Week 16 Early Games Open Thread

The Saints-Panthers rematch to likely determine the NFC South champ tops the early Sunday slate, but I had this pic of Redskins and Cowboys dreamcatchers that I want to use and not like there’s going to be much opportunity for a while after today. Dallas has to win for next week’s game against the Eagles to matter. It’s kind of a shame that RGIII isn’t playing the Redskins M.O. with him under center this season was to fall behind horribly in the first half only to make a frenzied comeback bid that came just short. That sort of thing would petrify Dallas coaches after the Cowboys meltdown last week, so hopefully Washington can keep that going with Kirk Cousins.

Davone Bess has been deactivated and placed on the non-football injury list for the final two weeks of the season. On Friday, he posted a photo to his Instagram account (since deleted) that seemed to be suggest that he was smoking weed. Far be it from me to judge someone for the partaking, but probably not the best idea to put it on blast if you’re an NFL player. According to reporters, that wasn’t the reason Bess was benched. Given that the receiver is fourth in the league in dropped passes while not being an especially significant part of the Browns offense, it’d hard to say Cleveland didn’t have cause anyway.

In Arrowhead, there’s a somewhat likely Wild Card preview between the Chiefs and Colts. Barring a massive upset by the Texans or the Raiders over the Broncos in the final two weeks, it looks as though Kansas City is heading for the fifth seed even if they win out. Should the Colts land in the fourth seed, we’ll be seeing this game again in two weeks in Indianapolis. So hopefully for the sake of the playoffs this one is entertaining.

After missing last week’s win over the Eagles in which Matt Asiata somehow ran for three touchdowns, Adrian Peterson returns to the lineup, which may or may not be relevant to your fantasy championship. Or playoffs, if you’re in one of those backward leagues that holds its title game in Week 17.

Your early game slate, as rated by KSK’s not-at-all subjective, rigorously scientificated five-star system:

Miami at Buffalo **
New Orleans at Carolina *****
Minnesota at Cincinnati **
Denver at Houston **
Tennessee at Jacksonville *
Indianapolis at Kansas City ****
Cleveland at New York Jets **
Tampa Bay at St. Louis **
Dallas at Washington **