Week 17 NFL early games open thread

I will be blunt and tell you that there just aren’t really any interesting games on the early slate. Falcons-Panthers and Cardinals-Seahawks are the only two games with significant NFC playoff implications, since they’ll determine who is the #6 seed in the conference, and both of those games don’t start until 4:25 p.m. You’re just watching to watch football right now, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

The only early game with remote relevance is Bears-Vikings, which pits the NFC’s presumptive #2 seed against a nettlesome John Fox squad that has yet to remove Mitch Trubisky from the bubble wrap. If the Bears win, it’s possible another team could leapfrog Minnesota for the third seed, potentially putting the Vikings on a collision course with either the Falcons or Seahawks next week. I’d say it’s pretty unlikely Chicago will win that game, but I guess you never know.

Enjoy the early slate. The Falcons are only hours away.