Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! In all the hustle and bustle of these next two weeks, getting from family gathering to family gathering, don’t forget to lock in those Week 17 NFL confidence pool picks. It’s crunch time and your last shot to work your way to the top spot, or secure the season-long victory. We’ve got a full three-game Christmas slate, games on Saturday again, followed by your traditional Sunday games and Monday Night Football.
Thursday starts with the Dallas Cowboys at the Washington Commanders. The Detroit Lions head to Minnesota to face the Vikings. While the nightcap features the Denver Broncos at the Kansas City Chiefs. Saturday includes what should be two great games as the Houston Texans head to Los Angeles to face the Chargers at SoFi. With a nightcap of the Baltimore Ravens at the Green Bay Packers. The Chicago Bears at San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams at Atlanta Falcons finish out the week as strong Sunday and Monday Night Football games, respectively.
Week 17 NFL Confidence Pool Picks
High Confidence Picks
1.Patriots Over Jets
2.Broncos Over Chiefs
3.Lions Over Vikings
4.Rams Over Falcons
5.Jaguars Over Colts
Let’s start with the low-hanging fruit. The Patriots face Brady Cook this week. They are almost two-touchdown favorites and shouldn’t have an issue blowing out this team.
The Broncos-Chiefs game has a lot different look to it than we thought we’d get when the schedule was released. The Broncos are looking to get back in the win column after a bad loss to Jacksonville, and the Chiefs showed us last week that they’ve given up.
The Lions and Vikings game on Christmas is a Dan Campbell coming off back-to-back losses for the first time as a head coach game. There’s no way he drops three in a row, especially going against Max Brosmer.
The Los Angeles Rams are coming off a heartbreaking loss on a two-point conversion last week. They see revenge and go against an Atlanta team that’s lost all hope. Oddly enough, the Rams’ win here will help their other first-round draft pick.
Jacksonville. Me saying I’ve been on the Jag-Wagon all year has been working, so why change that now? We called the upset last week. Jags keep rolling.
Confidence Picks
6.Cowboys Over Commanders
7.Packers Over Ravens
8.Buccaneers Over Dolphins
9.Bengals Over Cardinals
10.Eagles Over Bills
Dallas is the much better team in this Christmas Day matchup. Washington is down to starting Josh Johnson, amid their host of injuries. Even though they are eliminated, I expect them to show up for Christmas.
The Packers and Ravens, we still aren’t sure who will be the quarterbacks for either team, but no matter the combo, I like Green Bay in this one. Baltimore is a team that’s falling apart, and this Packers team has been solid. They need a win to secure a playoff spot here.
Tampa Bay hasn’t looked great lately, yet they control their destiny. Quinn Ewers didn’t look great in his first start last week, and I’m not expecting much more this week. Tampa needs to use this game to get ready for Carolina and then the playoffs if they want to go anywhere.
Cincinnati has Joe Burrow, and that’s enough for me. This Cardinals team is shutting down, and injuries keep piling up for them, losing Walter Nolen this past week. Low bar, but Cincinnati is the better team.
The Buffalo Bills only have three wins all season over teams with winning records, and Josh Allen masks a lot, but they aren’t a great team this year. Allen is hurt, and the Eagles are simply the better team.
Toss-Ups
11.Texans Over Chargers
12.Saints Over Titans
13.Seahawks Over Panthers
14.Steelers Over Browns
15.49ers Over Bears
16.Raiders Over Giants
This Houston Texans- Los Angeles Chargers game is like an early playoff matchup. These are two teams on hot streaks heading toward the playoffs. I lean toward Houston because of its defense. LA is due for a loss here.
The Saints and Titans are both playing much better ball in December than they were in September. However, neither team sparks confidence. I trust Tyler Shough and the Saints more.
The Panthers are an every-other-week team. That means they are due for a loss. That’s about the best read I can get on this team. Seattle needs wins to keep their shot at both the division and the #1 seed. Carolina’s playoffs all come down to next week.
I’m concerned this is a let-down spot for the Steelers. If the Ravens have lost, the Steelers will be locked into their spot in the AFC playoffs. I’ll roll with them, but beware, this game could go the other way.
The San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears matchup is a solid game for Sunday Night Football. This one really could go either way, but I believe this San Francisco team might just be the best in the league. I’ll roll with them, but the confidence level is low.
The battle for the number 1 overall pick. The loser is really the winner in this game. I’ll take the Raiders, but my goodness. This could be the ugliest game of the weekend.
