NFL Week 17 is concluding. Our table of picks will be converted to a table of NFL Week 17 results below. In one of the major upsets for the week, the Arizona Cardinals claimed a win over the reeling Philadelphia Eagles -- in a game that Philly hosted.
NFL Week 17 Preview: Weekend Games
This will be the penultimate week in the NFL's regular season, which means it will be the second-last week. There are no byes any longer as they ended with the conclusion of Week 14. All NFL teams will be in action in Week 17 and the playoff implications promise to be immense for some games. Conversely, some games at this time of the season start to look pretty meaningless.
NFL Week 17 has an irregular schedule. There was the Thursday Night Football game, which is over. Following that the bulk of the games will be played on Sunday, as usual. But in Week 17 there is no Monday Night Football game. Furthermore, there is a game on Saturday, but just a single one.
NFL ducking competing with college football?
As for the reason why there is no Monday night game, it's surely because the NFL is ducking competing with the NCAA for TV ratings. It's almost time for final examinations in college football again. The National Semifinals and other key games will be played on Monday, January 1st and the NFL probably doesn't want to split the viewership with these games, which are popular with football fans.
NFL Week 17 Playoff Implications
As for powerhouse teams going head-to-head, the Detroit Lions at the Dallas Cowboys looks like a good game. This is the game that will be played on Saturday in NFL Week 17. Each of these teams believes that it is a contender for the Super Bowl, yet each has its share of critics. One will make a case for itself and one will suffer a setback.
Detroit has already clinched a playoff spot but they will be keen to make a case for as strong of a seed as possible. Meanwhile, Dallas can hold some hopes as to winning their division still. They are guaranteed at least a Wild Card entry into the post-season.
Miami at Baltimore is also a game that looks like it will be between powerhouse teams. Meanwhile, there are a lot of games between bubble teams. Have a look at our Top Ten NFL Power Rankings for Week 17 below to see which teams are in the thick of things.
NFL Week 17: Top Ten NFL Power Rankings
Our power rankings are immediately below. These are an assessment of what has been proven on the field. They are good food for thought for making predictions. However, they are not predictions in and of themselves. Rather the rankings reflect who has proven the most in completed games with an emphasis on the team's record, its spreads, the strength of the team's wins, and winning on the road helps more than winning at home.
The Baltimore Ravens are our new No. 1 team as they put up an optimal result in Week 16 -- beating the former top-ranked team in the NFL by a double-digit spread in a game where Baltimore was on the road. The rankings below do not include any results from Week 17, not even the Thursday night game.
- Baltimore Ravens (12-3): won on the road against San Francisco 33-19 in Week 16
- San Francisco 49ers (11-4): lost to Baltimore 33-19 in Week 16
- Miami Dolphins (11-4): beat the Dallas Cowboys 22-20 in Week 16
- Philadelphia Eagles (11-4): beat NYG 33-25 in Week 16
- Detroit Lions (11-4): beat Minnesota 30-24 in Week 16
- Dallas Cowboys (10-5): lost to Miami 22-20 in Week 16
- Cleveland Browns (10-5): beat the Houston Texans 36-22 in Week 16
- Buffalo Bills (9-6): beat the LA Chargers 24-22 in Week 16
- KC Chiefs (9-6): lost to the Las Vegas Raiders 20-14 in Week 16
- LA Rams (8-7): beat New Orleans 30-22 in Week 16
NFL Week 17 Predictions, Picks, and Betting Tips (All Games)
All odds throughout are from bet365 sportsbook.
| Game date | Away vs Home | The Pick (date of The Pick) |
| Thursday, December 28th, 2023 | New York Jets vs Cleveland Browns Opening spread: Browns -5.5 December 26th spread: Browns -7.0 Outcome: Browns 37, Jets 20 | Browns -7.0 (Dec 26) (Winner) |
| Saturday, December 30th, 2023 | Detroit Lions vs Dallas Cowboys Opening spread: Cowboys -5.5 Outcome: Cowboys 20, Lions 19 | Cowboys -5.5 (Dec 22) (Loser) |
| Sunday, December 31st, 2023 Early Set | Arizona Cardinals vs Philadelphia Eagles Opening spread: Eagles -10.0 December 28th spread: Eagles -11.5 Outcome: Cardinals 35, Eagles 31 | UNDER 48.0 (Dec 28) (Loser) |
| Sunday, December 31st, 2023 Early Set | Atlanta Falcons vs Chicago Bears Opening spread: Bears -3.0 Outcome: Falcons 37, Bears 17 | Falcons +3.0 (Dec 28) (Loser) |
| Sunday, December 31st, 2023 Early Set | Carolina Panthers vs Jacksonville Jaguars Opening spread: Jaguars -9.0 December 28 spread: Jags -6.0 Outcome: Jaguars 26, Panthers 0 | Jaguars -6.0 (Dec 28) (Winner) |
| Sunday, December 31st, 2023 Early Set | Los Angeles Rams vs New York Giants Opening spread: Rams -6.0 Outcome: Rams 26, Giants 25 | Rams -5.5 (Dec 28) (Loser) |
| Sunday, December 31st, 2023 Early Set | Las Vegas Raiders vs Indianapolis Colts Opening spread: Colts -3.0 Outcome: Colts 23, Raiders 20 | Raiders +3.5 (Dec 28) (Winner) |
| Sunday, December 31st, 2023 Early Set | Miami Dolphins vs Baltimore Ravens Opening spread: Ravens -3.0 Outcome: Ravens 56, Dolphins 19 | Ravens -3.0 (Dec 28) (Winner) |
| Sunday, December 31st, 2023 Early Set | New England Patriots vs Buffalo Bills Opening spread: Bills -13.5 Outcome: Patriots 21, Bills 27 | Bills -13.5 (Dec 22) (Loser) |
| Sunday, December 31st, 2023 Early Set | New Orleans Saints vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers Opening spread: Bucs -2.0 Outcome: Saints 23, Bucs 13 | Bucs -2.0 (Dec 22) (Loser) |
| Sunday, December 31st, 2023 Early Set | San Francisco 49ers vs Washington Commanders Opening spread: 49ers -13.5 Outcome: 49ers 27, Commanders 10 | UNDER 49.5 (Dec 30) (Winner) |
| Sunday, December 31st, 2023 Early Set | Tennessee Titans vs Houston Texans Opening spread: Texans -4.5 | OVER 44.0 (Dec 30) |
| Sunday, December 31st, 2023 Afternoon Set | Pittsburgh Steelers vs Seattle Seahawks Opening spread: Seahawks -3.5 | Steelers +4.0 (Dec 30) |
| Sunday, December 31st, 2023 Afternoon Set | Cincinnati Bengals vs Kansas City Chiefs Opening spread: Chiefs -7.5 December 26th spread: Chiefs -7.0 | Bengals +7.0 (Dec 26) |
| Sunday, December 31st, 2023 Afternoon Set | Los Angeles Chargers vs Denver Broncos Opening spread: Broncos -6.5 Dec 30 spread: -3.5 | Chargers +160 (Dec 30) |
| Sunday, December 31st, 2023 Sunday Night Football | Green Bay Packers vs Minnesota Vikings Opening spread: Vikings -2.0 | Vikings -115 (Dec 30) |
49ers vs Commanders: NFL Week 17
The San Francisco 49ers and the Washington Commanders will meet on Sunday. This is a game that bettors should be targeting for an UNDER bet for total points. The bar has been set at 49.5 but Washington has had plenty of games this season where their offense has sputtered. You would be expecting a below-average performance out of them against San Francisco's defense. Also, the 49ers won't be keen to run the score up. If they are winning big late, then they should be thinking about keeping their best players fresh for the upcoming playoffs instead of padding a big lead. Take UNDER 49.5 in this one and look for San Francisco to win at about 29-13.
Dolphins vs Ravens: NFL Week 17
Miami is 11-4 heading into NFL Week 17. However, they have not done well against the strong teams this season. The Dolphins hang their hats on at the at-the-buzzer win last week over the Dallas Cowboys. Otherwise, the team has losses to Buffalo, KC, and Philadelphia. The Dolphins are -49 against those three teams. That's a strong suggestion that they will lose to the Ravens in their upcoming game by more than a field goal. Take Baltimore to cover -3.0.
Cardinals vs Eagles: NFL Week 17
If you took our preseason tip to bet on the Carolina Panthers to finish bottom in the NFL this season, then you are pulling hard for Arizona in this game. The Cardinals have three wins while the Panthers have two. The Panthers were 18 to 1 to finish last in the standings before the season started so things are getting serious in this market at this point.
Philadelphia has been gross this season for posting big spreads. They also have not been scoring much lately. This one looks like it could be close but Kyler Murray is questionable for Arizona, which might bring Clayton Tune into the game. Bettors should be leaning on UNDER 48.0 points in this game, which looks really high.
Bengals vs Chiefs: NFL Week 17
Section written: December 26th, 2023
This is a game where you have to look at the standings. Firstly, the KC Chiefs are in a position where they need not be concerned with much at this point. The New York Times has them at 97% to make the playoffs and 98% to win their division while a first-round bye is practically out of reach. If the LV Raiders lose earlier in the day at the Colts, then KC's chances improve all the more.
Meanwhile, the 8-7 Cincinnati Bengals have to treat this game like a deathmatch. They can only be thinking about getting to 10-7 at this point. The Bengals at +7.0 is the bet to make, not only because KC has been disappointing this season but because there is a chance that the Chiefs slow down a little based on results from earlier games in the week.
Detroit Lions vs Dallas Cowboys: NFL Week 17
Note: this was an early-bird recommendation. This section was written on December 22nd, 2023.
The Detroit Lions seemed to have played better football near the start of the season. Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys are 7-0 in home games, heading into Week 16. Dallas is on the road in Week 16 so they won't be suffering a home loss no matter what. Chances are high that Dallas will cover -5.5 against Detroit. Dallas has posted enormous spreads at home in a lot of their games this season. In fact, they would be 7-0 if -5.5 was applied to home games. They are among our early-bird picks for NFL Week 17 accordingly.
Please return to this page in the days ahead for updates on the other games. Except for the early-bird picks, we usually wait for the injury reports to start coming out before we offer predictions.
Thursday Night Football NFL Week 17: Jets vs Browns
What's the difference between the Cleveland Browns and the New York Jets this season? After the Browns lost Nick Chubb and DeShaun Watson, the team still kept things together well enough to put them in position to make the upcoming NFL playoffs. The 10-5 Cleveland Browns will meet the 6-9 New York Jets in the Thursday Night Football game to start Week 17. Here's a look at the game's injury report.
As a Thursday game, the injury reports are updated on Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday. The first report was extremely long from Cleveland's perspective. The Browns listed 21 players on their half of the report, which makes it one of the longest injury reports of the season. It's loaded with key names: Joe Flacco, Amari Cooper, Jerome Ford, Kareem Hunt, David Njoku, and QB2 Dorian Thompson-Robinson are all on the report. Flacco and Ford were FP so there isn't anything to be overly concerned about with them. However, Cleveland looks banged up on paper.
The Jets have a shorter injury report. They list both Aaron Rodgers and Zach Wilson on it as DNPs on Monday. The team has already put to rest any notion of Rodgers playing this season. This is looking like it might be a Trevor Siemian game for the Jets, which could help redeem Cleveland's chances even if injury-riddled.
Bettors should expect decent offense out of Cleveland still. They were able to put up 36 points on the road last week against Houston, and the Texans were still playing meaningful football. Look for Myles Garrett to get to whatever QB the Jets have in place. The Browns will probably win this one by 14 to 17 points, making -7.0 a value bet for the game.
