NFL Week 18 Flex Options

With three weeks left, let's see what could be the game that gets flexed into the final game of the season -- the Sunday Night Football game.

NO WAY AT ALL

Let's go ahead and move these games to the side:

Saints at Falcons
Browns at Bengals
Chiefs at Raiders
Cowboys at Giants
Commanders at Eagles

Of these teams, only the Eagles have a real chance at making the playoffs and by this time they will already have the NFC East wrapped up. Everyone else is waiting for the draft.

SLIM CHANCE, IF AT ALL

Jets at Bills
Cardinals at Rams
Dolphins at Patriots
Titans at Jaguars

These four games need quite a bit of things to happen for them to have the kind of importance to make it a stand alone game. Bills, Rams, Patriots and Jaguars likely will have playoff spots wrapped up. It will be a matter of seed, and even then will rely on a game played elsewhere to make it interesting. So let's ditch this bunch. 

MMMMMMAYBE

Packers at Vikings
Colts at Texans

The Packers and Texans may need this game to get into the playoffs, and the Colts could find a way to make that game with Houston a very meaningful one. Neither probably will be worthy of the SNF spot, but there is a world where both could. 

HERE ARE THE REAL CONTENDERS

Lions at Bears: Right now, the Bears lead the NFC North while the Lions are right at the cut line. There will be a lot of things that need to happen to make this the most important game of the week. 

Chargers at Broncos: Denver has already clinched a playoff spot and have a two game lead over the Chargers in the AFC West race. By the time we get here, Denver may have the top seed wrapped up and could sit their starters. The Chargers likely would have a spot clinched as well, so this would be more about seeding.

Seahawks at Niners: When you include the Rams, the NFC West is a fascinating race. The Rams and Seahawks play on Thursday night with the winner taking the division lead and the loser moving back to the 49ers. All three should be locked in on a playoff spot by then (the Rams have already clinched; the Seahawks and Niners are a win away from clinching). This could be a situation like last year's Lions-Vikings game where the game is for a division championship and possibly the top seed in the NFC. Barring that, this won't be flexed to SNF. 

Panthers at Buccaneers: The two teams are tied at 7-7 and play each other this week as well as Week 18. If the Panthers win the Week 16 showdown, we could see this game be for the NFC South title and a playoff spot in Week 18. We know that right now Tampa Bay owns the tiebreakers, which means that even if the Bucs were a game behing Carolina in the standings in the final week a win would tie them and then the tiebreaker goes their way. 

Ravens at Steelers: This could be a matchup where the winner is the AFC North champion and earns the division their lone playoff spot. The NFL would absolutely love to have this rivalry as their final game of the regular season. You have Lamar Jackson vs Aaron Rodgers. Two coaches who won their lone Super Bowl titles a long time ago.