Five bold predictions for Week 16’s NFL lineup, including the NFL’s first tie game since 2022
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Week 16 of the 2024 NFL season began with a “Thursday Night Football” 180-degree turnaround with the Los Angeles Chargers outscoring the Denver Broncos 21-6 in the second half of a 34-27 comeback victory over their AFC West rivals. That game snapped Los Angeles’ 10-game losing streak when trailing by more than 10 points, per CBS Sports Research.
The Chargers pulled off a reverse “Chargering.” Since Los Angeles was stunningly able to go against its franchise’s long-running nature, enjoy five stunning possibilities in our Christmas and holiday edition of CBS Sports’ NFL bold predictions.
Ravens smash Steelers, drop 30 on NFL’s No. 6 scoring defense
The victor between the Ravens (9-5) and Steelers (10-4) on Saturday afternoon in Baltimore will be in the driver’s seat for the AFC North. Should Pittsburgh win in Week 16, it will clinch its first division title since 2020 and eighth since 2007 under head coach Mike Tomlin. Lately, the Steelers have had a decisive edge, winning eight of the last nine, but all by one score.
This time around, the Ravens are going to win, and they are going to do so emphatically by scoring at least 30 points on the Steelers defense that is allowing the sixth-fewest points per game in the entire NFL (18.9). All-Pro T.J. Watt’s 17 career regular season sacks against the Ravens are the most all-time.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson’s past against the Steelers is ugly: He has lost four of his five starts against the Steelers with five total touchdowns and 11 turnovers while registering a 66.2 passer rating in four starts, his worst against any NFL team. None of that will matter against the Steelers on Saturday. The Ravens offense is on a historic run, averaging 6.86 yds/play this season, the third most in a season in NFL history, per CBS Sports Research.
Why? Jackson is playing at historic heights. He has thrown 34 touchdowns to only three interceptions this season, which is the second-most passing touchdowns in a season before a quarterback’s fourth interception. Jackson this season trails only 2014 NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers (35) in that statistic, per CBS Sports Research. He also leads all quarterbacks in both passer rating (120.7) and rushing yards (743), something that hasn’t been done since another No. 8, Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Young, did so in his 1994 NFL MVP campaign. Jackson is on pace for a 2024 season with 4,347 passing yards and 902 rush yards, which would make him the first player in NFL history with at least 4,000 passing yards and 800 rushing yards in a single season. He’s also flanked by the NFL’s second-leading rusher in running back Derrick Henry (1,474 rushing yards).
Lamar Jackson this season
NFL QB rank
Pass TD-INT
34-3
1st
Passing yards
3,580
5th
Pass yards/attempt
8.9
1st
Rushing yards
743
1st
Yards/carry
6.4
1st
Passer rating
120.7
1st
The Seattle Seahawks (8-6) and the Minnesota Vikings (12-2) are both alive in the hunt for their respective division titles. Both are led by New York Jets castoffs with Geno Smith as Seattle’s starting quarterback and Sam Darnold as Minnesota’s starting quarterback. Prior to the Green Bay Packers running all over the Seahawks in a 30-13 Week 15 victory, Seattle had allowed 15.5 points per game during a four-game winning streak.
That defensive effort comes to play Sunday in Seattle, and Smith outduels Darnold despite his struggling offensive line. The Vikings haven’t won in Seattle since 2006, and their road losing streak against the Seahawks gets extended to six in a row. This Seahawks win will keep them in contention for the NFC West title while a Vikings loss opens the door for them to tumble down the conference standings in the final weeks of the regular season.
Dolphins and 49ers have NFL’s first tie game since 2022
Both the San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins are 6-8 and need miracles to reach the postseason: The 49ers have a 0.1% chance to make the playoffs according to SportsLine, and the Dolphins have a 4.6% chance to make the playoffs according to SportsLine.
The similarities don’t stop there. Both teams are coming off of gut-wrenching losses as well with the 49ers losing 12-6 against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 15, and the Miami Dolphins losing 20-12 against the Houston Texans. Both teams are led by two under-appreciated quarterbacks who are often viewed as simply products of their head coaches’ systems despite 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (8.9 pass yards per attempt since 2022) and Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (8.2 pass yards per attempt) ranking No. 1 and No. 2 in the NFL in passing yards per attempt since 2022.
Given the multitude of commonalties between these teams, they will combine for the NFL’s first tie game since the 2022 season. There were two ties in the 2022 season: a 20-20 Week 1 draw between the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans and a 20-20 Week 13 tie between the New York Giants and Washington Commanders.
Anthony Richardson completes over 75% of his passes for first time in career vs. Titans
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson is the NFL’s most boom-or-bust passer. His 47% completion percentage is the lowest in a season since fellow ex-Florida Gator Tim Tebow’s 46.5% back in 2011, but he also leads in yards per completion (14.1). He’s completed 50% or fewer of his passes in three consecutive starts, but that streak ends against the struggling 3-11 Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
Despite his boom or bust nature, Richardson will set a career high in completion percentage Sunday. He set his current career high of 75% against the Titans as a rookie last season when he completed 9 of his 12 passes (75%) in a 23-16 Week 5 win. He’ll have another career game against Tennessee on Sunday. Titans first-year head coach Brian Callahan needed to go on a rant at his Wednesday press conference to combat the idea that his team is soft. His defense is also allowing a 66.5% opponent completion percentage, which is the 11th-highest in the entire league. That’s a recipe for Richardson to stop his streak of inefficiency, at least for a week.
Drake Maye snaps NFL’s longest active INT streak vs. AFC East champion Bills
The New England Patriots (3-11) and the Buffalo Bills (11-3) are literally going in opposite directions with the Bills still in the fight to be the AFC’s top seed while the Patriots are eliminated from postseason contention.
However, the Pats do have at least one redeeming quality in their 2024 season, and that’s No. 3 overall pick quarterback Drake Maye. His 68.5% completion percentage is the second highest in NFL history by a rookie, trailing only the player selected one pick ahead of him in Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (70.5%). Maye is also struggling with interceptions: His six consecutive starts with a pick is the longest active streak in the league.
Facing a Bills squad with 13 interceptions, tied for the eighth-most in the NFL, doesn’t appear to be the recipe to snap this streak, especially when Maye’s squad will likely be trailing early. However, he produces another effort indicating he is the foundation of the Patriots franchise going forward by playing a clean, turnover-free game on Sunday.
