Our NFL Premium Package is Now Available for the 2022 season! Get full access to our best bets, given out early in the week, in real time: sides, totals, player props, and more, all in one place, through the end of the Super Bowl.
With NFL Week 16 officially in the books, we adjust our power ratings and look forward to a new slate of games for NFL Week 17. As with every week, to determine a power-rated line, take the difference between the teams' power rating and factor in home field advantage. Remember, power ratings are the start of the handicap and should be a foundation to build upon. These values represent what a team is on any given week. It will certainly fluctuate as the year progresses.
BIGGEST UPGRADE: SAN FRANCISCO 49ers
Brock Purdy for Offensive Rookie of the Year is laughable to me since he hasn’t even played half the games for the clubs, but has done a more than serviceable job at saving the 49ers season. Kyle Shannehan is proving once again how great of a coach he is. He is on his 3rd quarterback this season, but the scheme seems to be more important that the players who are running it. If anyone deserves serious consideration for an award it should be the SF head coach.
BIGGEST DOWNGRADE: TENNESSEE TITANS
I have great respect for Mike Vrabel, but he has his fans full at the moment. Ryan Tannehill is not a good quarterback, but he’s an average starter in the NFL. With him going down with an ankle injury, the Titans are forced to turn to Malik Willis. Not only doesn’t Malik look like he’s ready to start, he doesn’t even look like he’s ready to be the primary backup. With an offensive line plagued with injuries, the offense will again be forced to hand the ball off to Derrick Henry to matriculate the ball down the field and hopefully manufacture points. They will be hard pressed to accomplish either moving forward. The Titans season is over, they just don’t know it yet.
SOMETHING OF NOTE:
As we come to the last 2 weeks of the season, there are some major factors to consider before wagering that weren’t really a concern previously. Many teams are still fighting for the playoffs, others have clinched, and a third group has resigned to the fact they aren’t making it. Within those groups there are teams that will be trying to win or lose in an attempt to try to secure a playoff matchup they deem advantageous and those that want to lose to get better draft positioning. Some of these motivations are apparent at the moment. Others become clear as the early games come to a close. Identifying these scenarios is extremely important in the last two weeks of the year. Which team will pull a Tom Coughlin and go all out to win a meaningless game? Which team will pull a gutless Eagles play and sit their players and play to lose? Answers to those questions can prove profitable.
Week 17 Power Ratings
Week 17 Power Ratings vs. Lines
By Steve Rieder
@AvoidTheVig
Want to have direct access to our network of Betting Predators handicappers? Sign up for our FREE Discord channel to get 24/7 direct access to our handicapping team, as well as our community of sharp bettors
Want an easy to find all of our Betting Predators content in one place? Sign up for our free newsletter, Substack and receive a weekly roundup on everything we've published (FREE + PREMIUM), and all that we're up to throughout the week. We promise we'll never give your email address out for advertising purposes.