One game each NFL team can’t afford to lose in 2020
Buffalo Bills
Week 16 – Buffalo Bills @ New England Patriots
Despite the slew of opt-outs experienced by the New England Patriots on Tuesday, the team is engineered by the best head coach in the history of the game, and Bill Belichick will have his team in contention for the division title in December. Please don’t ask how, because only he understands.
But for the Buffalo Bills, who have a championship caliber defense, finally have their franchise quarterback, and have solid pieces around him on offense, this has to be the year. This young, stout team swung for the fences with a trade for wide receiver Stefon Diggs – so that, coupled with the mass exodus experienced by New England (opt outs and free agency), make this the best shot Buffalo has had the AFC East since Jim Kelly was running around behind center.
If all of this is true – the Buffalo @ New England game in Week 16 could be the biggest game for the Bills in decades. But, if the team is going to prove itself as AFC elite, and that’s the goal in 2020, this win (and the division title) are imperative.
Carolina Panthers
Week 16 – Carolina Panthers @ Washington Football Team
The only goal for the Carolina Panthers in 2020 is to improve on the team’s 5-11 mark from a season ago. That will not be an easy task – but that’s the goal.
And, perhaps that does not begin and end with their Week 16 matchup against the Washington Football Team, but it does represent one of the most winnable games on their schedule for the season, comes at the end of the year when new starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (and new head coach Matt Rhule) should be well-acclimated, and could be the key in getting to a sixth win.
Of course, the fact that they’re playing the team coached by the man they just fired, Ron Rivera, should give this matchup a little more juice. If Rhule stumbles out of the gate, and Rivera leads an inferior roster to a victory over his former team – it would be a travesty for the Panthers.
Chicago Bears
Week 15 – Chicago Bears @ Minnesota Vikings
A season ago, the Chicago Bears finished their season with a defeat of the playoff bound Minnesota Vikings, bringing their record to a disappointing 8-8. In head coach Matt Nagy’s first year in the Windy City, the team finished 12-4 and won the NFC North. But, the team regressed in 2019, by a staggering four wins, and that was in large part to the inability of quarterback Mitchell Trubisky to develop. Now the team has added Super Bowl winning quarterback Nick Foles, so a full season of futility should be less likely at the position.
This year, the goal must be to return to the playoffs. Maybe the Bears cannot win the division, maybe the can, but if they’re going to make the playoffs, they must win a road game in the division, either to secure a Wild Card tiebreaker or to propel them to a division title.
The end of the season is crunch time for teams in the playoff mix, and a road tilt with the also likely Wild Card contending Vikings will be critical.