NFL Week 17 Predictions: Seedy Edition

How time can move both fast and slow
Amazes me

On the one hand, it doesn’t feel that long ago when the Falcons blew it in the red zone in Philadelphia to start the season, yet here we are for Week 17. On the other hand, Ryan Fitzpatrick was a top MVP candidate in September, and that does feel like eons ago. We also knew that would never sustain in Tampa Bay, but the offensive wizardry of Patrick Mahomes has gone on all year for the Chiefs. He should be a lock for MVP and first-team All-Pro quarterback, but I’m not getting into that right now.

We still have 16 games to wrap up on Sunday with plenty of playoff seeds still up for grabs. Drama will have to come in the form of just a few games though. Can the Browns cap off Baker Mayfield’s rookie season in the best way by eliminating the Ravens in Week 17? Crazier things have happened there, and this would get Pittsburgh in this time. There’s the Titans-Colts play-in game on Sunday night. The Raiders could pull off the upset of the year if Jon Gruden can get a win in Arrowhead, but I think Mahomes hits 50 TD passes in an easy win there.

On a lesser note, we’ll see if Houston and Chicago can leapfrog the Patriots and Rams for No. 2 seeds, but I wouldn’t hold my breath there. The Bears are interesting though, because they can knock out the Vikings if the Eagles beat the Redskins (I expect that part). If you assume the Rams are likely to take care of the 49ers to get the No. 2 seed, do the Bears just half-ass their effort to get the Vikings at home in a third matchup next week? That gets the Eagles out of the picture, which might be a good thing now that they’re getting hot with the right quarterback behind center. It also wouldn’t shock me if Kirk Cousins did something horrific in this one and blew it, but I’m just not sure what kind of effort the Bears are looking to give Sunday. You’re likely going to have to beat the Rams and Saints either way, and I actually think they’re more than capable of winning in LA. I just think Vikings would be a preferable opening game to Philadelphia, and they could rest key starters in the second half on Sunday.

As for the Colts-Titans game, nothing would surprise me at this point given the nature of the Titans. They can play great as they did in wins over NE/DAL, or they could lose to the Bills and nearly blow it at home to the Jets. The Colts aren’t as good on the road while the Titans play better at home. Andrew Luck doesn’t play his best ball against the Titans, but he is 10-0 against them, so he always finds a way to get it done. Derrick Henry has gone off the last three weeks, but he averaged 39.5 rushing yards per game over the first 12 weeks, and the Colts are No. 5 in rushing DVOA defense. This is more on Marcus Mariota to step up with a limited offense in a game I’d have to imagine will be close despite the 38-10 rout last time. I think Jurrell Casey is another big loss for the Titans and Luck has been hard to get pressure on this season with an improved OL, so that really benefits Indy too. So I’m cautiously backing the Colts here on the road to get the last playoff spot, but I also could just as easily see writing about how a tie for Pittsburgh and Indianapolis passing on a tie with Houston cost them in the end in 2018.

NFL Week 17 Predictions

I’m definitely not a fan of predicting Week 17 when you don’t know what kind of effort teams will be giving. Dallas is a good example as the Cowboys are locked into the No. 4 seed. There’s no way they’re a 6-point underdog to the Giants under normal circumstances. Then you have to factor in things like Blake Bortles getting his starting job back and possibly playing for his career in Jacksonville in the Houston game. Could be a similar situation for Ryan Tannehill in Miami and Jameis Winston in Tampa Bay. Boy, gotta love Florida. Backup quarterbacks in CAR-NO too, though I’m interested to see how Teddy Bridgewater does. And no, him struggling doesn’t strengthen Drew Brees’ MVP case in a game the Saints really don’t care about.

I need to do better than 10-6 ATS to break .500 in my first year of doing that every week, though I’d still be disappointed with the results. I’ll have to look during the offseason where I went wrong some weeks, but I know it was some boneheaded moves at times when I should have known better. Things like picking the Dolphins ATS vs. Minnesota when I know they’re a win close, lose big team. At least I was 11-4 ATS picking Steelers games, and Week 15 NE was a default pick by me of course.