pick Six contest.

Stafford completed 26 of 41 passes for 347 yards and two touchdowns for the Lions, who’ve made the playoffs twice in Jim Caldwell’s three seasons as head coach – the first time they’ve reached the postseason twice in a three-year span since 1997 and ’99. “It doesn’t just go away, but I definitely feel that we are getting better in the secondary, particularly at the corner position”. The Vikings were 5-0 before their bye week then their season came crashing down.

The success of the playoff-bound Dallas Cowboys is drawing the interest of non-football fans.

The Lions are seeking their first division title since 1993 and first NFC North Division crown ever; a 23-year old drought that the franchise is hoping will end this season. If not, move to Game Two. It is waiting to find out where it will need to travel for the playoffs next week. He has 15 touchdowns and zero interceptions in his last six games.

With 18 seconds left, Matthew Stafford lofted a Hail Mary pass and Anquan Boldin came down with it for a late touchdown to pull within 31-24. If nothing else, you know that Steve Smith Sr will do everything in his power to make what will probably be his final game in the National Football League a special one. “But we’ll see what happens this week”. NFC No. 2 Atlanta (4:35 p.m. FOX) and AFC No. 1 New England (8:15 p.m., CBS) will play on January 14. Detroit lost to NY, got blown out the day after Christmas by Dallas, and then collapsed in the face of Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.

Did Oakland’s season end with the breaking of Derek Carr’s right fibula on Christmas Eve? Coach Ben McAdoo said his usual starters will be playing but stopped short of declaring they’ll finish the game.

The Seahawks earn the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye with a win at San Francisco and an Atlanta loss. Carr’s replacement, Matt McGloin, is something of an unknown quantity.

Side Lion Report: That’s a very good question and if we knew Rodgers was going to play at least 5-7 more seasons (which I think he probably will) it would be hard to go against him.

The Chiefs beat the Broncos.

Q. Quick strike, Packers: They went right to work at the start of the second half, driving 75 yards in 10 plays to take the lead on a TD pass to Davante Adams. A big matchup between Beckham and Redskins CB Josh Norman could determine this one. But I do think that NY might struggle to contain that vertical attack with both cornerback Janoris Jenkins and defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul sidelined by injury. Slay practiced Wednesday for the first time in almost two weeks and could return from the hamstring injury that has nagged him much of the year.

#5 New York Giants @ #4 Green Bay Packers or Detroit Lions: Saturday Jan. 7 or Sunday Jan. 8. The division champion with the third-best record will play host to the wild-card team with the second-best record. Stafford’s road record against winning teams is fairly abysmal so I think it’s a huge boost for a struggling Lions team to get back to Ford Field. Their season hangs in the balance, because a loss could result in them missing the playoffs altogether, saddling the team with a late season collapse where they lost a two game lead on the Pack.

Aaron Rodgers finished the first half with 223 straight passes without an INT, the longest such streak of his career.