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The Seattle Seahawks lost their first game in five weeks on Sunday Night Football and with that the lead of their division. They will be looking to instantly bounce back at home to a Minnesota Vikings team that has won seven games in a row and joined the Detroit Lions at the top of the NFC North and entire NFC at 12-2. We think that Sunday’s game may be a case of the Vikings looking ahead to their crucial end of season divisional games and slip up this week against a dangerous Seahawks team in Seattle.

In Week 15 the San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins both suffered devastating losses that, while did not mathematically eliminate them, made a path to a playoff spot extremely difficult with both teams two wins back from a playoff spot with only three games to play. Both of these teams struggled offensively in Week 15, with only one offensive touchdown. We expect the San Francisco 49ers, with the extra rest of playing on Thursday Night instead of Sunday, will be able to bounce back more emphatically and upset the Dolphins in Miami.

The Jacksonville Jaguars and Las Vegas Raiders have both been eliminated from the playoffs this year and their matchup on Sunday will only now be for pride and draft order. Both teams have been struggling offensively all year and even more so since both losing their starting quarterbacks to injury reserve for the season. Whilst Mac Jones and the Jaguars have shown some slight offensive spark, the Raiders offence has hit a complete wall, not scoring over 20 points in five gameweeks. We think the Jaguars will be able to outscore the Raiders in a low scoring affair in Las Vegas on Sunday.

Saturday sees one of the matchups of the season as the Pittsburgh Steelers travel to Baltimore to take on the Ravens. With a win the Steelers can all but seal the AFC North, but if the Ravens win then they will join the Steelers at the top of the division with only 2 weeks to go. We think the Ravens will win and in all but one of their wins this season they have scored at least 30 points, we expect this to happen again and for the Steelers to make up the rest of the match points.

Lamar Jackson has had another excellent season in the NFL this year, finding himself second favourite to take home a third MVP award. This season he has thrown the second most passing touchdowns (34) and the fifth most passing yards (3580) and has cleared this week’s passing line in all but one game this season when he has thrown more than 22 times. This game was the reverse fixture against the Steelers and we think he will get revenge this week and clear his passing line.

Najee Harris was having a solid rushing season this season, but on Sunday last week he met the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive line who completely swallowed him up and Harris could only manage 14 rushing yards. This week will be no easier for Najee Harris as he lines up against the Ravens defense who allow the least rushing yards per carry (3.5) and per game (80.7). We expect Harris’ struggles to continue again this week and for him not to clear his rushing line again this week.

Zay Flowers has by far been Baltimore’s leading receiver this season in terms of targets (101), receptions (66), and receiving yards (916). However, his receiving touchdown numbers haven’t been as impressive, with only four to his name. His last receiving touchdown in fact came back in week 11 against the Pittsburgh Steelers and we expect him to score another this week against the Steelers defense who have given up 7 receiving touchdowns over the past three games.

Third year tight end Trey McBride has really broken out this season, second only to Brock Bowers in targets (116), receptions (89), and receiving yards (938) amongst tight ends. Despite these impressive numbers McBride is still yet to secure himself a receiving touchdowns this year. This week he will be hoping to secure his first against the Carolina Panthers who have allowed the most receiving touchdowns in the NFL this season (27). We expect Trey McBride and the Arizona Cardinals offense to find a lot of success on Sunday in Carolina and McBride to finally get his first receiving touchdown of the season.

The Buffalo Bills were the first team in the NFL to lock up their division three weeks ago and since then the offense has not missed a beat, scoring 42 and 48 points against the Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions, respectively. In these two games third year wide receiver Khalil Shakir reaffirmed himself as Buffalo’s top receiver with a third quarter receiving touchdown in each. We expect Shakir to extend this receiving touchdown streak to three games in New England.

Second year running back De’Von Achane has been a threat in both aspects of the Miami Dolphins’ offense this season. He leads the team in terms of rushing touchdowns (4) and receiving touchdowns (6). This week he faces the San Francisco 49ers in a must win game for both teams and their defense which has struggled in comparison to previous seasons. Only the Dallas Cowboys have allowed more rushing touchdowns than the 49ers this season. We expect Achane to capitalize on this in the run game or through his use in the pass game.

The line for this game has been moving back and forth all week with updates on Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ injuries. It looks like he will be ready to go and play on Saturday at home against the Houston Texans. The Texans have won two straight over the past two weeks to stop their mid-season slide that was taking them from contention of the AFC number one seed back to fighting just for their division lead. However, with their win last week they have secured the AFC South crown again and will now be looking to gain momentum before the playoffs. Houston will be looking to their pass rush, which has the second most sacks in the NFL (45), to cause chaos for an already hobbled Mahomes. We expect the Texans to cause problems for a shaky Kansas City offensive line, and when Mahomes is sacked more than three times the Chiefs have only won by over 3 points once in regulation. We expect this trend to continue and for the Texans to cover the spread on Saturday.

After losing to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday the Detroit Lions now sit at 12-2 along with the Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles at the top of the NFC. With only three weeks to play, each game becomes a must win in order for the Lions now to secure the number one seed. In the first game of the remaining three the Lions will face divisional rivals Chicago Bears, whose eight game losing streak have plummeted them out of playoff contention. Although the losing streak has spoiled their season, Bears’ fans can take pride in the recent turn of form for Caleb Williams, who could’ve taken the Lions to overtime in the reverse fixture if not for some poor clock management. Williams was able to throw for over 250 passing yards and three touchdowns in this game and now the Lions’ defense has suffered even more defensive injuries, five players already added to IR just this month. With the Lions’ defense reeling, conceding 39.5 points per game since last playing the Bears, we expect Caleb Williams to impress again this week and be able to help the Bears upset the Lions in Chicago.

The Washington Commanders have been one of the surprise packages this season, going from bottom of the NFC East to being able to secure a playoff spot this week if they can defeat the Philadelphia Eagles at home and certain results go their way. The Commanders’ success has been tied to their rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels hitting the ground running in the NFL, so much so that he is the favorite for the offensive rookie of the year. The reverse fixture for this matchup back in Week 11 was one of Daniels’ worst games of the season, only just clearing 200 total yards including passing and rushing. Since this game Daniels has generated 9 total touchdowns across three games to help his team breakaway from the wildcard group. This week we expect Jayden Daniels to do enough offensively to keep the Commanders within touching distance of the Philadelphia Eagles in a close low scoring game. We’re taking the Commanders to cover the spread at home this week.

In April 2023 the Carolina Panthers traded a haul of their future to move up and draft quarterback Bryce Young out of Alabama. Young’s rookie season didn’t live up to expectations throwing for an average of less than 180 passing yards a game and this season started off the same way culminating in Young heading to Carolina’s bench in Week 3. Six weeks later Young got his job back and since the bye week has looked revitalized. Bryce Young’s play has helped the Panthers take three divisional leaders to a close game only decided by one score. In the four games since the bye week, Young has averaged 243 yards per game and two of his three career best passing games have come in this stretch. The Arizona Cardinals, their opponent this week, have allowed the second highest completion percentage for opposition quarterbacks and with five defensive starters on the injury report this week, we expect Bryce Young to punish the Cardinals and clear his short passing line this week.