NFL Christmas clunkers and NBA kryptonite, plus a holiday streaming guide

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Good morning! Today: We present a cornucopia of viewing options, and you can find all the latest sports news here.

While You Were Unwrapping: It was all a stream

When the NFL handed the Christmas streaming keys to Netflix and Prime last offseason, it initially looked like a must-watch crusade. Put on your August expectations hat and consider these teams: Dallas! Washington! Detroit! Minnesota! Denver! Kansas City! We refuse to apologize for the excessive exclamation points. Those six teams combined for 73 regular-season wins last year. This was gonna be a foolproof doozy.

Welp. Fast forward …

“Christmas Vacation” had roughly the same playoff tension yesterday. (Sh***** was full!) Of the six, Denver is the only team that will see meaningful January football, and the Broncos ran into the Zombie Chiefs last night, who started Chris Oladokun at QB. Entering the game, his profile: age 28, 11 career completed passes, waived four times. A quick recap:

• Dallas can finish .500 … with a tie! Even Jason Garrett can’t claim this level of mid. A win next week gets Dallas to a hallowed 8-8-1. Art. The Cowboys swamped Washington, also in third-string QB mode. Playoff implications? Nope!
• The Lions are officially out. Detroit, winner of 15 regular-season games in 2024, needed a win in Minnesota to keep its faint playoff hopes alive. Six turnovers later, we have an update … Playoff implications: Lions eliminated. Entered the game at 4 percent, exited at 0. The real winner? Green Bay. Playoff spot: 🔒

• Travis Kelce’s last home game? Maybe. Denver moved a step closer to the No. 1 seed in the AFC in a game where the Chiefs gained a whopping 139 yards. Total. Playoff implications: Not much. Chiefs were out. Broncos, at 13-3, aiming for that top seed.

Here is your updated NFL playoff picture. Meanwhile, the “race” for the No. 1 pick has four entrants. Something else we’re watching: Can Lamar Jackson play this week? We’ll see.

Elsewhere on Christmas …

A new NBA title contender emerges

Are the Spurs not just Western Conference contenders but (😮) title contenders? It sounds weird to say that out loud. Reminder: The Spurs won 34 games last season — but they do this thing where they just keep beating the Thunder. Suddenly, San Antonio is just 2 1/2 games behind Oklahoma City (26-5) in the West. Reasonable people are asking: Are the youthful (but tall) Spurs the NBA’s best team? 

There were several other interesting NBA results yesterday, including another Cavs meltdown. More on all of it right here.

What to Watch

Stu Forster / Getty Images

📺 EPL: Newcastle at Manchester United
3 p.m. ET on USA
Two proud clubs jockeying for spots in the top half of the Premier League table makes for a good match. I liked this story from earlier in the week on Man Utd youngster Shea Lacey, the budding boxer who’s become one of the team’s great hopes.

📺 NCAAF: New Mexico vs. Minnesota
4:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
Perfect day-after-Christmas watching here in the Rate Bowl, and this should be the best bowl game of the day.  The Golden Gophers are favored by 2.5 points. There are two other games today, too. See the full schedule.

📺 NBA: Sixers at Bulls
7:30 p.m. ET on Prime Video
Philadelphia is a solid playoff team, while the Bulls cling to a Play-In spot early in this year. I’m just curious to see if these teams will score 300 points.

Get tickets to games like these here.

Matchmaker: A holiday viewing personality test

Welcome to Garbage Time 2025, that liminal space between Christmas and New Year’s Day when you have nothing to do, which is all you ever wanted, and yet … you’re already bored. Every NFL game has “at least one awful team,” as our fantasy football analyst Jake Ciely told me, and there’s actually just … too much NBA??

What else can a sports fan — or a sports fan’s supportive family — watch!? As The Pulse’s pop culture correspondent, I (Hannah) am here for our second edition of What to Watch Matchmaker (sports-themed!).

What to watch if …

You need to get out of the house ➡️ “Marty Supreme.” Timothée Chalamet as a table tennis phenom is the only monoculture we have left, apart from detesting Lane Kiffin. (In theaters)

You’re the holiday host ➡️ “Taylor Swift: The End of an Era.” You’ve never seen a sports franchise — or holiday party — managed better than the Eras Tour. (Netflix)

You like a little spice in your eggnog ➡️ “Heated Rivalry” is the steamy, emotionally rich hockey romance you never knew you needed. It’s gone viral, but beware, it’s NOT for family viewing. (HBO Max)

You’re a “New Year, New Me” overachiever ➡️ “Starting 5” S2 drafted such an exceptional lineup, culminating in an NBA Finals faceoff, you might start dabbling in simulation theory. (Netflix)

You vibe with the Ghost of Christmas Past ➡️ “A Thousand Blows,” a historical drama in the grimy world of boxing and crime in 1880s London. Sports-adjacent “Peaky Blinders.” (Hulu)

You ❤️‍🔥 Hallmark ➡️ “Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story.” I asked our Buffalo Bills senior editor Cristina Ledra for a review: “A cute story with just enough intrigue and cameos from Bills players to make it a pleasant holiday watch.” (Hallmark+) ➡️ Alternative: “A Pickleball Christmas,” which is a movie that exists! (Lifetime)

Your mom loves Glen Powell ➡️ “Chad Powers,” a comedy about college football. Bonus: Read my interview with Powell about how he got QB-ready. (Hulu)

You love sports gossip more than sports ➡️ Vice’s “Out of Bounds: Bill Belichick & Jordon Hudson” doesn’t cover new ground, but for anyone who missed it, or is tired of explaining it to family, a nice primer with interviews from the hosts of “The Sports Gossip Show” and “Pablo Torre Finds out.” (YouTube)

You’re just waiting for America’s Pastime to be back in season. ➡️ “Alex vs. A-Rod” is a competent, if hagiographic, review of A-Rod’s complicated career. (HBO Max)

College football is your religion: Five days till the next CFP game…. ➡️ “5-Star” follows four top recruits in their first college season. (Paramount+) ➡️ Or: “The Money Game: LSU” (Prime Video)

You’re “on a break” from sports: May I suggest the best non-sports shows and movies of the year? My favorite film was “One Battle After Another,” and my favorite shows were “The Pitt” and “Task.”

• “Andor” (Disney+)
• “Task” (HBO Max)
• “Pluribus” (Apple TV)
• “Severance” (Apple TV)
• “Adolescence” (Netflix)
• “Stranger Things” Season 5 (Netflix)
• “The Lowdown” (Hulu)
• “One Battle After Another” (HBO Max)
• “Train Dreams” (Netflix)
• “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” (Netflix)
• “The Pitt” S1 before S2 on Jan. 8 (HBO Max)

Pulse Picks

It’s hard to make a name for yourself when Jason Kelce, Travis Kelce and even Taylor Swift are in your orbit. Yet Jake Chatzky, better known as “Jets Jake,” certainly has. I thought this was very fun.

Need a break from family? Take Tyler Kepner’s annual MLB trivia quiz.

Pierre LeBrun and Chris Johnston played NHL trade matchmaker this week ahead of the March 6 deadline. See their picks in Part 1.

Which women’s basketball figures deserved presents this year? What about the ones that deserved coal instead? Ben Pickman and Sabreena Merchant picked their lists.

📫 That’s all for now! Say hello at [email protected], and check out our other newsletters.