I've been working in the realm of sports my entire career, starting as a breaking news writer right out of Arizona State University. After three years of writing, I jumped to the business side of the industry as a senior research analyst for two major corporations. I'm now combining both of these experiences together to come up with some great content for you to enjoy at Forbes. The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. It all gets started in the late afternoon, when the Pittsburgh Steelers travel to take on the Houston Texans, before concluding with a Monday Night Football matchup between the host Philadelphia Eagles and visiting Oakland Raiders. Only the Steelers and Eagles have something to play for at this juncture, as each team is still in the running for not only a first-round bye, but also home field advantage until the Super Bowl. The club is in no danger of falling below the second seed even if it loses to Oakland tonight, but is still expected to go all out as a 10-point favorite to pick up the victory and the right to host two conference playoff games. Pittsburgh fans are hoping their club lives up to expectations and locks up a week off by emerging victorious as nine-point chalk over the long-eliminated Texans. Both games appear on paper to be lopsided, but as we saw numerous times this week, upsets are bound to happen. Jon Price of has taken this into account when coming up with his picks this week. You go through their film, obviously, Ben Roethlisberger — Hall of Fame quarterback, great player. The 29-year-old is expected to miss not only the remainder of the regular season, but also would not be ready in time for the Wild Card round if the Steelers do not secure a bye, a goal the club can accomplish by simply winning today. The Texans have finally returned a number of key contributors to a slumping secondary—getting fully healthy in time for any nfl games on christmas day matchup—which means Bell will likely have his number called early and often. The home team will be trotting T. Yates out under center, the journeyman career backup who is now in his third stint with the Texans since being drafted by the club in 2011. Yates has had some big moments for the franchise; including starting and winning a postseason game in his rookie campaign, but is not having a great year in 2017. The third-stringer has completed a mere 26-of-57 passes for 303 yards and three touchdowns against one interception in two outings, both double-digit losses. Yeah, throw it to him. Pittsburgh ranks as the No. The one area where the Steelers have been even remotely vulnerable is on the ground, where they give up over 100 yards per game on average. You can throw those numbers out the window, however, especially with the way things have been going leading up to this game. Pittsburgh may have lost its last outing, but it was in the most controversial fashion. The Texans, on the other hand, are coming into this one having lost four straight and seven of their last eight. Yates as their only serviceable option under center. Oakland was on life support going into Week 16, having less than 1% chance to make it in and needed everything to go right on Sunday to have a chance. Backup signal-caller Nick Foles threw for 237 yards and four touchdowns against the G-Men in his first start for this franchise since 2014, enough to help lift his squad over a foe that managed to score a season-high amount of points with nothing any nfl games on christmas day play for. Raiders fans remember Foles well, as his last game against Oakland was one they would like to forget.
