You Cannot Miss These 10 games of the 2020-2021 NFL Season (Part 2)

Arjun C-M
May 9, 2020
5 min read

This post includes the next five games on the list.

Kansas City Chiefs at New Orleans Saints (Week 15)

When: Sunday, December 20th at 4:25 pm ET

Where: Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana

I felt inclined to include this game on the list considering it’s my early SB preview. Why? Here’s the narrative. “A proper farewell to one of the league’s most beloved players: Drew Brees”. I don’t think we see Drew Brees in a football uniform in the 2021 season. There are signs that he’s beginning to regress. His throws have a hangtime that just seems to be one second too long. Brees won’t be able to keep up with the fast-paced nature of today’s game for much longer. I think the Saints know that as well. They have a “win-now” mindset and that pushed them to sign Emmanuel Sanders to a short two-year contract. The window is definitely closing on this Brees-Payton era, but they are still talented enough to give it one last go this year and perhaps end up with a SB ring. It would only be fitting.

I don’t think there is anything that can get in the way of the Chiefs repeating a run to the Super Bowl. There will be no offensive regression when you have a quarterback as versatile as Patrick Mahomes. Whether it’s launching a 50-yd bomb, scrambling for 20+ yards, or throwing a quick bullet slant, “Showtime” Mahomes can do it all. Any questions we had for the Chiefs were for the opposite side of the field. But their defense answered all those questions last year. In the offseason, their goal was to keep the team’s core players at all costs. They were successful and so we should expect more fireworks from the Chiefs this upcoming year.

Tune in to my SB preview.

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers (Week 12 Thanksgiving Special)

When: Thursday, November 26th at 8:20 pm ET

Where: Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Thanksgiving and football are like Mitchell Trubisky and overthrows. They just fit together so appropriately. And this year’s Thanksgiving nightcap is one of the best divisional rivalries of the last 15 years. Growing up it was always “Flacco vs ‘Big Ben’”, “John Harbaugh vs. Tomlin”, and of course “Ray Lewis vs. Troy Polamalu”. It’s not just the big names that have defined their games, but also the intense animosity between the two organizations that is second to none.

These clubs are known for their well-disciplined, but aggressive and hard-hitting defensive styles. And the schemes are backed by worthy talent. Both teams’ defenses ranked in the top five for yards allowed in last year’s season. The Steelers also led the league in takeaways (38) and forced the most fumbles (16). A big acquisition for the Steelers last year was free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick who accounted for seven turnovers in 14 games. Don’t be surprised if each defense picks up a couple of takeaways in this Thanksgiving game.

But the biggest draw for this game is the opportunity to watch “Big Ben” in a national television game again. For the last few years, injuries have prevented 2x SB Champ and Steelers’ QB Ben Roethlisberger from competing on a consistent basis. Frankly, NFL fans, including myself, have missed him. On the surface there is a loveable quality about him; perhaps because he could play Santa Claus at your Christmas party. However, he also has this physical perseverance that makes it so difficult for any defensive player to take him down.

Countless times we have seen “Big Ben” avoid sacks and make something out of nothing. Watch out for this in the last contest of the Thanksgiving tripleheader.

Kansas City Chiefs at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Week 12)

When: Sunday, November 29th at 4:25 pm ET

Where: Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida

This game will mark the passing of the baton. In his young career, Patrick Mahomes has already been a Regular Season MVP, Super Bowl Champ, and Super Bowl MVP. However, his record against the G.O.A.T, Tom Brady, is 1-2 and most people remember how Mahomes and the Chiefs blew a golden opportunity against the Pats in the 2019 AFC Championship game. Now that Brady is in the NFC, we may never see another Mahomes-Brady battle. Mahomes is cognizant of this fact and so will be pumped up to even the slate in Week 12 this year.

If Mahomes continues on the current trajectory, one day we may try to make comparisons between him and Brady. Pardon me if I jump the gun, but the situation could be analogized to Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. When NBA historians compare the two they cannot ignore the H2H; notably the 1991 finals where MJ and the Bulls took down Magic and the Lakers in five games. So I believe that this matchup between the Chiefs and the Bucs will grow in relevance as Mahomes’ career progresses on.

Whether you value these long-term implications or not, the game is still a must-watch. The last three meetings between Mahomes and Brady have produced stellar offensive performances and have all been one-score games. This could be the last meeting between two great quarterbacks so definitely check it out.

Tennessee Titans at Baltimore Ravens (Week 11)

When: Sunday, November 22nd at 1:00 pm ET

Where: M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland

Where were you on that eventful Saturday night in the middle of January?

Flashback to four months ago. Lamar Jackson has just finished a historic MVP-like season and the Ravens are primed for a run at the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Enter in the #6-seeded Tennessee Titans. The Titans entered the game fresh off an upset over the Patriots, but still very few people thought they could overcome a 9.5 point spread. The Titans not only pulled off the upset but gave the Ravens a complete beatdown (Final Score: 28-12). Derrick Henry ran all over them with a 195-yard performance that left the crowd stunned and had to be demoralizing for Ravens’ players heading into the offseason.

Now they have a chance to exact that revenge. Lamar Jackson will be driven to produce a better outing than his 31/59, 1 TD, and 2 INT game the past January. But even if he constructs a better performance, the game will come down to one question. Can the Ravens’ defense bottle up #22 in white and blue? If not, it may be another gloomy afternoon in Baltimore.

San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints (Week 10)

When: Sunday, November 15th at 4:25 pm ET