NFL Week 15 early games open thread

The Detroit Lions won on Saturday, which means we can all sit back and enjoy a day of Sunday football games relatively stress free. That isn’t to say these games will be meaningless, far from it. If the Lions are going to make the postseason, they’re going to need a fair amount of help, and some of it will need to come today.

Here’s the slate of 1 p.m. ET games:

Dolphins at Bills - CBS
Ravens at Browns - CBS
Bengals at Vikings - CBS
Jets at Saints - CBS
Eagles at Giants - FOX
Cardinals at Washington - FOX
Packers at Panthers - FOX
Texans at Jaguars - CBS

Of those eight games, only three really impact the Lions’ playoff chances. According to our rooting guide, here are the teams you should be rooting for on Sunday afternoon:

• Bengals over Vikings
• Jets over Saints
• Packers over Panthers

It’s that last one that will have some Lions fans folding their arms in defiance. But if the Lions are to catch the Panthers before the season is over, they’re going to need Carolina to lose at least one game (preferably two) in their final three. With a home game against the Buccaneers next week, this may be Detroit’s best chance to catch the Panthers.

Whether you’re rooting for the Packers or not, please watch the Sunday games with us and feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below. But if you post a Star Wars spoiler, you will be banned.