Week 15 of the 2015 NFL season wraps up on Monday evening as the New Orleans Saints host the Detroit Lions in a Monday Night Football matchup that will have some draft order implications. The game kicks off at 5:30 p.m. PT, and airs on ESPN. Jon Gruden, Mike Tirico, and Lisa Salters have the call. If you aren't in front of a television, you can watch the game via live stream on WatchESPN.
The Lions enter the game 4-9, while the Saints are 5-8. A Lions loss drops them into a tie with the 49ers, Cowboys, Ravens, and Chargers. A Lions win moves them into a tie with the Jaguars, Dolphins, Bears, and Saints. Here is how the draft order looks heading into this game:
1. Tennessee Titans (3-11) - .489
2. Cleveland Browns (3-11) - .536
3. San Diego Chargers (4-10) - .516
4. Baltimore Ravens (4-10) - .518
5. Dallas Cowboys (4-10) - .543
6. San Francisco 49ers (4-10) - .547
7. Detroit Lions (4-9) - .534
The 49ers and Lions square off in Week 16, so win or lose, next week is a big game for draft positioning. If the Lions beat the Saints, they improve to 5-9, the 49ers SOS increases to .549, and the Cowboys drops to .540 (Saints were on their schedule). If the Lions lose, they climb ahead of the 49ers due to strength of schedule, and so the 49ers would slip to No. 7. The 49ers SOS would be .545, which would be tied with the Dallas Cowboys. The Lions SOS would be .536. If two teams are tied in SOS, the next tiebreaker is a coin flip in the spring league meetings.
You can make a decent argument for rooting for either team in tonight's game. If you think the 49ers can win in Detroit next week, you probably root for Detroit to win to keep them a game back. If you think the 49ers likely lose in Detroit next week, I'd say you root for the Lions to lose to improve 49ers strength of schedule.
Find everything you need to know about tonight's game below. This will serve as the game thread tonight.
Monday, Dec. 21
Detroit Lions at New Orleans Saints
Start time: 5:30 PM PT
TV channel: ESPN
Announcers: Jon Gruden, Mike Tirico