New Orleans Saints @ Atlanta Falcons
Sunday, January 4th, 1:00 PM ET
The New Orleans Saints have now won four games in a row and could finish the year winners of five in a row and with a solid 7-10 record. Given where this team was just a year ago, this season has been awesome. First-year head coach Kellen Moore seems to be the right guy for the job, and rookie QB Tyler Shough has been awesome in recent weeks.
If you took Shough's previous five starts, the Saints have gone 4-1, and his stats in those five games across a full 17-game season look like this:
70.5% completion
4,406 yards
20 touchdowns
7 interceptions
100.4 rating
405 rushing yards
7 rushing touchdowns
Tyler Shough might just be the real deal, and he's going to be the better QB in this matchup. The Saints want to win this game as well to end the year on a high note with their rookie QB, and I believe they do that by one point.
Prediction: Saints win 24-23
Cleveland Browns @ Cincinnati Bengals
Sunday, January 4th, 1:00 PM ET
The Cleveland Browns are in Cincinnati to face the Bengals in a classic AFC North showdown, but both teams have been eliminated from the playoffs and really don't have much to play for. Joe Burrow and the Bengals blew out the Arizona Cardinals in Week 17, and the Browns took care of business at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The main thing to watch here is if Myles Garrett can break the all-time sack record, and that could be the central focus of the defensive game plan. If that is, the Bengals and Burrow should be able to take advantage of the opportunities in front of them and win this game by a touchdown, closing out another forgettable season with a win, as they did in 2024.