The holidays are upon us, but there’s still a full slate of NFL action during the festive season, with games on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
In what should have been a day of celebration, the NFL is pitting the Raiders at the Steelers on Dec. 24, the 50th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception game. However, former Steelers running back Franco Harris, who caught that famous touchdown pass, died earlier this week, casting a pall over the plans to honor the memory of one of the NFL’s greatest games.
All over the Week 16 schedule, there are games with playoff implications for both teams. It all starts on Thursday Night Football, with the Jacksonville Jaguars visiting the New York Jets.
The NFL’s hottest team, the Detroit Lions, are traveling to Carolina to face the Panthers. Both the Steelers and Raiders are seeking to keep their thin playoff hopes alive. The Patriots are facing the Bengals, Seattle is at Kansas City, Dallas clashes with Philadelphia, the Saints are at Cleveland, the Falcons visit the Ravens, the Commanders are at the 49ers, and the New York Giants are in Minnesota, among other key Week 16 contests.
Let’s look at the best bets to be playing from the NFL Week 16 weekend games.
Raiders +2.5 vs. Steelers
Both teams come into this game with identical 6-8 records, so the loser can kiss any playoff hopes goodbye. Mike Tomlin of the Steelers needs to run the table in order to avoid his first losing season in 16 years as an NFL head coach.
The Raiders are coming into this game on an emotional high following what can only be known as the Immaculate Interception game. Linebacker Chandler Jones picked off a Jacobi Meyers lateral and rambled for a TD on the final play of regulation to give Las Vegas a 30-24 victory over New England.
Las Vegas is also coming into a good situation for the team as a whole. Of late, the Raiders are dominating the Steelers. Las Vegas is showing a 2-0 straight up and against the spread record in the last two games against Pittsburgh. Overall, the Raiders are displaying 4-1 and 6-2 SU marks when facing Pittsburgh in recent games. From a betting standpoint, they are on 5-0, 7-1 and 9-2 ATS streaks against the Steelers. At Pittsburgh, Las Vegas is 4-1 ATS in the past five games.
Lions -3 vs. Panthers
You have to go back to Nov. 22, 2020 to find a game in which the Detroit Lions were away favorites. Oddly enough, that game was also at Carolina, and the Lions were also a 3-point road pick over the Panthers. But that’s about where the line should be drawn as far as history repeating itself goes.
Carolina beat Detroit 20-0 in that game, but if the last couple of months have shown us anything, it’s that these aren’t the same, old Lions. Detroit is 6-1 SU over the last seven games and 7-0 ATS in that stretch. The 10-4 ATS record of the Lions this season is second among NFL teams to the 11-3 posted by Cincinnati. The public is also strongly backing the Lions. DraftKings Sportsbook is taking in 88 percent of spread bets and 87 percent of money line bets backing Detroit in this game.
Detroit is 3-0 both SU and ATS over the club’s past three road games. The 7-7 Lions are averaging 30.66 points per game over their last six contests. By comparison, 5-9 Carolina was scoring just 16 points at home last week against a very mediocre Pittsburgh squad. The Panthers are 4-10 ATS in their last 14 home games.
Bengals -3.5 vs. Patriots
Between them, at least one of these two teams has appeared in nine of the last 11 AFC Championship Games. Granted, eight of those appearances were earned by New England. However, Cincinnati was AFC champions last season and, after a slow start to 2022, is offering every indication that a repeat performance isn’t out of the question.
Since losses to Pittsburgh and Dallas to open the season, Cincinnati is 10-2 SU and 11-1 ATS. The Bengals are 5-1 ATS in their past six road games. Cincinnati’s 6-2 ATS record as an away team this season is the best in the NFL. The Bengals are 4-2 ATS as the road chalk.
Following last week’s disastrous ending at Las Vegas, it’s hard to imagine that the 7-7 Patriots will be bouncing back strongly or confidently. At 1-3 both SU and ATS over their last four games, the Patriots are fading fast. New England is 2-2 SU and ATS over the club’s past four home games. As well, the Patriots are 0-2 ATS as a home underdog this season.
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