NFL Week 17 Previews.

Week 17 Got Started With Three Games On Thursday, Christmas Day, One Meaningful Result As The Lions Fall To The Vikings, Dropping Detroit From Last Year’s Number One Team and Seed In the NFC To Out Of The Playoffs. The Packers Secure Their Playoff Spot and Lock Up the NFC Playoff Teams Heading Into the Bulk Of The Matchups On The Weekend. The Packers Fell From The NFC’s Number One Team Earlier in The Season To The Seven Seed in back-to-back Years, Something Of A disappointment, Though They Can’t be overlooked. With Moving Up Unlikely, The Pack Should Rest Their Important Players and Wait To Face The Number Two Seed In The Conference, Most Likely The Bears. In The AFC, The Chargers Face a Crucial Game Against The Texans, The Number One Scoring Defense In Football, and Their Crushing Pass Defense. The Texans' pass rush presents a significant challenge for every team, particularly for those like the Chargers who depend heavily on quarterback performance and have a weak offensive line. Chargers’ Quarterback Justin Herbert Ranks Number Two in Pressure Faced This Season, 35.4%. All Hope For The Chargers To Meet The Broncos in week 18–And For Fans To Have Any Meaningful Football In Week 18–For The Division goes out The Window With a Loss In Week 17. I Previewed Five Games. Hopefully, my insights Help You Make Better Football arguments or Betting decisions.

Falcons Vs Rams

Kirk Cousins And The Falcons Have Played Their Best Stretch Of Offense In Weeks 15 and 16 since the Early Quarter Of The Falcons. The Offense Has Compiled 818 Total Yards, 472 Yards Of Offense Over This Two-Game Win Streak Headed Into Monday Night. Falcons Quarterback 37 Year Old Quarterback Kirk Cousins Prove He’s Not Done, The Broadcast Both Can Wait He’s Posted +0.320 EPA Per Play, 51.2% Success Rate, and 68% Completion, 570 Passing Yards +0.28 EPA Per Dropback With Five Touchdowns to One pick. Cousins Has Played Himself Into Multiple Big Days In His Career. Could Another Contract Adjustment Be Looming At The Pace He’s Playing Right Now? Cousins Too Target Over That Stretch soon To Be Free Tight end Kyle Pitts’s Who Has Certainly Played Himself Into A Big Pay Day Playing The Role Of Atlanta’s Number One Option +1.11 EPA Per Target, 223 Receiving Yards, 71.4% Success Rate, 12.4 Yards Per Reception, 85.7% Catch Rate. The Return Of Number One Receiver Drake London Affected Pitt's Numbers A little bit. London caught three of eight targets for 27 receiving yards, But The Falcons Committed To Running The Ball against the Cardinals in Week. As Atlanta Finished The Game, 151 Yards On The Ground. Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier Posted Games Of 75 plus Yards. A Run Game Could Prove Crucial To The Falcons Upsetting The Rams after LA Suffered Their worst performance Defending The Run Against The Seahawks, as Seattle generated a 52.2 Success Rate and +0.34 EPA Per Rush against A Defense That surrendered a 37% Success Rate Ahead Of Week 16. The Falcons Pass The Ball -3.50% Less Than Expected, and The Rams Present a Prime Opportunity to Plug More Bijan Robinson Rushes. The Rams' Defense Turned Seattle Over Three Times In Week 16, all In The Pass Game with two Sam Darnold Picks and a Cooper Kupp Fumble. The Rams' Defense Ranks Fifth In Total Turnovers This Season. For the season, the Rams' pass defense has forced a sub-80 passer rating of 79.4 from passers. However, this has increased to an 85.2 passer rating over their last three games. Opponents often find themselves trailing or in a disadvantageous position to drop back and pass late, as the Rams defense faces a 60.6% xPass Rate Over Expected and 182 passing attempts in the fourth quarter. The Rams also boast the Best Red zone Defense In Football. The Falcons and Kyle Pitts Have Played Like Monsters In The Red zone In Recent Weeks, and the Rams Struggled To Defend The Seahawks' Tight End in The Red Zone Area.

The Rams are No Longer The NFC’s Top Team, But Still Rated as The Best Team In Football, and their 37-year-old quarterback Has Played Strikingly differently than the Falcons' 37-year-old. Stafford Still Looks Poised To Win His First MVP Award. Stafford Wrapped Up A Career Game With 457 Passing Yards Against The Seahawks, +0.533 EPA Per Dropback, three touchdowns, But He Only Completed 59.2% Of His Passes, Below Average For Him, and His play Fell Apart in The Fourth Quarter, 42.1% Completion Percentage, -0.026 EPA Per Dropback On 19 attempts. The Falcons' Defense Ranked Number One In Total Passing Yards allowed For Most Of The Season. They enter Week 17 Ninth overall, 195.1 Passing Yards Per Game, and 11th in Adjusted Net Yards Per Attempt(5.7). For The Season, Stafford Ranks Number One In Adjusted Net Yards Per Attempt (8.6) On Top Of All The otherworldly Numbers He’s Generated Thus Far this Season: 4179 Passing Yards, 40 Touchdowns, five Interceptions, 210 Passing First Downs, and 112.1 Passer Rating. The Rams and Falcons game Has A Side Quest For Los Angeles, As The Falcons Owe The Rams A First Round Pick In Next Year’s Draft, and The Worse The Atlanta Record, The Better The Pick. The Falcons Exhausted Their first-round pick Next Year For James Pearce Jr, Their Young, Sterling Pass Rusher who ranks 12th in Pass Rush Win Rate(ESPN). Atlanta ranks 7th in Pressure Rate(Pro Football Reference) and Fourth In Pass Rush Win Rate(ESPN). The Deal Has Worked Out For The Falcons, Even If Atlanta Will Miss The Playoffs. The Pass Rush has improved; however, I’m Sure Atlanta doesn’t Want To Surrender A top 10 Pick To The Team Rated Number One Statistically In Football.

Colts Vs Jags

The Phillip Rivers Experiment For The Colts Turned Out Better Than Anyone Could Have Expected. Consider No One Had Set The Bar High For a 44-Year-Old Coming Out of Retirement. For the Most Part, Rivers' prolific passing Exhibition Against The Niners Stands As The Most Promising Aspect Of The Colts' season Down The Stretch. The team has dropped from an 8-1 record to 8-7, with only a 3% chance of making the playoffs if the Texans lose all their remaining games. The Sauce Gardner Trade May Go Down As One Of The Worst Trades In Recent Memory. The Colts Sent Two first-rounders to New York, And He’s played Two With Marginal impact. The Jonathan Taylor MVP Case Dematerialized In Thin Air Nearly As Quickly As Taylor averaged 3.5 yards per carry Over This Game Losing Streak For The Colts. Taylor Has Not Hit 100 Yards Since His 244 Yard Outburst against The Falcons. The Colts' Defense Has Gotten Hit The Hardest By The Falloff And Loss of Daniel Jones. Those Big Colts Leads Allowed Indy’s Defense To Play With Leverage and Force Teams To Play A Drop Back Heavy Attack, The Colts Defense Rank 28th In Drop-back EPA Allowed Since Week 10 0.215, And 29th In Yards Per Attempt Allowed 7.41 Over The Pass Five Weeks. The Colts Face The Hottest Team In Football And One Of The Hottest Quarterbacks in Trevor Lawrence, 17-5 TD-to-INT, 51.4% success rate, and +0.17 EPA per drop-back, 1649 Passing Yards, +0.239 EPA Per Play, 9.5 Per Attempt, and only 60% Completion since Week 10. Jags Receivers Struggle With Drops. The Jags Defense Has Played Stellar In Recent Weeks, Top Five In EPA Per Play and EPA Per Rush Since, and Seventh In EPA Per Drop Back since Week Eight. Broncos’ Quarterback Bo Nix Posted 352 Passing Yards on 28/47 One Touchdown and one Pick with Fair Success on Passes Of 10 Yards Or Greater Down 9/19 For 207 Yards Downfield. Rivers and the Colts showed a willingness and Found Success Attacking The Niners' Defense Field Despite Rivers Throwing A lot of “Wobblers”. The Jaguars Still Forced -0.033 EPA Per Play, Despite Surrendering 7 Yards Per Play. The Jags Like To Force Turnovers and Late and Inaccurate Passes, Like Many The Niners Allowed By Rivers Will Get Punished By The Jags. The Jags Defense Surrender 5.9 Yards Per Carry, 95 Yards On The Ground Total, 16 Carries -0.22 EPA Per Play To The Broncos. A win for the Colts Would Move Their Impossible Odds To Make The Playoffs Into The More Probable Miracle Range. The Colts don’t Own Their Round Pick Over The Next Two Drafts, So Losing Has No Benefit. An Upset Win Would Change the vibes Of The Team If They Knock Off Their Division Rival And Keep The Jags from Gaining The number-one seed In Football. For The Jags, They’ve Beaten Both The Chargers and The Broncos In Resounding Fashion, and The Jags Should Move To Crush The Colts Further, Solidifying Their Place as An AFC Contender and Not A Team On A Heater.

Seahawks Vs Panthers

The Seahawks Passed The Biggest Test Of The Season To This Point, Knocking Off The Rams In Comeback Fashion. The Hype Machine Pervading The Rams, With MVP Frontrunner Matthew Stafford and Wide Receiver Puka Nucua snatching the Most Prestigious Acclaim In Football. The “Best Wide Receiver” In The Game Made Many Forget the Seahawks Lost Their First Matchup With The Rams On A Missed Field Goal Despite An Awful Game From Darnold In Terms Of Turnovers. Darnold’s Second Season Of high-level production solidifies him among the Top Quarterbacks In The Sport. Now Darnold Playoff Success Becomes Both A Question And A Reality for The Former Third Overall. Darnold and the Seahawks Need To Head Into The playoffs building Quantifiable Properties Like Confidence and Momentum, and The Quantifiable Numbers State Darnold Has Struggled in Recent Weeks Outside Of A Quarter Against The Rams in Week 16. Darnold struggles in Games Against The Vikings and Colts, Finishing Both of those contests with sub-90 Passer Ratings. Since Week 10, Darnold ranks 22nd in EPA Per Play (+0.009), But Sixth In success Rate. His Turnover Rate For The Season Ranks Number 3.5% According To ESPN. The Seahawks Face The NFC South-leading Panthers in Week 16. A Team Not Of The Same Scale, But The Panthers' Upset Of The Rams In Week 13 Opened The Door For Seattle To Overtake The Rams In The Standings. The Panthers Hold The Sixth Worse Point Differential In The Conference At -50 Heading Into Week 17. Carolina Might and Should Rest Their Starters In Week 17 Against The Seahawks in Preparation To Face The Bucs In Week 18, As The Matchup with Seattle Wouldn’t Separate Carolina In Anyway From The Bucs. The Panthers' Defense Ranks 29th In Dropback Success Rate Since Week Ten and Dead Last In pressure Rate On The Season. A Crucial Matchup With The 49ers Awaits The Seahawks In Week 18, and While They can't look at the Panthers, Who Spooked Brock Purdy a Few Weeks Back With Three Interceptions before intercepting Matthew Stafford in The Upset Win, But This Game Should Allow Darnold To Regain Most Of His Lost Confidence From The Prior Weeks.

Packers Vs Ravens

Back in 2023, the Ravens and their 2018 Round Pick MVP Quarterback, Lamar Jackson, Started A Bitter standoff over Contract Negotiations. At One Point In His Career, Lamar Had Big Quarterback Money Radiating From Every Pass Completion, Every Juke, and Every Highlight. After An Injury Shorten Season, Including Missing The Playoffs, For Lamar, The Money Would Come, But In What Form? Guarantees, Incentives, and Signing Bonuses are all Bitter Verbiage That Stressed and Elongated The Negotiation Process Between The Ravens and Lamar. Reports by ESPN Stated Lamar wanted a Fully Guaranteed Contract. The Ravens hit Lamar With A “nonexclusive” Franchise tag, Opening The Door For Lamar To Negotiate With Other Teams, But Around The League, quarterback-thirsty teams Passed On Jackson. The Falcons Publicly Declared, Seemingly Unprovoked, that They Had No Interest In Jackson, Who Eventually got his Deal $260 Million Over Five Years, $185 million in guaranteed money. Jackson Followed These Contract Proceedings With a Level Season One MVP Trophy, one MVP Runner Up. Lamar Fail To Secure Wins In The Postseason, The Ravens Opened The 2025-26 Season As Super Bowl Favorite But With Two Weeks Left Appear On The Verge Of Missing The Postseason All Together, Lamar Has Dealt With Multiple Injuries This Season, Including A “Significant” Back Injury That Knock Him Out Of A Sunday Night Contest With New England And Could Potentially End His season. With Reports Circling About “Unresolved Tension” Between Lamar and the Ravens, One Has To Wonder If teams Were Right Not To Pursue Lamar in 2023 Despite His Proven track Record and Level Of Talent. The Ravens Need To Win On Saturday And Hope The Steelers Lose To The Browns To Stay Alive. Not The Position Baltimore Hope To Find Themselves in Week 17 Of The Season. The Ravens Face The Packers, Coming off a Lost To The Bears, Dealing With Their Own Quarterback Injury. Jordan Love Suffered A Concussion. If Love Can’t Go, The Ravens Will Face Malik Willis, Who Averages 0.63 Adjusted EPA per Play This Season On 26 Plays and Played Better Than Expected Taking Over For Love, 9/11 For 122 Against Chicago With 143.2 Passer Rating. Without Love, Green Bay Committed To Their Run Game, 192 Net yards on 43 Total Carries As A team, Emmanuel Wilson led the Team With 85 yards On The Ground. Since Week 10, the Ravens' Defense Has Ratcheted Up A Notch, Number One In EPA Per Rush, Number Five In Rushing Success Rate, Number Five In Drop-back Success Rate, and number 12 in EPA per drop-back. The Ravens Defense Came Up One prolific Drake Maye Performance, 380 yards on 31/44 passing, and an 11 Point Special Comeback From Entering Week 17 With Better Odds To Win The Division. A Packers win would secure them a wild-card spot and end the Lions' hopes for the playoffs. It could also allow the Packers to either try to catch the Bears for the division title or rest their starters for the remainder of the season as they head into the playoffs.

Bears Vs 49ers

Brock Purdy Dazzled On Monday Night With Five Touchdowns, 25/34, 295 Passing Yards, 126.8 Passer RATING, 79% Adjusted Completion Percentage AGAINST The Colts. The National Football League Find Itself Under A Wave In December Brought On By Hot Quarterbacks, Trevor Lawrence, Jordan Love(Pre-Injury) Matthew Stafford Even Bryce Young To A Degree But The Purdy Heat Wave Has Burned Brighter, Hitting The League In Weeks 15, 16, Purdy posted EPA per dropback numbers, +0.56 and +0.59, And passer ratings 129.7 and 127.6 As The Niners Move Into Position To Take Over The Number One Seed In The NFC. The Niners Lost Talent In The Offseason, Including Wide Receiver Deebo Samuel. They expected Brandon Aiyuk to Return From Injury mid-season, But He’s Distant From The Team, and Purdy Went Down With an Injury Early In The Season. The Defense Lost Leaders Like Nick Bosa and Fred Warner to Season-Ending Injuries. The Niners appear headed For A Middle Of The First Round Pick Instead. They can Take The Seahawks For The Top Spot In The NFC. Since Week 11, Purdy Ranks Number one in EPA Per Play, Completion Percentage, and Number Two In Success Rate. Purdy’s No Longer The Yards After Catch Dominant Quarterback just 21.4% (63 Yards) Of His Total Passing Yard Came After The Catch Against The Colts. The Niners Face Caleb Williams and The Bears, Another Team That Came Out Of Nowhere, Snag A Shot At The NFC Conference Title. William’s Hasn’t Gotten Hot yet This Season, But His 46-Yard Needle Threading Throw Won The Game For the Bears in Time Over The Packers. The Niners got picked Apart By Phillip Rivers, 277 Passing Yards, 8/12 for 121 Passing Yards In The Intermediate 10-19 Air Yards Down, 175 passing yards and two touchdowns in the first half, and His Targets, like Alec Pierce, Gave The Niners’ defense Trouble Early. Caleb Has Never Established Himself As an Elite Passer Because His Accuracy Oscillate Widely. A Fully Healthy Wide Receiver Group For The Bears Could be A Punch The Bears Have Lacked In A Few Weeks. Receiver Rome Odunze And Luther Burden Remain In Questionable Status as Of Tuesday. The Niners Rank Next To Last In Terms Of Generating Pressure and 22nd In EPA Per Rush Allowed Since Week Ten, and That’s Crucial as The Bears Offense Has Shown A Growing Commitment To RunNing The Ball. The Bears' Defense Continues To Thrive On Turnovers, But They Rank 20th in EPA Per Rush Allowed Since Week 10 As They Prepare To Face Christian McCaffrey. He Wrapped Up One Of His Best Rushing performances of The Season, 117 Rushing Yards, 21 Carries, 5.6 yards A Carry. A win Would Launch Either team closer To The Number One Seed In The Conference. The Bears could secure the NFC North for the first time since 2018, with Mitch Trubisky and all the other NFC West teams in the hunt for the division. The Niners have the most competitive game of the week.