It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and not just because of the holidays. The NFL playoff race is surging toward the finish line, we have Christmas Day football, and we have games on schedule in five of the six days between Wednesday and Monday.
We bounced back nicely in Week 16, turning in a 9-6 effort with best bets and top props after our first losing week in months. All said the Sporting News’ best bets column has gone 102-75-1 on the season.
MORE NFL: Week 17 odds, lines, totals | Updated playoff picture
Let’s get right to the top moneyline, spread, over/under and player prop wagers on BetMGM and Caesars for Week 17 of the 2024 NFL season. Good luck, have fun, and have a happy holiday week with your loved ones!
JUMP TO: Spreads | Moneylines | Over/unders | Player props
NFL Week 17 Best Bets: Against the spread (ATS)
All odds courtesy of BetMGM and Caesars Sportsbook.
Steelers +3.5 vs. Chiefs (-155 on BetMGM)
The Chiefs have enjoyed an incredible run this season, and it sure feels like they’re destined to be the No. 1 seed in the AFC. They’ve won a whopping 11 one-possession games, five of which have been by three points or fewer. And still, bettors have been hammering Kansas City over Russell Wilson, T.J. Watt and the Steelers out of the Week 17 gates.
This will mark just the second time Patrick Mahomes will have played in Pittsburgh in his NFL career, the first coming back in 2018 shortly after his debut as the Chiefs’ starting QB. Like Arrowhead, Acrisure Stadium (formerly Heinz Field) in December is a different animal. This won’t be an easy game for a banged-up Mahomes, especially with a struggling running game and Chris Jones hurt on the defensive side.
The Steelers have won multiple big games in 2024. They outlasted Joe Burrow and the Bengals 44-38, upset reigning MVP Lamar Jackson and the Ravens 18-16, and eked out a win over Rookie of the Year favorite Jayden Daniels and the Commanders in the nation’s capital. Pittsburgh might not win this game, but it would be shocking to see Kansas City win by more than a field goal on the road against Mike Tomlin’s Steelers.
SCORE PREDICTION: Steelers 23, Chiefs 20
Other Week 17 spreads worth a look: Chargers -5 at Patriots (-110 on BetMGM); Rams -6 vs. Cardinals (-110 on Caesars); Panthers +8 at Buccaneers (-110 on Caesars)
NFL Week 17 Best Bets: Moneyline
Packers +105 at Vikings (BetMGM)
The last time Jordan Love visited Minnesota, he led the Packers to a 33-10 shellacking over the Vikings on New Year’s Eve 2023. The young stud QB completed 24-of-33 passes for 256 yards and four total touchdowns (three passing, one rushing).
This isn’t just the Christmas season — it’s the season of Love. Green Bay finished the 2023 campaign on a 6-2 stretch, and Matt LaFleur’s squad seems overlooked and underrated once again right now. The Pack entered Week 16 on an 8-2 run with a Monday Night Football matchup against the injury-ravaged Saints.
Love is locked in, which means his litany of receivers are getting hot, too. Josh Jacobs might be the hottest running back nobody’s talking about. If the Green Bay defense can do what it did to Miami, San Francisco, and Seattle over the past month, we could be in for a little upset in Minneapolis.
FINAL SCORE PREDICTION: Packers 27, Vikings 24
Other Week 17 moneylines to consider: Raiders +110 at Saints (Caesars); Bengals -165 vs. Broncos (BetMGM)
NFL Week 17 Best Bets: Over/under totals
Jets at Bills: UNDER 46.5 (-110 on Caesars)
The Bills’ defense has experienced some eye-openers over the past few weeks, having allowed both the Rams and the Lions to score 42-plus points and then giving up three touchdowns to the lowly Patriots. Buffalo’s D needs a get-right game, and a late-December home tilt against the Jets seems like a perfect opportunity.
Throughout his otherwise illustrious career, Aaron Rodgers has gone 0-2 with three total interceptions at Highmark Stadium. Buffalo at this time of year is not for the faint of heart, and outscoring Josh Allen at the pinnacle of the MVP favorite’s career seems like a tall task.
If New York can’t get its run game working, it might have trouble even getting past the teens. Buffalo has gone 5-0 when holding opponents to 92 rushing yards or fewer, and the Jets have failed to reach 92 ground yards in nine of their 15 games this season. Bet the Bills and the UNDER.
FINAL SCORE PREDICTION: Bills 26, Jets 17
NFL Week 17 Best Bets: Top player prop
As always, we’ll list the top player props as soon as they go live, likely by Tuesday afternoon or early evening.
