Detroit-Minnesota 'Game Of The Year' Ends NFL Regular Season Sunday

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Jack MagruderContributorOpinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.I primarily write about major league baseball, the NBA and the NFL.FollowingJan 4, 2025,12:49am EST

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Quarterback Jared Goff and the Lions will meet Minnesota to determine the NFC North title Sunday ... [+] night. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

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The NFL saved the prime-est of its prime-time TV lineup for the final game of the regular season Sunday.

The season could hardly end on a more dramatic note, with the AFC North and NFC North champions to be determined over the final two days.

The AFC North will winner will be determined Saturday, when the division-leading Baltimore Ravens (11-5) and the second-place Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6) play home games within hours of each other.

Both are assured of playoff spots, and Baltimore will win the division with a victory over Cleveland. The Steelers hold the tiebreaker over the Ravens, and they will win the division with a victory over Cincinnati and a Baltimore loss. The Steelers' game also has wild card implications, because the Bengals would get the last AFC playoff spot with a win and losses by Denver and Miami.

All leading to the finale. The Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings, both 14-2, will end the season in what could be considered the game of the year. Only AFC No. 1 seed Kansas City (15-1) has a better record, and the rematch comes with huge stakes.

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The Detroit-Minnesota winner will earn the No. 1 seed in the NFC, a first-round bye and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Its first game would be at home against the lowest-remaining seed, inasmuch as the NFL reseeds the field after every round.

Because of the NFL playoff format, the loser will tumble all the way to the No. 5 seed and a first-round playoff game on the road, against either the Los Angeles Rams or the NFC South winner, Tampa Bay or Atlanta. The Buccaneers (9-7) will clinch the division with a win or a tie against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday or a loss by the Falcons (8-8), who own the tie-breaker.

Let the games begin:

Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen are considered the top two candidates to win the 2024 MVP. (AP ... [+] Photo/David J. Phillip)

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

Cleveland Browns (3-13) vs Baltimore Ravens (11-5)

How to watch: ABC/ESPN/ESPN+, 4:30 pm ET

Key matchup: Derrick Henry vs Browns D

Early line: Ravens -19 1/2, up from -17 1/2

The Ravens are favored by as many as 20 1/2 points in some quarters — the largest point spread in the NFL since Arizona beat Houston 31-5 as a 20 1/2-point favorite in 2020. Baltimore looks to avenge a 29-24 loss in Cleveland on Oct. 27, a game that was decided when Jameis Winston threw the last of his three touchdown passes with 59 seconds remaining. It could be considered the biggest upset in the league this year.

Ravens' MVP candidate Lamar Jackson will have one more chance to burnish his resume in his run for a second consecutive MVP award and third of his career. Jackson's 121.6 passer rating is nearing Aaron Rodgers' league season record of 122.5 in 2011.

If Derrick Henry reaches the end zone this week, he will earn a $500,000 bonus for his 15th ... [+] touchdown of the season. (AP Photo/Maria Lysaker)

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Henry will look for his ninth 100-yard rushing game of the season, with a cherry on top. If he scores a touchdown, he will trigger a $500,000 bonus with his 15th score. Henry already has netted $1.5 million in bonus money this season.

Winston will not play because of an injury, and the line moved even more toward Baltimore when Browns announced that Bailey Zappe will start. Zappe, a former New England reserve, has not played a game this season. Cleveland defensive end Myles Garrett is tied for the league lead with 14 sacks.

SATURDAY NIGHT

Cincinnati Bengals (8-8) vs Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6)

How to watch: ABC/ESPN/ESPN+, 8 pm

Key matchup: Joe Burrow vs Pittsburgh D

Early line: Bengals -2 1/2

Russell Wilson and the Steelers are in reach of the AFC North title. (AP Photo/Matt Durisko)

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

The Steelers will know by kickoff if they have a chance to win the NFC North title, although the chances seem infinitesimal given the likelihood of a Baltimore victory in the early game. That would free the Steelers to limit playing time for quarterback Russell Wilson and other starters inasmuch as finishing second in the division means a wild card playoff game on the road next weekend. Wilson threw for 414 yards in a 44-38 victory in Cincinnati on Dec. 1.

A Baltimore victory might make it a little easier for the Bengals, who have a puncher's chance for the seventh and final AFC wild card berth. To advance, the Bengals must beat Pittsburgh and have both Denver and Miami lose Sunday. The Broncos are big home favorites over the Chiefs, who are expected to rest most of their big names. Miami plays at the New York Jets in he same afternoon time slot as the Kansas City-Denver game.

Burrow is having a spectacular season, one in what in many other years would earn him the MVP. He has thrown for a league-high 4,641 yards and 42 touchdowns while completing 69.8 percent of his passes. Bengals coach Zac Taylor knows what he has — Burrow also leads the league in passing attempts and completions.

Burrow has thrown for at least 250 yards and three touchdowns in the last eight games, an NFL record.

SUNDAY NIGHT

Minnesota Vikings (14-2) vs Detroit (14-2)

How to watch: NBC/Peacock, 8:20 pm

Key matchup: Sam Darnold vs Jared Goff

Early line: Lions -2 1/2

Sam Darnold is having a career year for teh playoff-bound Vikings. (AP Photo/Stacy Bengs)

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

This game is historic even before it starts. It is the first between teams who have at least 13 victories apiece and a combined 28 victories, a stat that is tarnished slightly by the fact that this is only the fourth season that NFL teams have played 17 games.

Both Goff and Darnold have led offenses that get up and go. The Lions lead the league with 33.3 points per game and are second to Baltimore with 410.5 yards per. They have averaged 37.5 points in their last four games, although one was a 48-42 loss to Buffalo in which their injury-depleted defense gave up a season-high 559 yards.

Despite a five-interception game, Goff ranks second in the league in passer rating, sandwiched between No. 1 Jackson and Joe Burrow. The Lions' offensive weapons are so multiple and varied that they have absorbed the loss of halfback David Montgomery well.

Jahmyr Gibbs streaked through the 49ers' defense the last time out. (AP Photo/Scot Tucker)

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Darnold is having the season of his life. The third player taken in 2018 draft by the New York Jets, Darnold stepped in when rookie starter J.J. McCarthy was injured in the preseason and has thrown for 4,153 yards, more than 1,000 more than in his best previous season.

Jake Bates' 15-yard field goal with 15 seconds remaining gave the Lions a 31-29 victory Oct. 20. Jahmyr Gibbs had 116 yards rushing and two touchdowns and Amon-Ra St. Brown had 112 yards and a touchdown for the Lions, Aaron Jones had 93 yards rushing, and he and Justin Jefferson had touchdowns.

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