NFL Week 17 Picks: Rounding Up Top Experts' Predictions

Most experts agree that the Denver Broncos, the Seattle Seahawks, the Minnesota Vikings and the New England Patriots will end their regular seasons with victories.

Those teams are among the most highly favored squads in action in Week 17. After taking a gander at the Week 17 picks from four experts, one could come away feeling confident about his or her selections in a confidence pool or more confused than he or she was before starting the process.

The table below contains Week 17 picks from NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal, ESPN Mike and Mike's Mike Golic, NBC Sports' Mike Florio and CBS Sports' Pete Prisco.

Matchups	Rosenthal	Golic	Florio	Prisco
Cleveland at Baltimore	Baltimore	Baltimore	Baltimore	Baltimore
Dallas at Washington	Dallas	Washington	Dallas	Dallas
Indianapolis at Tennessee	Indianapolis	Indianapolis	Indianapolis	Indianapolis
Jacksonville at Houston	Houston	Houston	Houston	Houston
San Diego at Kansas City	Kansas City	Kansas City	Kansas City	Kansas City
NY Jets at Miami	Miami	Miami	Miami	Miami
Chicago at Minnesota	Minnesota	Minnesota	Minnesota	Minnesota
Buffalo at New England	New England	New England	New England	New England
Philadelphia at NY Giants	New York	Philadelphia	New York	New York
New Orleans at Tampa Bay	New Orleans	New Orleans	New Orleans	New Orleans
Carolina at Atlanta	Atlanta	Atlanta	Atlanta	Atlanta
Detroit at Green Bay	Green Bay	Green Bay	Green Bay	Green Bay
Oakland at Denver	Denver	Denver	Denver	Denver
Arizona at San Francisco	San Francisco	Arizona	San Francisco	Arizona
St. Louis at Seattle	Seattle	Seattle	Seattle	Seattle
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh

I'm in agreement with the consensus on the vast majority of the week's games, but two games stick out as contests that will prove the experts wrong.

Going Against the Experts

Bears at Vikings

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

The Chicago Bears are in disarray, and they are on the road for Week 17. That combination explains why all four of the experts picked the Vikings to win Sunday. 

Here’s why I disagree and believe the Bears will pull off the mild upset Sunday. In Week 16, the Bears, led by Jimmy Clausen at quarterback, narrowly lost to the Detroit Lions 20-14. The team gave a spirited effort in support of embattled head coach Marc Trestman. 

Franchise quarterback Jay Cutler was benched, and Clausen played pretty well in his place.

Unfortunately, he suffered a concussion after a helmet-to-helmet hit from Ezekiel Ansah and has been ruled out for the season finale. That means the Bears have to turn back to Cutler.

Ian Rapoport of NFL.com further explains the Bears' QB situation for Sunday.

It seems like a desperate situation, but that desperation will produce a positive effort from the Bears.

Various Bears are playing for places on next year’s roster or with other teams in the NFL, and the Bears defeated the Vikings 21-13 back on Nov. 16.

Cutler threw for 330 yards, three scores and two picks in that game. Matt Forte ran for 117 yards, and Alshon Jeffery had 11 receptions for 135 yards and a score. The same trio will haunt the Vikings on Sunday. Expect to see fire and discipline from Cutler, whose benching was a serious wake-up call.

Will it be enough to keep him in Chicago? I don’t know, but it’ll be enough to beat the Vikings for the second time this season.

Panthers at Falcons

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Atlanta is at home in a game that will determine the NFC South champion, but I don’t believe its defense will hold up enough to get the win. Apparently, neither does ESPN's Skip Bayless:

The Carolina Panthers have underachieved a bit on defense, but they have won three games in a row.

Also, the Panthers simply have more playmakers on the defensive side of the ball. 

Luke Kuechly and Charles Johnson give Carolina a defensive duo capable of producing takeaways that can be the difference in a crucial game. Add the emotional leadership provided by Cam Newton’s presence, and the Panthers are my pick to win Sunday and capture the NFC South title.