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NFL Saturday doubleheader: What to know for Bengals-Steelers, Bills-Chargers matchups

​​​​​​​View Date:2024-12-23 22:13:09

NFL fans are getting a full weekend of football in Week 16. 

Two games will be played on Saturday, the bulk of the NFL slate will play on Christmas Eve Sunday and three other games will be played on Christmas Day. 

The NFL doubleheader Saturday features another matchup of backup quarterbacks vying for playoff position in the AFC North and an AFC playoff hopeful looking to boost its postseason outlook in prime time. 

Here’s what to know about Saturday's games between the Cincinnati Bengals facing the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Buffalo Bills visiting the Los Angeles Chargers.

How to watch Saturday’s NFL games?

The Bengals and Steelers will kickoff Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

The Bills and Chargers will kickoff Saturday at 8 p.m. with the game broadcast exclusively on Peacock, NBC's streaming service.

Cincinnati Bengals (8-6) at Pittsburgh Steelers (7-7)

Cincinnati’s Jake Browning and Pittsburgh’s Mason Rudolph are the stars is this backup quarterback matchup featuring AFC North teams clinging to their postseason hopes.

The Bengals are on a three-game winning streak with Browning, starting in place of Joe Burrow, who is out of the season with a right wrist injury. Cincinnati has leapfrogged Pittsburgh for third place in the division standings, and has the No. 6 seed in the playoff mix entering Saturday’s game.

The Steelers, on the other hand, enter the contest on the outside looking in after losing their past three games. Rudolph will start his first game of the season after Mitch Trubisky started the last two games. Starter Kenny Pickett is recovering from ankle surgery.

But Pittsburgh’s problems are deeper than just its quarterback issue: Players have been exposed on social media for lack of effort, former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger criticized longtime coach Mike Tomlin saying, "Maybe the tradition of the Pittsburgh Steelers is done." And even ESPN analyst Ryan Clark, a former Steelers safety, said current players no longer care for "The Steeler Way."

Buffalo Bills (8-6) at Los Angeles Chargers (5-9)

Quarterback Josh Allen and the Bills, who fell to 5-5 last month, still have a real chance to make the playoffs – and even win the AFC East for the fourth consecutive season.

Quarterback Justin Herbert is done for the season with a broken finger, and the Chargers will play their first game without fired coach Brandon Staley after their 63-21 debacle against the Las Vegas Raiders during Week 15.

It’s unclear which Chargers team will show up. They have nothing to play for except pride, and they didn’t show much of it in their last outing. Allen and the Bills, on the other hand, have plenty to play for, and are coming off an impressive 31-10 win over the Dallas Cowboys last week.

The Bills finish the season at home against the New England Patriots on Dec. 31, and on the road against the Miami Dolphins during the first weekend of January, when the division could be on the line for both teams.

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