NFL Week 17 Saturday Games Open Thread: Chargers at Patriots, Broncos at Bengals

After an unthinkable full day without NFL football, the Week 17 slate continues with a tripleheader on NFL Network.

At 10 a.m. PT, the Los Angeles Chargers take on the New England Patriots in Foxborough. If the Chargers win, they clinch a playoff spot, otherwise it comes down to the last week of the season for them. New England is still in the mix for the No. 1 overall pick. 1.

At 1:30 PM PT, the Denver Broncos travel to Ohio to face the Cincinnati Bengals. If you’ve been following our playoff guide, a Broncos win is favored in case the strength of victory matters to the Seattle Seahawks. Like the Chargers, Denver is in the postseason with a win, but things get a little more interesting for the Broncos with a loss. Wins by the Chargers and Broncos would also take the Colts, Dolphins and Bengals all out of contention.

The last match of the day is at 5pm PT and features the Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams, which for obvious reasons we want the Cardinals to win. I suspect we’re going to have a lot of commentary on the Cardinals and Rams game, so I’ll give it its own separate game thread as we get closer to kickoff.

Chat away in this comment section for the first two games