The playoff picture will finalize Sunday, but all eyes will be on the AFC Saturday for a pair of games with playoff implications.
And, amazingly, it’s already here. It feels like just days ago the Seattle Seahawks were hosting the Denver Broncos in the opening weekend of the 2024 NFL season, and all of a sudden the regular season is wrapping up.
For the Seahawks it was an up and down first year under new head coach Mike Macdonald, though when the final whistle sounds in the Week 18 contest against the Los Angeles Rams, the Hawks will find themselves on the outside of the playoff picture for the third time in four seasons. What changes that could bring to the coaching staff or the front office remains to be seen, and there’s certain to be no shortage of discussion in the coming days and weeks.
As for the football that is to be played Saturday, the Baltimore Ravens are favored by a whopping 19.5 points at FanDuel Sportsbook against the visiting Cleveland Browns. Perhaps more amazing that the size of the spread is that even with a spread that large, the over/under sits at just 41.5 points. There should be no doubt that the Ravens will win the game, but a spread that size is simply too large to bet against in the NFL, so the Browns should cover while scoring remains low enough the two teams fail to hit the over.
When primetime arrives, the Cincinnati Bengals are 2.5 point favorites over Russell Wilson and the Pittsburgh Steelers, with the over/under currently at 48.5 at FanDuel Sportsbook. Both the Bengals and Steelers have their postseason hopes on the line in this matchup, but both teams need help from elsewhere across the league in order to make the postseason. And, while Mike Tomlin has once again avoided a losing record with this year’s installment of the Steelers, the reality is that the wheels have come off in recent weeks, and the Bengals should cover as they hand Pittsburgh a fourth straight loss as scoring should be low enough that the teams fail to reach the over.
Fans can tune in to the Browns and Ravens at 4:30 ET/1:30 PT, with the Bengals and Steelers set to kick off at 8:00 ET/5:00 PT. Both games can be watched on ESPN or ABC or streamed on ESPN+.