It’s the final week of the NFL season and every team will be playing on Sunday as the regular season concludes. Week 17 normally features a mix of meaningful and meaningless games — in terms of playoff implications — and this year is no different with several of both to be played. There are Wild Card spots up for grabs in both conferences, and also a lot to sort through with many teams resting key players.
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Betting Splits Breakdown
Despite the unusual nature of Week 17, DraftKings Sportsbook bettors are still making it look like a normal week in terms of betting patterns. Road favorites are still generally the preferred method for this slate of games, with teams like the Vikings, Cowboys, Saints, Raiders and Seahawks grabbing large shares of the betting splits. There are a few exceptions, however, as the Steelers, in particular, are a popular bet as large underdogs against the Browns. Additionally, the second-team Chiefs are drawing more than half of the betting split at home against the Chargers, and the Eagles are getting roughly half of the action as home dogs against the Football Team.
How the Lines are Moving
Spreads
Cleveland Browns (-7 to -9.5)
New York Jets (+5.5 to +3)
Las Vegas Raiders (+1.5 to -3)
Arizona Cardinals (-1 to -3)
Washington Football Team (+1.5 to -4)
Totals
New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers (50.5 to 46.5)
With so much news breaking this week and so many personnel changes, the betting lines have moved around more in Week 17 than any other week this season. The most notable change has been in favor of the Washington Football Team, who opened as underdogs in Philadelphia but have seen the line shift strongly in their direction. This is likely because Alex Smith and Terry McLaurin are trending toward being able to play, but it’s also because the Eagles lost to the Cowboys in Week 16 and were eliminated from playoff contention. Washington has everything to play for as they need a win to make the playoffs, and the motivational variable seems to be heavily influencing the odds.
News broke on Friday that Saints running back Alvin Kamara would be sidelined for Week 17 after testing positive for COVID-19, and this seems to be having an especially large impact on the total. The total for the game against the Panthers had already been falling from the opening number of 50.5, but the Kamara news tanked it even further down to 46.5. There are running back issues on both sides of this game with Christian McCaffrey still out and Mike Davis expected to miss the game as well, and oddsmakers seem to have dinged both offenses as a result.
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