NFL Picks Week 17: Updated Lines and Final-Score Predictions for All Games

The Cincinnati Bengals punched their ticket to the postseason with a convincing win over the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football. With that, 10 teams have already clinched playoff berths heading into Week 17, leaving just two spots up for grabs.

The San Diego Chargers currently reside in the AFC's No. 6 seed, but the Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs are still in the hunt. On the NFC's side, the only unsettled position is the No. 4 seed, and that will go to the NFC South winner following a clash between the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers.

So, which of the teams needing a big win in a pivotal week on the gridiron will find success? Better yet, which of them will also cover the spread and line bettors' pockets entering the new year? Before we break down a couple games worthy of some wagers, here's a look at the week's full slate of games, their corresponding odds and a final-score prediction for each.

Matchup	Spread	Prediction
San Diego at Kansas City	KC -2.5	SD, 24-23
Jacksonville at Houston	HOU -10	HOU, 24-17
Philadelphia at NY Giants	NYG -3	NYG, 31-27
Buffalo at New England	NE -3.5	BUF, 23-20
Dallas at Washington	DAL -7	DAL, 30-20
Cleveland at Baltimore	BAL -8.5	BAL, 27-17
Chicago at Minnesota	MIN -6.5	CHI, 24-20
Indianapolis at Tennessee	IND -7	IND, 26-16
Carolina at Atlanta	ATL -4	ATL, 31-23
NY Jets at Miami	MIA -5.5	MIA, 23-20
New Orleans at Tampa Bay	NO -4	NO, 34-17
Oakland at Denver	DEN -16	DEN, 27-21
St. Louis at Seattle	SEA -13	SEA, 31-17
Arizona at San Francisco	SF -6	SF, 24-13
Detroit at Green Bay	GB -7.5	GB, 27-23
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh	PIT -3	CIN, 27-24

Game odds courtesy of Odds Shark and current as of December 23.

Big Games to Bet

San Diego Chargers (+2.5) at Kansas City Chiefs

Both of these squads have chances to gain entrance to January's action; however, the Chargers have a far easier road. Already sitting in the No. 6 seed, San Diego needs only a win to advance into the playoffs. Kansas City, however, needs a win and losses by both the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans.

Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers was brilliant for the most part in a dramatic comeback victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Week 16. He connected on 33 of his 54 passing attempts for 356 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. Although he did record a trio of blemishes, it was revealed after the game he was playing with a bulging disc in his back.

Head coach Mike McCoy already stated Rivers will play against Kansas City, according to Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com: "Everyone has had some form of injury that they deal with at some point of time during the year. Philip will play on Sunday."

The quarterback remains extremely focused moving forward, according to a comment relayed by NFL on ESPN:

What's even more impressive about Rivers' play is the fact he was missing two of his biggest weapons in running back Ryan Mathews and wide receiver Keenan Allen. Williams also reported that duo has a chance to play on Sunday as well.

San Diego won't have it easy against a solid Chiefs defense that just recently limited a prolific Pittsburgh Steelers offense to 282 total yards. However, the issue in Kansas City is its inability to generate enough offense to win games, as the Chiefs could only muster 12 points—four field goals—in that loss to the Steelers.

We should expect more of the same in Week 17, as Rivers and Co. put up just enough points to edge a Chiefs offense that continues its inconsistent production.

Prediction: Chargers 24, Chiefs 23

St. Louis Rams at Seattle Seahawks (-13)

This is an enormous contest for the NFC playoff picture, as a Seahawks victory would earn them home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, and not many teams want to travel to CenturyLink Field in January.

These teams last met in Week 7 when Seattle still appeared to be making adjustments on the defensive side of the ball. That game resulted in a 28-26 win by the Rams, but much has changed since.

Seattle's defense comes into this contest ranked third against the run, first against the pass, first in yards allowed, fifth in turnover differential and first in points allowed. At this point, if you looked up the definition of defensive dominance in the dictionary, you'd probably see a picture of linebacker K.J. Wright.

The Seahawks don't do anything flashy on offense, but they have an extremely efficient quarterback in Russell Wilson and a bruising ball-carrier in Marshawn Lynch.

In Week 16 against a solid Arizona Cardinals defense, Wilson completed 20 of his 31 passing attempts for 338 yards and two touchdowns for a passer rating of 122.9. Lynch toted the ball 10 times for 113 yards and two touchdowns, including a 79-yard, jaw-dropping scamper.

Here's a rather telling statistic on just how good Seattle has been lately, via ESPN Stats & Info:

Needless to say, this team is firing on all cylinders at the right time.

As for the Rams, they had a few dominant weeks on the defensive side of the ball, blanking the Oakland Raiders and Washington Redskins before allowing four field goals to the Cardinals one week later. However, the team's streak of zero touchdowns allowed ended abruptly, as Eli Manning and the New York Giants dropped 37 points on this unit in Week 16.

In that contest, the Rams allowed 514 yards of offense, and while Shaun Hill and Co. put up 27 points of their own, they couldn't keep up, even against the league's 28th-ranked defense. That's not a good sign considering the task at hand in Week 17 for the Rams.

With the St. Louis defense on the decline and Seattle's offense surging, expect to see more of the same this week; however, it's unlikely the Rams get nearly the same amount of offensive production as they did against the Giants.

Prediction: Seahawks 31, Rams 17

All playoff scenarios courtesy of CBSSports.com and current as of December 23.