NFL teams looking to punch their way into the playoffs in week 14

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The last quarter of the NFL regular season began in an NFC South showdown Thursday night as the Atlanta Falcons defeated the New Orleans Saints to get within one game of the division. They square off again in two weeks which will have even heavier implications heading into the playoffs. The Carolina Panthers are also fighting for a postseason position whether as the division winner or a wild card team. They have a very tough match-up against the NFC Conference-leading Minnesota Vikings Sunday and if they win they’ll be in a tie for first place in the NFC South. Keep your eyes on Luke Kuechly as he is the master of dissecting opposing offensive plays. On the other side of the ball, let’s see if Cam Newton can do his thing against Everson Griffen and the rest of Minnesota’s monster defense.

Several squads are looking to punch their playoff ticket to the 2017 tournament and week 14 will go a long way in determining who gets in. Some teams have all but locked up a postseason berth and perhaps a first-round bye like those Vikings, the Eagles, Patriots, and Steelers. Others are on the bubble or right in the mix and this weekend is full of contests between contenders fighting for their spot to the Super Bowl.

The AFC West is just a jumble of 6 – 6 teams as the once unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs have come back to the pack joining the Oakland Raiders and surging Los Angeles Chargers in a three-way division tie. The Raiders are at Arrowhead Stadium this weekend and if they win they’ll have swept the Chiefs in the regular season giving them the edge in the division. The Chargers will need to hold down Kirk Cousins and the Redskins to stay atop the AFC West.

There are a few very intriguing games in the Week 14 schedule. How about those Los Angeles Rams taking on the high flying Philadelphia Eagles at The Coliseum! This contest will go a long way when playoff seeding begins. This game could be the difference between the #1 seed or the #3 seed which as we know is a big difference considering the bye and home-field advantage. For the record, I’m predicting that Todd Gurley will have over 200 yards from scrimmage. He’s the type of player that can punch his way through and around the Eagles defense because of his power and versatility. This could be the best game on paper and television. I expect a great game between these two division leaders.

I’m also looking forward to seeing how the Seahawks fair against the Jaguars swarming defense. “Sacksonville” as they are now known, get to the quarterback as well as any other team in the league, hence their new nickname. Looks like Russell Wilson will have to put on another magic act! Seattle proved they could still play solid defense without the full strength of the “Legion of Boom” by shutting down Philly last week in the Pacific Northwest. Now they travel at a 45-degree angle across the country to Jacksonville. Let’s see if the Hawks can bring their 12th Man with them on the road. If you enjoy hard-hitting football games then tune into this one!

This is definitely a Red Zone Channel Sunday with so many important match-ups influencing the playoff bracket. The Packers are holding on as long as possible with a .500 record waiting and praying that Aaron Rodgers could come off IR and get back under center and stay in the playoff race. Meanwhile, Brett Hundley has improved and the Pack found a running game with rookie Jamaal Williams. They can go to 7 – 6 if they beat the winless Browns in Cleveland this weekend. If they can’t then they don’t deserve to be in the postseason anyway!

The Steelers and Patriots are both 10 – 2 as the first and second seed in the AFC respectively. They each have divisional match-ups to close out the Week 14 schedule and we all know that inter-divisional games are usually tough no matter what their records indicate.

With all that being said…it’s prediction time! The Sports Prophet looks to continue the hot streak going 12 – 4 last week. These are some tough games to predict with so much on the line throughout the league this week. Well, here we go!

Bills 20 – Colts 10

Vikings 23 – Panthers 17

Bengals 24 – Bears 9

Packers 31 – Browns 28

Texans 17 – 49ers 16

Chiefs 30 – Raiders 27

Bucs 19 – Lions 17

Cowboys 21 – Giants 14

Cardinals 20 – Titans 16

Broncos 18 – Jets 17

Redskins 35 – Chargers 31

Jaguars 22 – Seahawks 20