Jayden Daniels-Kirk Cousins showdown gets taken up a notch thanks to NFL's latest decision
Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn is adamant about staying the course and never looking ahead, but it's nearly impossible to do that heading into the team's Week 16 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.That's because former Pro Bowl quarterback Kirk Cousins returns to Landover to face his former team as the leader of the Atlanta […]
Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn is adamant about staying the course and never looking ahead, but it's nearly impossible to do that heading into the team's Week 16 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.
That's because former Pro Bowl quarterback Kirk Cousins returns to Landover to face his former team as the leader of the Atlanta Falcons. It's already a big enough game, especially when looking at the current NFC playoff picture, but the NFL just took it up a notch with its decision to flex the game to Sunday Night Football. It was initially labeled as "TBD" when the 2024 schedule came out and it'll replace the previously-scheduled Browns-Dolphins game for obvious reasons. Cleveland-Miami will move to the 4:05 p.m. ET slot.
The news was originally broken by the X account, @NerdingonNFL and was later confirmed by ESPN's Adam Schefter. The X account figured it out by logging onto the NFL's media website, NFLGSIS, where it displayed the change.
This game could have major playoff ramifications for both the Commanders and the Falcons
Again, we don't look too far ahead. But, if the Commanders lose to the Eagles this week and the Falcons beat the Giants, then this game will have major playoff ramifications for both teams. Right now, the Falcons are -9.5 home favorites against New York and the Commanders are +3.5 home underdogs to the Eagles, so it's completely feasible things shake out this way.
If that ends up being the case, then the Commanders would lose their hold on the seventh if the Falcons were to beat them. Washington would have the No. 7 seed even after an Eagles loss because the Seattle Seahawks are the only bubble team with six losses and the Commanders hold the conference game record tiebreaker over them. Both teams would be sitting at 9-7 after a Falcons win, which would give the Falcons the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Commanders.
Things are likely heading this way, which would make Cousins' return even more of a storyline than it already is. I'm sure Washington would love to nearly-cement its playoff status by beating its former signal-caller and of course, Cousins would love to beat his former team that never gave him a long-term deal while also pulling his Falcons team back into the playoff hunt.
The NFL is all about drama in December and we were all just given a big slice of it.
