NFL Week 17 Picks: Odds, Over/Under Predictions for Every Game

There are several games with playoff implications in Week 17, and the Washington Redskins hosting the New York Giants is one of the biggest.

The Redskins are playing to become eligible for the postseason. If they beat their division rivals, the Redskins are going to the playoffs. Almost certainly.

The "almost certainly" has to do with the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions, who will be playing Sunday night for the NFC North title. The team that loses the game will be out of the playoffs if the Redskins beat the Giants. However, if the Packers and Lions play a rare tie game, the Packers would win the division, and the Lions would have the same 9-6-1 the Redskins would end up with after beating the Giants.

The tiebreaker would go to the Lions, since they defeated Washington earlier in the year.

While there have been two ties this year, a third would be shocking. There haven't been three ties (or more) in an NFL season since 1973, which was the last year before regular-season overtime was instituted in the NFL. There were seven ties in that season.

The Redskins can go into their game with the Giants feeling confident that if they win, they will be in. Handicappers have given the Redskins the edge against the Giants, who are locked into the No. 5 seed. The Redskins are seven-point favorites, according to OddsShark. 

Game	Point spread	Total	Prediction
Chicago at Minnesota	Minnesota (-5)	41	Chicago; Under
Houston at Tennessee	Tennessee (-3)	40	Houston; Under
Carolina at Tampa Bay	Tampa Bay (-6)	46.5	Tampa Bay; Over
Dallas at Philadelphia	Philadelphia (-4)	43	Dallas; Over
Buffalo at N.Y. Jets	Buffalo (-3.5)	42	Buffalo; Under
New England at Miami	New England (-9.5)	44.5	Miami; Over
Green Bay at Detroit	Green Bay (-3.5)	49.5	Detroit; Over
Baltimore at Cincinnati	Cincinnati (-2.5)	41.5	Cincinnati; Under
N.Y. Giants at Washington	Washington (-7)	44.5	N.Y. Giants; Over
Cleveland at Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh (-6)	43.5	Pittsburgh; Over
Jacksonville at Indianapolis	Indianapolis (-4.5)	47.5	Indianapolis; Over
New Orleans at Atlanta	Atlanta (-6.5)	56.5	Atlanta; Under
Seattle at San Francisco	Seattle (-9.5)	43	Seattle; Under
Kansas City at San Diego	Kansas City (-5.5)	45	San Diego; Over
Arizona at Los Angeles	Arizona (-6)	40.5	Arizona; Under
Oakland at Denver	Denver (-1)	40.5	Denver; Under

That may be a bit much for the Redskins. While the Giants can't change their playoff position, they will be back in action in the wild-card round, it does not make sense for head coach Ben McAdoo to let his players have the full week off.

He has not indicated he will do that, either.

While it may make sense to get quarterback Eli Manning out after some point in the game, he could sharpen up his game against the vulnerable Washington secondary.

Eventually, the Redskins should win this game behind the passing of Kirk Cousins, but it won't be by eight points. It will likely come as a result of a fourth-quarter score.

The Giants have fared well in recent matchups with the Redskins, going 5-2 against the spread, according to OddsShark research.

We like the Giants to cover the spread.

Daniel Gluskoter/Associated Press

Oakland at Denver

The Oakland Raiders are not going to run away and cry in the corner even though quarterback Derek Carr suffered a brutal broken fibula in Week 16 against the Indianapolis Colts.

The Raiders have had a brilliant season and are on the verge of winning the AFC West title since they lead the Kansas City Chiefs by a game.

However, in order to clinch that crown and possibly move into the No. 1 seed in the AFC, they will have to win with backup Matt McGloin under center when the Raiders play the Denver Broncos Sunday.

The Raiders must go to Denver, and while the Broncos won't be playing postseason football, they are not of a mind to let division rivals celebrate on their field.

The Broncos can turn up the defensive pressure as well as any team in the league, and don't expect Von Miller to make life easy for McGloin.

The Broncos are one-point favorites at home, and the total is 40.5 points. We expect this game to be a defensive struggle that won't see the two teams combine for more than 30 points.

We also expect that the Broncos will find a way to win their regular-season finale so their home fans can leave Sports Authority Field with smiles on their faces.

The Broncos get the win, and the under comes in.

Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

Kansas City at San Diego

The injury to Carr appears to set things up nicely for the Chiefs.

They are sitting in the No. 5 seed in the AFC playoffs, but if they beat the San Diego Chargers on the road and the Raiders lose at Denver, they become the AFC West winner and the No. 2 seed in the conference.

The Chargers are coming off a loss to the Cleveland Browns, and they have suffered through another difficult season as the AFC West's last-place team.

The Chargers have won just five games this year, and many of the games they lost were the result of fourth-quarter breakdowns.

It started in the first week of the season when the Chargers built a three-touchdown lead over the Chiefs in Kansas City, but they could not hold that advantage. The Chiefs forged the bulk of their comeback in the fourth quarter before they won the game in overtime.

The Chargers will close out their season at home, and this could be their last game at Qualcomm Stadium. They have been unsuccessfully pushing for a new stadium for years, and they endured another negative stadium vote in November.

Look for San Diego to come out with its best effort here. If the Chiefs are thinking this game is going to be easy because the Chargers are just playing out the string, they will get a painful lesson.

The Chiefs are 5.5-point favorites, but we expect Philip Rivers to stay with Alex Smith as the two quarterbacks exchange big plays.

The Chargers will find a way to make their home finale a winning one and leave the Chiefs wondering what happened.