We’ve reached the final week of the regular season, and the playoffs are within view. There’s usually a lot up in the air heading into any given playoffs, but rarely has there been more in question heading into the NFL season finale. As I write this, we don’t even know if the entire NFL schedule will be completed.

Monday night’s game between the Buffalo Bills & Cincinnati Bengals was one of the most anticipated regular season games in recent memory. Bengals fans had been looking forward to it since the schedule came out, and the teams’ successes throughout the season only made the hype greater. Cincinnati was hyped up, it felt like a playoff atmosphere and it seemed we were in store for a classic Monday night game.

What we got was one of the scariest moments in NFL history. After completing a tackle on Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins late in the first quarter, Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field. We later learned that he had suffered cardiac arrest. The game was temporarily suspended before ultimately being postponed. Criticisms of how the NFL handled the process of the game postponement aside, the medical team has to be commended for their quick action & procedures that gave Damar a chance.

Fortunately, as I write this, Damar’s recovery seems to be going well. He remains in crticial condition, but is apparently awake and has shown remarkable improvement. The NFL community has shown great support to Damar, donating millions of dollars to his foundation’s toy drive for needy children. Monday night was a scary moment, but on Thursday afternoon things seem to be looking up.

We head to Week 18.

Saturday, January 7

Kansas City (-9.5) at Las Vegas

The Chiefs getting ready to almost lose to the Raiders and Jarrett Stidham next week before pulling it out at the last minute and infuriating all of their fans: pic.twitter.com/MWUz1VqGRI

— Patrick Allen (@RPatrickAllen) January 1, 2023

While things are certainly up in the air concerning the #1 seed in the AFC, things haven’t really changed for the Chiefs. As a Raiders legend once said: Just win, baby. KC can’t control what the NFL decides, all they can do is get to 14 wins. Which should be easy enough to do against the Raiders, even if Las Vegas showed some fight last week. 9.5 is a high number though, and the Chiefs have had problems delivering the blowouts people expect from them lately. Look for the Raiders to sneak under the spread towards the end of the game.

Tennessee at Jacksonville (-6.5)

The Titans have now lost 6 straight games. The Jaguars had lost 5 straight earlier this season, and one of them will win the AFC South.

This will be the 4th instance in the Super Bowl era that a team lost 5 straight games within a season and still won their division. pic.twitter.com/v7wkBJRjqA

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 30, 2022

Who would have thought it’d come down to this in the AFC South? Before the season even started people tried to tell us the Colts would be better with Matty Ice leading the way. (LOL) Then it looked like the Titans would run away with the thing like they have been in recent years. After the Titans fell flat on their face, the Jags stepped things up and now they have all the momentum in the world. I, for one, would be shocked if the Jaguars didn’t pull this game out. Who would have thought a year ago when the Jags were still recovering from the Urban Meyer era that this would be a thing?

Sunday, January 8

NY Jets (-1) at Miami

#Jets HC Robert Saleh on trying to spoil the #Dolphins season and eliminate them from playoff contention:

“Would it be nice to have Mike McDaniel hanging out with me poolside in a couple weeks, damn right it would.”

— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) January 4, 2023

This won’t take place in the snow, but it could look like one of those snow games due to the lack of offense that will be on display. The Jets have the superior defense, so I’m liking their chances against Skylar Thompson or whoever else might play quarterback for the Dolphins this week that isn’t Tua Tagovailoa.

Cleveland at Pittsburgh (-2.5)

For the 30th straight year the Browns have played football, they have failed to finish a season with a better record than the Steelers. https://t.co/1Fy9yp75Fg

— Anthony Lima (@SportsBoyTony) January 2, 2023

We all know what’s going to happen here. In order for the Steelers go get into the playoffs, they need the Dolphins to lose to the Jets, the Patriots to lose to the Bills, and a victory over the Cleveland Browns. If I know one thing about the NFL, it’s that whatever the Steelers need to happen in order to get into the playoffs will always happen. Some franchises just have that lucky horseshoe up their ass, ya know what I mean? I see the Steelers doing pretty much what they did last year and getting blown out in the first round, but they will have a winning record and get into the playoffs like we said here weeks ago.

Houston at Indianapolis (-2.5)

The #Texans have 0 to gain winning on Sunday.

The #Colts are really bad and have 0 to gain winning on Sunday.

The game really might end 0-0

— Bears Nation (3-13) (@BearsNationCHI) January 4, 2023

The Texans need a loss here to get the #1 overall draft pick. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t be a problem since Houston’s team is quite abysmal. Thing is, they’re playing a Colts team that has mastered the art of finding ways to lose. And let’s be honest: as much as fans like to talk about teams needing to lose to ensure draft position, the players and coaches don’t think like that. It might not look like they’re trying to win sometimes, but they really are trying to do things they think will lead to victory. Even Jim Irsay thought he was doing something that would lead to victory when he fired Frank Reich and hired Jeff Saturday.

This is another one of these games I’d recommend having nothing to do with. Why? If you insist on being a degenerate, take the Texans. Even if they end up winning, it’ll probably be by 1 or 2 points since that’s kinda how the Colts’ season has gone.

Tampa Bay at Atlanta (-4)

Pretty thorough answer from Tom Brady on his @SIRIUSXM podcast about why he wants to play Sunday vs. Falcons even though Bucs’ playoff seeding is locked in: pic.twitter.com/iUplNFPVwq

— Greg Auman (@gregauman) January 3, 2023

Even if Tom Brady says the Bucs have everything to play for, it’d be shocking if their starters were out there for too long. The Falcons don’t have much to play for here, except for the future of rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder. A good showing here would be a good sign for him moving forward into 2023, and give the Falcons reason to believe he might be their guy. I’ll go with the Falcons since I don’t believe we’ll see Brady & his top weapons after the first half.

Carolina at New Orleans (-3.5)

Saints somehow winning in Philly and still being eliminated from the playoffs because the Panthers become the latest team to dominate the Bucs for 55 minutes and still find a way to lose is the most 2022 Saints thing ever.

— ⚜White Drew⚜ (@whodat2835) January 1, 2023

Both of these teams wound up in that murky middle this season. Carolina wasn’t good enough to win a bad division, and wasn’t bad enough to get a top draft pick. They should still wind up in the top 10, so they have that going for them. Meanwhile, the Saints have been flying under the radar on a three game winning streak, even defeating the Eagles last week. I like the Saints to end the season on a high note and give their fans a little bit of hope for next season. Philly gets their #1 draft pick anyway, so it’s not like they have that to tank for.

New England at Buffalo (-7)

Damar Hamlin opened his eyes last night and has been responsive, per @RapSheet

He's also been gripping the hands of those close to him pic.twitter.com/AvMxHZL2OG

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 5, 2023

If you think I’m going to be the guy heartless enough to pick against the Bills this week…well, you don’t know me by now and you’ll never never never know me.

Baltimore at Cincinnati (-7)

Ravens coach John Harbaugh: “We’d be excited to compete for the division title but that is beyond us.”

The Ravens are 1.5 games back of the Bengals. Harbaugh said the league hasn’t told the league whether the team is still in contention for AFC North title.

— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) January 4, 2023

Ravens fans are up in arms over the fact that their team can’t mathematically win the AFC North if the Bills & Bengals don’t play their game at some point. I shouldn’t say that all Ravens fans are up in arms over this, as I’m sure most of them have a proper sense of perspective. It’s just the ones spouting off on the bird site that are convinced that Monday night’s game was postponed for the sole purpose of keeping the Ravens from winning the AFC North that need to get a grip.

Listen, if the Ravens don’t win the AFC North, it’s because they built very little of value around Lamar Jackson. That team’s offense is nothing without him, and will continue to be nothing without him if the front office is dumb enough to let him go. You’re not going to compete with the top teams in the AFC on a regular basis with Tyler Huntley at quarterback. I do think the Ravens will compete against the Bengals this week in Cincinnati, but they won’t be going far in the playoffs unless Jackson returns and isn’t rusty at all.

Minnesota (-7.5) at Chicago

Bears turn to the only man that can secure the #1 pick for them
pic.twitter.com/5xJh0aPckF

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) January 4, 2023

Minnesota sure gave their haters some ammo last week, didn’t they? People like me with open minds try to give them a chance, but every few weeks they’ll give the close-minded folks that refuse to think Kirk Cousins & company could ever do anything reason to keep their minds closed. They do tend to rebound well from these things, and I’d expect the same this week against a Bears team trotting out good ol’ Nathan Peterman. The Vikings should be able to help their NFC North rivals try and get the first pick in the draft.

LA Rams at Seattle (-6.5)

DK Metcalf, asked if Seahawks are motivated to ruin Bobby Wagner’s return to Seattle playing for the Rams by winning, makes it clear the Seahawks intend to win, period: “It’s going to be ruined, regardless.”

— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) January 4, 2023

The Seahawks need to win here, and need the Lions to either defeat or tie the Packers. There’s another scenario that involves three different ties happening, I don’t think we need to delve into that even though it’d be really funny if it happened. Seattle had been stumbling through a three game losing streak before getting off the schnide against the Jets last week. Another big win at home against the Rams seems feasible. It’s also important to note that Sunday Night Football gets a lot more interesting in the eyes of the NFL & the casual fan if the Seahawks win than if they lose.

NY Giants at Philadelphia (-14)

Assuming all of this is relevant, obviously.

Also it was silly that the Giants were mad about not winning the division with a 6-10 record.

— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) January 1, 2023

The Giants will be the six seed no matter what happens on Sunday, so they’re one of the few playoff teams with nothing to gain or lose this week. Given Saquon Barkley’s injury history and how lucky the Giants have been that he’s been mostly healthy this season, I can’t imagine them running him out there. I think the Eagles will win, but 14 points? It’s doable if Jalen Hurts starts like people say he will, but I could also see Hurts taking a seat when the Eagles have things well in hand. I think the Giants pull off one of those fun backdoor covers.

Arizona at San Francisco (-14)

Cardinals’ HC Kliff Kingsbury told reporters that QB David Blough will start Sunday’s regular-season finale vs. the San Francisco 49ers.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 4, 2023

Another huge spread here. Both teams are coming off of close games, with the Cardinals coming up short against the Falcons while the 49ers eeked out an overtime victory in Las Vegas. Pretty much sums up how their seasons have gone. The 49ers have won nine games in a row while the Cardinals have lost six straight. I expect both of these streaks to continue, but just like the last game I’m expecting one of those cover situations to happen. Take those Cardinals.

LA Chargers at Denver (-1.5)

Spread in Chargers-Broncos just flipped from Chargers -3 to Broncos -2.5… market expects Justin Herbert will sit.

— Jay Croucher (@croucherJD) January 4, 2023

At least once every week you’ll see one of these lines that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense on paper. The Chargers have won four straight and are in the playoffs while the Broncos have had a pretty dismal season. This seems to indicate that the Chargers will be resting Justin Herbert and the rest of their starters, as they can only be the 5 or 6 seed. I think that matters a little more than one might think, as surely the Chargers would prefer to be the 5 seed and play the AFC South champion than either the Bengals or Bills that would sit at the 3 seed. I’ll take the Chargers with the number at what it is on Thursday afternoon, maybe I’ll end up being wrong but if this was a regular week there’d be no doubt that the Chargers are the better team right now.

Dallas (-7) at Washington

The expectation about which QB would start for Washington shifted from Taylor Heinicke to Sam Howell late this morning, per sources. Heinicke, who had received indications that he was in line to start, believed Howell was deserving of a full game and relayed that to coaches.

— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) January 4, 2023

The Cowboys could end up as the #1 seed in the NFC if the Eagles were to lose to the Giants, and the 49ers were to lose or tie against the Cardinals. I don’t see either of those two things happening, but all of these games will be at the same time so the dream will still be alive. There’s a lot of confusion going on in Washington, which is nothing new. It’d be fun to see Sam Howell do big things here, but I think the Cowboys win in relatively easy fashion.

Detroit at Green Bay (-4.5)

#Lions HC Dan Campbell on potentially knowing they're eliminated before kickoff on Sunday night: "There's one objective and that's winning this game. It's us or it's nobody. … The intensity of this game will be like a playoff game."

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 4, 2023

There is zero doubt in my mind that the Packers are going to win this game and get that seventh seed in the NFC. We hoped against hope that we were rid of Aaron Rodgers and his nonsense, but we’re still stuck with him. At least until he chokes next week in the playoffs as he usually does. The Packers will win, but the Lions will be leading before Rodgers leads the Pack to victory in the final minutes. It’s the perfect way for the NFL season to end…at least in the eyes of Roger Goodell and NFL executives. That’s who we’re here to serve, right?

Week 17 Results: 8-7-1
Overall Results: 116-133-8