With just three weeks remaining in the NFL season, many teams are facing must-win situations to stay alive in the race for January football, while others have eyes on the first-overall pick. This Sunday, four teams have a chance to clinch playoff spots and Johnny Manziels Browns are facing a key matchup against the Bengals in the rookies first start. Manziel makes first start in must-win matchup The AFC North has emerged as the NFLs most competitive division – and only division with every team above .500. However, the Browns have dropped two straight games and are rapidly falling out of the playoff picture. Hoyer threw seven interceptions to zero touchdowns in his last three starts. He was replaced by Manziel in Week 13 before starting again last Sunday. To save their dwindling post-season hopes, and above .500 record, the Browns are turning to electrifying rookie Johnny Manziel at quarterback. The Browns, at 7-6, are desperate for a win and if Manziel cant deliver one, their playoff drought will be almost certain to continue. If the Bengals can leave Cleveland with a win, Cincinnati will stay atop the AFC North. A loss would open the door for the Steelers and Ravens to take the division lead. Ravens, Steelers look to keep pace in AFC North against sub-.500 teams The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers each sit a half game behind the Bengals in the AFC North, with the Steelers currently owning one of two AFC Wild Card spots. The Ravens play host to host to the 2-11 Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, a favourable matchup for the team especially considering the Jaguars put leading rusher Denard Robinson on IR this week. The Jaguars defence features a strong pass rush, but is also one that is susceptible to big plays against; having allowed 48 completions of 20 yards or more this season. With games against the Texans (7-6) and Browns remaining on the schedule, the Ravens need a win against the lowly Jaguars. If the Bengals and Steelers win their next two games, the two will meet in Pittsburgh to decide the division crown in Week 17. The Steelers face a tougher matchup in the NFC South-leading Atlanta Falcons. Despite their 5-8 record, the Falcons remain directly in the hunt to host a playoff game in January as a division winner. Coming off a narrow loss to the Green Bay Packers, in which they battled back with 30 second-half points, the Falcons will present a challenge to the Steelers. Pittsburgh has the playoff- hopeful Chiefs (7-6) and rival Bengals remaining on the schedule. Patriots, Broncos, Colts can punch playoff tickets with wins By the time Sunday night comes around, half of the six AFC playoff spots could be secured. Familiar Territory The Colts, Patriots and Broncos all won their respective divisions last season. The New England Patriots, Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts can all guarantee a return to the playoffs with wins against division foes this weekend. All three teams can clinch not just a playoff spot, but their respective divisions and at least one home game with a win. The Patriots are at home to the Miami Dolphins, while the Colts host the Houston Texans. The Broncos travel to play the San Diego Chargers. Panthers forced to turn Anderson to keep faint playoff hopes alive The Carolina Panthers are coming off their most convincing win since Week 2 against the Detroit Lions after routing the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. With the win, the Panthers jumped back into the playoff race, and were just another loss by the Saints away from controlling their own destiny. Anderson is making his second start in a season for the first time since 2010, when he was with the Arizona Cardinals. Yet, all the confidence the Panthers had mustered ahead of hosting the struggling Buccaneers came to a sudden halt on Tuesday when Cam Newton was involved in a car accident that caused the quarterback to suffer two back fractures. Newton, coming off his first three touchdown game of the season, will miss Sundays game due to the injury and backup Derek Anderson will start in his place. Anderson started the first game of the season for the Panthers – coincidentally against the Buccaneers - as Newton was sidelined by injuries. In his lone start, Anderson led the Panthers to a win and posted a 108.7 quarterback rating, a mark Newton topped for the first time this season against the Saints. First place in the NFC East on the line as Cowboys, Eagles meet again The Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles met just two weeks ago on Thanksgiving Day in America and the Eagles appeared to be the far superior team with a 33-10 victory. The Eagles were held to 139 yards of total offence against the Seahawks, the lowest mark ever for a Chip Kelly-led team at the college or pro level. The Cowboys rebounded from the loss with a convincing win over the Chicago Bears, while the Eagles saw their offence completely shut down by the Seattle Seahawks. Now, with the Cowboys entering on 10 days rest – as opposed to three the last time around – the game figures to much more competitive, if not completely opposite. This game should prove to be much more important for Dallas than the Eagles, who have the Giants and Redskins remaining on the schedule. The Cowboys, meanwhile, have an intimidating date with the Colts looming in Week 16. Notes Facing the Rush Led by Mario Williams, Marcel Dareus and Jerry Hughes (pictured), the Buffalo Wild Things have an NFL-high 48 sacks this season. The Green Bay Packers can clinch a playoff berth this weekend with a win over the Buffalo Bills and a Dallas Cowboys loss, along with clinching strength of victory tiebreaker over the Cowboys. However, after facing an almost non-existent pass rush against the Atlanta Falcons, the Packers offensive line will have their hands full against the Bills top-ranked pass rush. The Packers O-line has allowed 27 sacks this season, but just six over the past four games. Opposite Directions The Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers met in Week 13 as 7-4 teams with realistic playoff aspirations. The Seahawks won that first meeting handedly - 19-3 - shutting down the 49ers offence in the process. After dropping their contest against the Oakland Raiders in Week 14, the 49ers now sit well outside the playoff picture and loss this week could eliminate them January football for the first time since Jim Harbaugh took over as head coach in 2011. Pick Race Jake Locker will make his first start since Oct. 5 on Sunday, replacing the injured Zach Mettenberger. The New York Jets and Tennessee Titans both sit tied for last in the NFL at 2-11, a win for either club could eliminate them from the first-overall pick sweepstakes. A win this week could be costly in April. The current draft order for the top five picks is as follows: 1. Buccaneers 2. Titans 3. Jaguars 4. Jets 5. Raiders China Shoes Black Friday . -- Jose Bautista never worries about hitting homers during the regular season. Wholesale Shoes Black Friday Free Shipping . -- Billy Donovans bench came up big, bailing out top-seeded Florida in a tight game against what was supposed to be an overmatched opponent. https://www.cheapshoesblackfriday.com/.com) - The Milwaukee Bucks will try to get another win on this homestand Thursday night when they welcome the Utah Jazz to the Bradley Center. Shoes Black Friday Deals 2020 . - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going to meet with Richie Incognito to determine if one of the central figures in the Miami Dolphins bullying scandal can help their struggling offensive line. Buy Shoes Black Friday . They showered him with "MVP! MVP!" chants. In many ways, it seemed like hed never been gone.The new-look Minnesota Timberwolves will get their season underway Wednesday on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedEx Forum. Kevin Love will not be in a Minnesota uniform to kick off the season for the first time since he was drafted fifth overall in 2008. Love was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the offseason to team up with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. The Timberwolves never made it to the playoffs with Love as the cornerstone of the franchise and havent punched a postseason ticket since 2003-04. The Wolves landed the No. 1 picks in the last two drafts, Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett, for Love as well as veteran power forward Thaddeus Young from Philadelphia. Minnesota also drafted UCLA guard Zach LaVine to add to a core that includes Nikola Pekovic, Ricky Rubio, Kevin Martin and Corey Brewer. Martin was second on the team with 19.1 ppg behind Loves 26.1 ppg. Brewer still feels the Timberwolves are talented enough to move on without Love. I feel like we can still compete, Brewer said. I played on a Denver team that was the third seed and we didnt have a superstar at all. You dont have to have a superstar to be able to compete. There is plenty of upside and potential with this young nucleus of players, but it will take time to jell. Look for an estimated 20 to 25 wins for Minnesota in the return of head coach Flip Saunders. Saunders spent parts of 10 seasons from 1995-2005 as the Wolves coach and was let go at the start of the 2004-05 campaign. Saunders, though, returned to the Twin Cities in 2013 as president of basketball operations. He also took a minority ownership stake in the team and is replacing the retired Rick Adelman, who spent three seasons with the T- Wolves, who tried to make a run last season and ended with 40 wins. It was the fourth straight season the Wolves improved their previous years win total. We had enough veterans to jell the team, but there was just something that happened around February, Martin said. I couldnt put my hand on it but our team just went in a totally different direction. We dealt with a lot of off- the-court issues. The T-Wolves were third in the NBA in scoring last season with 106.9 points per game and allowed 104.3 ppg on defense. They were 3-20 when failing to score 100 points and it will prrobably get worse with Love gone.dddddddddddd. Minnesota, which ended the preseason with four straight wins, has won two straight and four of six season openers, but is 2-6 all-time when starting on the road. The Wolves will have a run of 13 straight season openers at home come to an end. The Grizzlies have struggled mightily on their first night, having lost 13 straight season openers dating back to 2000-01. The team resided in Vancouver at the time and moved to the Volunteer State the next season. Its surprising how poorly the Grizzlies have played in their lid-lifters, despite the amount of success theyve had in recent years. They made the postseason for a fourth straight time in 2013-14, when they went 50-32 and recorded at least that many wins for a second year in a row. Memphis lost to Oklahoma City in seven games in the first round and is hoping year No. 2 under David Joerger will bear more fruit. Joerger recorded the best record of any of the 10 first-year NBA head coaches last season and preaches defense as evidenced by the 94.6 ppg clip -- best in the West. Joerger put his teams chances for another playoff run in perspective. I dont think theres high expectations for this team. Were the team nobodys talking about nationally, he said. Theres really good teams in the West. Well, the Grizzlies are pretty good, too. They have a strong bunch of players in Zach Randolph, Mike Conley, Marc Gasol, and newcomer, veteran Vince Carter. Randolph and Gasol give Memphis a formidable frontcourt duo and the former posted 47 double-doubles in 2013-14. We have good depth and good experience, said Joerger. Randolph averaged 17.4 points and 10.1 rebounds -- both team highs -- and Conley posted a career-high 17.2 ppg. Gasol was third with 14.6 ppg and second with 7.2 rpg despite missing time because of a knee injury. Gasol had 18.0 points and 9.3 rebounds in April. Carter will most likely pass Robert Parish and Charles Barkley on the NBAs all-time scoring list (23,190). Parish had 23,334 and Barkley posted 23,757. The Grizzlies and T-Wolves split four meetings last season, but Memphis has won 16 of the previous 19 matchups. The two teams will meet again in January, March and April. Minnesota has lost 15 of the past 19 games on Beale Street. ' ' '