Week 15 Late Games Open Thread

Week 15 of the 2019 NFL season continues with five late afternoon games.

In perhaps the best of the late afternoon games, the 6-7 Dallas Cowboys host the 8-5 Los Angeles Rams. A talented but underperforming team, the Cowboys are in free fall, losers of four of their last five games. A brutal recent schedule in which the Cowboys have faced the Minnesota Vikings, the New England Patriots, the Buffalo Bills and the Chicago Bears has contributed to the Cowboys downfall. Once in command of the NFC East, the Cowboys have fallen into a tie with the Philadelphia Eagles atop the division at 6-7. Now the Cowboys face a surging Rams team which is suddenly within striking distance of a wild card berth that looked all but lost a few weeks ago. The Rams come into this game winners of five of their last seven games. They have returned to playing high level defense, allowing 20 points or less to seven of their last eight opponents. Now they face the top ranked offense in the NFL in passing yards and in total offense. This is an intriguing matchup which neither team can afford to lose in their struggles for a playoff berth in the brutal NFC.

Elsewhere in late afternoon games, the 3-9-1 Arizona Cardinals host the 6-7 Cleveland Browns in a clash of the last two number one overall picks in the NFL draft; the disappointing 5-8 Los Angeles Chargers play out the string against a 9-4 Minnesota Vikings team that needs a win to stay in control in the NFC wild card race; the 6-7 Oakland Raiders, a team in total disarray after briefly challenging for the AFC West lead, take on the 4-9 Jacksonville Jaguars, one of the most disappointing teams in the NFL; and another disappointing team, the 4-9 Atlanta Falcons, who have shown signs of life of late, battle the formidable 11-2 San Francisco 49ers, an early favorite to be the NFC representative in the Super Bowl.

Enjoy the games everybody. Use this thread to comment on whichever late afternoon games catch your fancy.