The NFL moves to Week 18 this coming weekend, which is not the first time the league has run a regular season that long, but it is the first time the league has had a 17-game regular season. In 1993, the league experimented with an 18-week season that gave each team two bye weeks, but that only lasted one week. Week 17 added some intrigue, as Cincinnati edged Kansas City, 34-31, moving Tennessee into the top seed in the AFC. Dallas lost at home to Arizona, making it much easier for Green Bay to clinch the top seed. In the AFC, five teams are alive for the last two playoff spots, and in the NFC, two teams are alive for the last spot, and the NFC West and AFC East titles (which come with a home playoff game in the wild card round) are still in play.
Check out our thoughts about which teams are the most likely NFL betting losers in the regular season finale.
NFL News: Sure Losers in Week 18
Indianapolis Colts (-15.5) at Jacksonville Jaguars
The Colts sit at 9-7 and would boost their playoff chances with a win in Jacksonville. The Jaguars, who lost 34-3 to Tennessee last week, are simply ready for this gauntlet of a season to be over. It is worth pointing out that Indianapolis has not beaten the Jaguars in Jacksonville since 2014, but this certainly looks like the year to end that streak. Expect Jonathan Taylor to run all over a dispirited Jaguars team, and expect Carson Wentz to bounce back from that disappointing Week 17 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Jaguars to lose (SU & ATS) : Bet the Game Today
Pittsburgh Steelers (+4.5) at Baltimore Ravens
Both teams are still technically alive for the postseason – and both sit at .500 at this point. Cleveland visits Pittsburgh tonight, which could send the Steelers to 7-8-1 – and out of the playoffs. If the Steelers win, though, this game becomes more interesting. The Ravens lost a gut-punch game last week, falling to the Rams in the waning minutes, 20-19, which dropped the Ravens to 8-8. If Cleveland cannot play the spoiler, which team would win? Both of these offenses seem to have fallen off the table, as Big Ben seems ready to retire – and neither Lamar Jackson nor Tyler Huntley seem to be able to lead the team down the field thanks to the absence of quality receiving targets. The Ravens are the better team on paper, and I think they eke out this win – but I’m not sure they can win by more than four.
Steelers to lose (SU) / Ravens to lose (ATS) : Bet the Game Today
Tennessee Titans (-10.5) at Houston Texans
Houston won the first round in this divisional rivalry this season, picking up the shocking upset at Tennessee earlier this season. The Titans have the top seed in the AFC – and the first-round bye – in their grasp, and they could get Derrick Henry back for the playoffs, if not Week 18. We saw a focused Titans team roll right over Miami in Week 17, and they most certainly have the motivation here, not just to avenge the loss earlier in this season but to nail down that seed.
Texans to lose (SU & ATS) : Bet the Game Today
Seattle Seahawks (+6.5) at Arizona Cardinals
The Seattle Seahawks just put up 51 points in a game last week. Of course, that came against the Detroit Lions, but the Arizona Cardinals, after starting 7-0, have gone just 4-5, including a blowout loss to those same Lions and an ugly win over a Dallas team that cannot score against even mid-level defenses in their last game. Seattle no longer has anything to play for, having been eliminated from postseason competition, and the chance to play the spoiler has to be a tantalizing one. Give me maximum effort from the Seahawks – and grimacing from Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray.
Cardinals to lose (ATS) : Bet the Game Today
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