By Travers Cummings
49ers over Seahawks (Saturday night): I didn’t think I would be writing about the 49ers playing for the number one seed in the NFC considering how the season started off. Losing Nick Bosa, losing Brock Purdy for a long stretch, losing Fred Warner, questions about the offensive line, and just nothing seeming to go their way, yet here we are in Week 18 and San Fran has a chance to do something special. Brock Purdy played out of his mind last Sunday and silenced a lot of the naysayers out there about whether he belongs in the upper echelon of NFL quarterbacks. He’ll need to do it one more time against the Seahawks (who San Fran beat way back in Week 1) if they want to capture the NFC West crown and get a bye in the first round of the playoffs. That would also enable the Niners to play all their playoff games at home, and that would include the Super Bowl since it’s being played in their stadium. Beating Seattle won’t be an easy task, but I think San Fran has the momentum on their side.
Ravens over Steelers (Sunday night): Because the Steelers couldn’t handle business against the Browns last week, they now find themselves in a do-or-die matchup against the Ravens for the AFC North title. Even though they didn’t have Lamar Jackson, backup quarterback Tyler “Snoop” Huntley was efficient enough moving the offense down the field. It also helped that Derrick Henry had one of the best games of his career, rushing for 216 yards and 4 touchdowns as he steamrolled the Packers defense. I’m not sure if Lamar will be back for this game, but if Huntley and Henry can do what they did last week, they might be calling themselves AFC North champs at the end of the night.
Panthers over Bucs (Saturday afternoon): Unfortunately, one of these teams has to get into the playoffs. Neither of them are good, and both lost last week. Carolina quarterback Bryce Young threw for an abysmal 54 yards against the Seahawks, and Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield lost to a Dolphins team who had nothing to play for. Even though I picked the Panthers, it wouldn’t shock me if the Bucs won. I’ve said it before, when two bad teams play each other, nothing good happens and it makes for a terrible game. The even more disgusting thing is the winner of this actually gets to host a playoff game, but I’m expecting a first-round exit no matter what.
Last week: 2-1
Season overall: 33-18