Several teams are still looking to lock in their position in the NFL playoffs and hoping to clinch their division.
The games start Saturday with a pair of AFC North matchups.
Browns vs Ravens
The Cleveland Browns will take on the Baltimore Ravens, who have a chance to clinch the AFC North with a win Saturday afternoon.
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- Time: 4:30 p.m. Eastern
- Venue: M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore
- Channel: ABC, ESPN
- Streaming: ESPN+, DirecTV, Fubo, YouTubeTV
Bailey Zappe to start for the Browns
Bailey Zappe will be quarterback No. 4 and No. 40 for the Browns.
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He was selected by coach Kevin Stefanski to start Saturday's season finale at Baltimore, making him the fourth quarterback to start this season and the 40th since Cleveland returned to the NFL as an expansion team in 1999.
Zappe was signed off Kansas City’s practice squad in October after Deshaun Watson ruptured his Achilles tendon. The 25-year-old will be making his ninth career start — he's 4-4 — after playing in eight games while with New England.
Earlier this week , Stefanski said he would likely play both Zappe and Dorian Thompson-Robinson against the Ravens (11-5), who will clinch the AFC North title if they take care of the Browns (3-13).
Bengals vs Steelers
- Time: 8 p.m. Eastern
- Venue: Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh
- Channel: ABC, ESPN
- Streaming: ESPN+, DirecTV, Fubo, YouTubeTV
The Pittsburgh Steelers are heading to the playoffs. It just doesn't exactly feel like it — or look like it — heading into their regular-season finale against Cincinnati on Saturday night.
A three-game losing streak against the league's elite will do that.
Yet rather than dwell on what's gone wrong, quarterback Russell Wilson has another suggestion: practice a little selective amnesia.
“You’ve got to be able to just embrace the moment and be so addicted to the moment that nothing else gets in the way of it,” Wilson said. “They focus on the next practice, the next meeting. And that level of obsession, that level of focus, that level of communication, that level of response, is everything. And that’s what champions do.”
That's been part of the problem for the Steelers (10-6), who have let plenty get in their way during a slide that's likely cost them a shot at the AFC North title, namely uncharacteristic mental lapses by a defense that have made a proud unit dotted with stars look vulnerable.
On that front, the surging Bengals (8-8) can relate. Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase and company look every bit as dangerous as most expected in August. Yet a horrific opening three months defensively forced Cincinnati to play catch-up in December. And for all of Burrow's brilliance, the Bengals need to beat the Steelers and then hope Denver and Miami lose on Sunday to reach the postseason.
