The last week of the NFL regular season is here! The last wildcard spot in the AFC is up for grabs from 8:25am as the Titans and Steelers try to beat divisional opponents. But the highlight of Week 17 will be the NFC West battle between the 49ers and Seahawks in Seattle.
NFL Week 17 Betting Tips
Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans (Monday 8.25am AEDT)
The equation for Tennessee is very simple, beat the Texans and they’ll secure the #6 seed in the AFC playoffs. They can also make the playoffs with a Steelers loss but I’d say they would really like to enter the playoffs with winning form. Last week against the Saints, they basically rested top RB Derrick Henry so he’ll be fired up for a huge game on the ground here. The Titans did lead 14-0 against the Saints but fell away in the 3rd quarter with 3 TD’s conceded in the 38-28 loss. But Tannehill continued his impressive season with 3 TD passes and Tajae Sharpe caught 2 of 3 in the endzone. Houston gives up plenty of passing yards per game (30th in the NFL) so they’ll look to establish the run early with Henry to set up play-action later on.
Houston secured their 4th AFC South title in 5 years with a 23-20 victory over the Bucs last week. The offence did struggle to move the chains but the defence really stepped up. They picked Winston on 4 occasions and one resulted in a defensive touchdown by Bradley Roby. Texans RB Carlos Hyde couldn’t get going last week but he’s coming off a 104-yard day against the Titans a few weeks ago and running the ball well should be the key factor for the Texans having success against the Titans average pass defence. WR Will Fuller is out for this clash and that will see Hopkins taking on more double coverage.
The Texans as underdogs at home just doesn’t feel right and there’s not much chance they’ll rest players with a #3 seed still possible. They beat the Titans 24-21 recently in Nashville and we feel this will be a close and high scoring affair between two divisional rivals. For the Titans, the Over has an 8-1 record in their last 9 games and they’re coming off a 38-28 result. Over has also saluted in 7 of the last 8 meetings at this venue.
Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens (Monday 8.25am AEDT)
Huge game for the Steelers as they must beat the Ravens in Baltimore and hope the Titans slip up in Houston. But Pittsburgh is coming off back to back losses against the Bills (17-10) and Jets (16-10). 2nd string QB Mason Rudolph is out for this clash so it’s up to Devlin Hodges to lead this offence. He threw 2 picks against the Jets last week and has totalled 6 interceptions in the last 2 weeks. So unless they can get a running game going with Conner, the Steelers are going to struggle even though the Ravens are resting starters.
The 13-2 Ravens have secured the #1 seed in the AFC so the playoffs will run through Baltimore. They’ll be resting a number of starters in this matchup, such as Lamar Jackson, Mark Ingram and Earl Thomas. So it’s all about getting through Week 17 without any injuries and enjoying a break before a divisional playoff matchup. Robert Griffin III will take over for Jackson at QB and they’ll look to control the clock to keep the Steelers offence on the sidelines.
This one has Under written all over it. The Steelers offence is pretty awful to watch with a 3rd string QB and they’ve scored just 20 points in the last 2 weeks. The Under has a 6-1 record in their last 7 games against the AFC North and 22-4 as a road favourite. No Lamar Jackson for the Ravens sees their offence a whole lot weaker and they’ll just be happy to get through the game without any injuries.
San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks (Monday 12.20pm AEDT)
A huge 34-31 win over the Rams last week moved the 49ers record to 12-3 and they can secure the #1 seed in the NFC with a win over Seattle. It wasn’t Garoppolo best performance (2 picks & 6 sacks) but he came up big in a few 4th quarter throws on 3rd down. They did run the ball well with the trio of Mostert/Coleman/Samuel going over 100 rushing yards. Defensively, the 49ers have struggled a bit lately and they didn’t get much pressure on Goff last week. But they will get a favourable matchup against the Seahawks banged-up offensive line. So they’ll look to pressure Wilson before he moves out of the pocket.
After a disappointing 27-13 loss to the Cardinals at home last week, the pressure is on Seattle to stand up on their home turf and show they’re the real deal in the NFC. Injuries are really building up at the moment, such as Chris Carson’s season-ending hip injury. So they’ve brought back a familiar face in the backfield as Marshawn Lynch returns. He’ll probably be a bit underdone and this clash will be used to get his fitness up. The other factor for Seattle will be their run defence. Drake cashed in with 166 rushing yards and 2 scores last week. So the 49ers unpredictable backfield could pose a problem.
Massive game for both sides here and we feel this will be another close divisional matchup. The Seahawks will be hurting after last week but they should be confident of a rebound after beating the 49ers in San Fran earlier this season. Meanwhile, the 49ers have played in a number of close games lately and this figures to be a similar type of game. So have to like the either team bet.
Either Team by 7 or Less
$1.91
