The NFL is giving fans a present on Christmas, with two high-profile matchups between AFC contenders with a lot of playoff implications.
The Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers play at 1 p.m. ET, and the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans play at 4:30 p.m. ET, with both games streaming exclusively on Netflix.
After many had streaming issues during the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight in November, Netflix is under a lot of pressure to ensure their viewers don’t have any issues watching the games.
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One Netflix subscriber even filed a lawsuit against Netflix for “breach of contract” because of constant glitches during the fight, per TMZ.
This will be the first time an NFL game has been streamed exclusively on Netflix, and no matter how the viewing experience is for fans on Wednesday, it won’t be the last game they see on the streaming service.
The NFL and Netflix announced in May that they agreed to a three-year deal where the streaming service will broadcast at least one Christmas Day game over the life of the deal.
Brandon Riegg, Netflix’s vice president of nonfiction series and sports, said the company learned from what went wrong in the Tyson-Paul fight.
“The sheer tonnage of people that came to watch was incredible. And for all the testing that the engineering team had done ahead of that, and I think they’re the best in the business, the only way to test something of that magnitude is to have something of that magnitude,” Riegg said.
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“We never want to have technical issues or a disappointing experience for our members. There was a subset of people that were watching that struggled with that and we acknowledge that. The good news is they stress-tested the system to such a degree that there’s a lot of these fixes and improvements that they realized that they could make, and they’re applying all that stuff.”
Netflix’s first test will be a showdown between the Chiefs (14-1) and Steelers (10-5).
The Chiefs have already secured their ninth consecutive AFC West title and are now playing for the No. 1 seed in the AFC, which would grant them the all-important bye week.
If the Chiefs were to win on Wednesday, they would have the No. 1 seed locked up before Week 18, giving head coach Andy Reid a chance to rest his starters during the final week of the regular season.
The Chiefs are coming off a 27-19 win over the Texans on Saturday, where quarterback Patrick Mahomes played well. The star quarterback threw for 260 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 33 yards and a touchdown despite playing through an ankle sprain.
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The Steelers, on the other hand, are coming off a tough 34-17 loss against their arch-rival Ravens on Saturday.
It looked like the Steelers were going to have a chance to come back after safety Minkah Fitzpatrick intercepted Lamar Jackson down 24-17 in the fourth quarter.
However, Ravens’ cornerback Marlon Humphrey thwarted any chance of a Steelers’ comeback with a Pick Six off Russell Wilson on the ensuing drive, putting the Ravens up 31-17 and effectively sealing the win.
The Steelers’ defense had a tough time handling running back Derrick Henry, who ran the ball 24 times for 162 yards in the win for Baltimore.
For the Steelers, their game against the Chiefs is crucial to winning the AFC North. Pittsburgh has already clinched a playoff spot, but their loss on Saturday was a big blow to their chances of winning the division, as the Ravens are also 10-5.
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Some good news for the Steelers is that wide receiver George Pickens has a “real chance” to play against the Chiefs, coach Mike Tomlin said on Sunday.
Pickens has missed the last three games, and he’s been sorely missed. In the three games without Pickens, the Steelers are averaging just 248.3 yards per game, almost 77 yards less than their season average of 324.9.
As big a blow as the loss was for the Steelers on Saturday, the Ravens win over Pittsburgh was just as big a boost for them.
The Ravens played well on Saturday, outgaining the Steelers 418-315 in terms of yards, with 220 of those yards coming on the ground.
Jackson threw three touchdowns in the win, and will have a chance to make his MVP case with the whole world watching on Wednesday.
The Ravens quarterback is having another fantastic year, as Jackson and Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen are considered the two favorites for the award.
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A win for the Ravens on Christmas would go a long way in their race against the Steelers for the AFC North crown.
The Ravens (10-5) are taking on the Texans (9-6) in the second part of the NFL’s Christmas doubleheader on Netflix.
They are taking on a Texans team that just lost to the Chiefs. In addition to the loss, the Texans also lost second-year wide receiver Tank Dell for the season after he suffered a gruesome leg injury while catching a touchdown in the loss.
The Texans also lost wide receiver Stefon Diggs for the season after the star receiver tore his ACL, leaving what was once a strong wide receiving corps now thin.
A win over the Ravens on Christmas for the Texans would not only clinch them a playoff spot, but also the AFC South title and a home playoff game.
The Texans-Ravens matchup will also come with a special halftime performance by Beyoncé.
All four of the teams playing on Wednesday are playing their third game in 11 days.
With so many playoff implications, and a big halftime performance, Netflix will be under a lot of pressure from NFL fans and the “BeyHive” to make sure things go off without a hitch.
Fox News’ Jackson Thompson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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