Welcome to Sunday Night Football
Sunday Night Football is back this week with one of the most important games of the season for the NFC South divisional race. The Atlanta Falcons, currently in 1st place in the division, are facing an actually good team in the Washington Commanders with an eye towards proving they belong in the playoff conversation. All Sunday Night Football games kick off at 8:20 ET on NBC.
As always in our brave new world of expansive sports gambling, it is now easier to bet on games than to watch them. You can catch current odds on all NFL games for Week 17 here on FanDuel.
The 8-7 Falcons hold the tie-breaker over the 8-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers by virtue of having swept their head-to-head series this season. A win tonight all but guarantees the NFC South crown to Atlanta. A win for the Commanders all but guarantees them a wild card berth.
The smart money tonight is going to be on the team that is not busy switching to a rookie quarterback and preparing him for his second ever professional start. The Falcons benched highly paid free agent acquisition Kirk Cousins last week and are now trying to run a rookie with cold legs into one of the most high pressure environments the NFL has to offer: the playoffs.
Michael Penix may have a bright future in this league, but I don’t think it starts tonight. That’s why I’m picking the Washington Commanders to win tonight.
As always, use this space to talk about the action as it unfolds.
You know the drill.
This is now an open thread!