Week 18 NFL Saturday Doubleheader
This weekend marks the first-ever Week 18 in NFL regular-season history. As part of the deal that was struck to expand the season to 17 games, ESPN will be airing its first annual doubleheader on Saturday night. The event will feature the Kansas City Chiefs visiting the Denver Broncos and the Dallas Cowboys visiting the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Kansas City/Denver game will air on ESPN and ABC at 4:30 PM ET and the Dallas-Philadelphia game will air on the same channels at 8:15 PM ET. Both games were flexed into their slots after last week's games finished.
The Chiefs and Broncos met just about a month ago with Kansas City winning 22-9. The game was actually much closer, but a late pick-six from Daniel Sorenson put the game out of reach. Denver had no issues moving the ball on the Chiefs' defense but couldn't convert those possessions into points until late. The Broncos drove into the redzone five times and only came away with two scores.
The Chiefs obviously need a better performance from their offense heading into the playoffs. Kansas City has a shot to clinch the AFC's No. 1 seed, but the offense has not been its usual self this season and needs to get going for the Chiefs to make another deep run. Denver's defense will provide a good test.
Denver has been better than I expected this year, and running back Javonte Williams has been a real bright spot for the offense. The Broncos continue to have a good defense and just need to get more out of the passing game. Inconsistent quarterback play has been the main culprit, and obviously playing two different quarterbacks throughout the season does not help with continuity and growth.
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Both the Cowboys and Eagles will be heading to the NFC playoffs-- Dallas as NFC East champion and Philadelphia as a wild card team. The only thing yet to be figured out is the official seeding. Dallas is still jockeying for position with the Rams, Buccaneers, and Cardinals, while Philly will either be the sixth or seventh seed.
The Cowboys have turned things around after a bad 2020 season, largely because of a vastly improved defense (particularly against the run) and a healthy Dak Prescott.
The Eagles have been a bit of a Cinderella. No one really knew what to expect under new head coach Nick Sirianni, especially with question marks surrounding quarterback Jalen Hurts, As it turns out, Hurts was just fine in his first full-year as a starter, and the team didn't really miss a beat when they had to play backup Gardner Minshew because of injury.
These two divisional rivals last met way back in week three, and the Cowboys won 41-21. However, things have changed. After a 3-6 start, the Eagles found a rhythm --winning six of their last seven games. Philadelphia is at its best when it can establish the run and will be challenged with Miles Sanders missing from this game.