It’s Week 17! The NFL is taking over the week, with games on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Ah, the spirit of Christmas. Last week featured the debut start for Atlanta Falcons rookie Michael Penix Jr., another step forward by Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders and more late-season magic from Joe Burrow.
This week, the two Christmas Day games feature the same four AFC playoff teams we saw last Saturday. Two of our staffers envision the Pittsburgh Steelers beating the Kansas City Chiefs to snap a two-game skid, though we have unanimously picked the Baltimore Ravens to top the Houston Texans. On Saturday, the Cincinnati Bengals will try to keep their playoff hopes alive against the Denver Broncos, and on Sunday the Minnesota Vikings will try to keep the No. 1 seed within their reach with a win against the playoff-bound Green Bay Packers.
Here’s who we have making picks this season:
Albert Breer, senior NFL reporter (X/Twitter)
Conor Orr, senior writer (X/Twitter, BlueSky)
Gilberto Manzano, staff writer (X/Twitter, BlueSky)
Matt Verderame, staff writer (X/Twitter)
John Pluym, managing editor (X/Twitter)
Mitch Goldich, senior editor (X/Twitter, BlueSky)
All picks are straight up. Visit SI Betting for picks against the spread and much more gambling content.
Bold squares denote upsets.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as NFL Week 17 Picks From the MMQB Staff: Christmas Doubleheader and Playoff Clinchers.
