Two AFC matchups on Saturday.
In addition to a busy day of college football with the 12-team playoff, the NFL is set to have a pair of AFC matchups on Saturday before each team has a quick turnaround on Christmas Day.
Check down below to see Pats Pulpit’s picks tonight and head to the comment section to further discussion Saturday’s action.
Patriots rooting guide
Go good game! For those on draft pick watch: Texans loss will benefit New England’s strength of schedule, but a Chiefs loss could open the door for Buffalo to make a play for the No. 1 seed — perhaps playing their starters in Week 18. | 1:00 p.m. ET, NBC
Go good game! Ravens and Steelers feature two AFC playoff contenders — not impacting the Patriots. | 4:30 p.m. ET, FOX
Patriots picks
Oliver Thomas: C.J. Stroud has been sacked 45 times to the tune of 354 yards during his sophomore season. His interception rate has doubled since his rookie season. His first career visit to Arrowhead Stadium is now on deck. It doesn’t sound ideal. The Chiefs find themselves at 13-1, and with Patrick Mahomes practicing in full despite not finishing last weekend’s win due to an ankle injury. | Chiefs 24, Texans 17
I’m still thinking about the Steelers punting down 27-13 with 10:29 remaining and not getting the ball back last weekend. The Ravens have the ability to do the same as the Eagles did. And not just with warhorse Derrick Henry, but with No. 8. Lamar Jackson is coming off his second game of the campaign with five touchdowns and no picks. It’ll be tough for Russell Wilson to trade drives with that kind of efficiency. The last meeting between the AFC Northers wasn’t that kind of game, though. It was a 18-16 Mike Tomlin kind of win in Pittsburgh. | Steelers 25, Ravens 23
Brian Hines: Year 2 for C.J. Stroud has not gone to plan as the Texans offense has not looked right virtually all season long. They might not be able to count on a big Joe Mixon game either as the Chiefs feature one of the league’s top run defenses. The same could be said for the Chiefs offense and Patrick Mahomes, who is now dealing with an ankle injury. But, you know the drill: we don’t pick against Mahomes especially at home. | Chiefs 26, Texans 23
Throw out the record book when these two teams play. The division rivals always play each other close with their last nine matchups being one score games. We’d expect nothing different this week, but our trust lies in Lamar Jackson, who still is in the running for MVP, over Russell Wilson. | Ravens 27, Steelers 24
If you’re looking to make your own pick on the game, head over to FanDuel.