The Cleveland Browns and Washington Commanders face off on Sunday, Jan. 1. The game will be live streamed on fuboTV (free trial).

After getting into the thick of the playoff race, the Washington Commanders’ three-game winless skid put them in what seems like a straightforward position.

Washington’s situation is more precarious than simple with the Cleveland Browns up next at home Sunday. The Commanders control their path to a playoff spot — beat the Browns and Dallas Cowboys and they’re in — but they could also clinch or be eliminated as soon as this weekend.

With that in mind, coach Ron Rivera turned back to Carson Wentz as his starting quarterback, believing the veteran with the strong arm gives his team a better chance to reach the postseason than Taylor Heinicke.

Cleveland is out of contention, but Carson Wentz — who lost the final two games last year with Indianapolis in a similar situation — is not underestimating the Browns.

The Commanders would clinch an NFC wild-card spot with a win and losses by Seattle (against the New York Jets), Detroit (against Chicago) and Green Bay (against Minnesota). They’d be eliminated with a loss and wins by just the Lions and Packers, who face off in Week 18.

Washington finishes the regular season against Dallas in a game that could range from each team having something to play for to neither needing it for anything. Taking care of business and beating Cleveland assures the Commanders would still be in the race by the Cowboys game.

When is Browns-Commanders?

The Commanders play the Browns at noon (1 p.m. ET) Sunday, Jan. 1.

Live stream options

FuboTV

The game will be live streamed on fuboTV, which offers a free trial. The most basic of plans is the “fubo standard” package, which comprises 121-plus channels for $69.99 per month. Like all cord-cutting alternatives, there are plenty of options, especially for sports. It comes with more than 1,000 hours of cloud-based DVR, and up to 10 screens at once.

Will it be televised?

The Browns and Commanders will be televised on Fox.

Preview

QB CHANGE: Switching from Wentz to Heinicke was a no-doubter to anyone paying attention to the Commanders’ last nine months. The front office gave up assets to acquire Wentz, who was the unquestioned starter before being hurt, and Rivera kept Heinicke in the starting job largely because he was the “hot hand.”

It would have been “asinine,” Rivera said, to go away from Heinicke while the team was 5-1 over six games and Wentz was healthy. Two turnovers late in the 49ers game and Wentz’s solid performance in relief were enough to change the tide.

“Taylor has been playing really good football,” tight end Logan Thomas said. “In the last two weeks we took two losses, but he didn’t play terrible. Had some turnovers, but that’s not all his fault. … Because Carson was the Week 1 starter, he was kind of the guy that was always running the show, so it was kind of expected if things were to go the way they did.”

BROWNS AND FROWNS: Despite a star-laden roster and high expectations, the Browns missed the playoffs for a second consecutive year. Obviously, Watson’s lengthy suspension was a major impediment, but the Browns were disappointed they didn’t do more.

“We had our chances, and we didn’t make the most of it,” Pro Bowl running back Nick Chubb said. “And here we are. We are who we are.”

There was some progress — just not enough for a team that went 8-9 last season and might not even get there again.

“Super disappointing,” cornerback Greg Newsome III said. “On paper, we have a very, very talented roster, but we obviously we weren’t able to put everything together this season for the second straight year.”

COMMANDERS’ D LETDOWN: Washington’s defense allowed a season-high 37 points in the loss at San Francisco last week, and the 49ers’ 371 yards were the most the unit had given up since Week 6. Rivera blamed the performance on giving up big plays, and it hurt that safety Kam Curl was out with an ankle injury.

Curl expects to be back to face the Browns and is confident about what he and his teammates can do to bounce back.

“Just play defense how we play defense,” he said. “If we go out there and play our game, play with our hearts out, I feel like we can do what we’ve got to do to win the game.”

RUNNING AMOK: Cleveland’s rushing defense has been sketchy all season, and the Browns’ inability to fix it has fallen on defensive coordinator Joe Woods, whose future appears in doubt.

The Browns have allowed at least 150 yards rushing eight times in the past 12 games.

“Teams start running the ball on us, and we get a high, high number of runs per game,” Woods said. “We just didn’t do a good job.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.