Best NFL Week 17 totals bets: Can Cardinals keep up with Eagles?
With two weeks to go in the NFL regular season, most of the league is still alive in the playoff race.
Meaningful football will be played all weekend, so let's get to our best totals bets for Week 17.
Cardinals team total under 17.5 pointsThe Cardinals have the NFL's seventh-worst scoring offense and scored less than 17 points in three of their last five games.
There's no question the Cardinals' offense is better with Kyler Murray than with the quarterbacks that started earlier this season. But Arizona isn't a legitimate threat with lackluster weapons surrounding Murray.
Meanwhile, the Eagles, who have struggled on defense, played well against the Giants last week, another of the NFL's worst offenses.
New York scored 25 points, but 14 were a direct result of turnovers by the offense and special teams. Philadelphia still hasn't played up to its standard and needs to win out to secure the division crown.
Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon served as the Eagles' defensive coordinator for the last two seasons. While he's familiar with the Eagles' tendencies, Philadelphia's staff also knows his system and should shut down the Cardinals' offense.
Chargers @ Broncos under 37.5 pointsGet ready for another backup quarterback duel between two teams who had high preseason aspirations. We've seen too many second-stringers under center this season, and this Chargers-Broncos matchup is no exception.
Both teams' seasons are essentially over. The Chargers are mathematically eliminated, and the Broncos' chances of making the postseason are less than 10%. Broncos coach Sean Payton announced the benching of Russell Wilson this week, signaling a permanent move away from Wilson beyond this season.
That means Jarrett Stidham will start for the Broncos against the Chargers' Easton Stick. Stidham has started games before, and Stick has looked competent leading the Chargers' offense the last couple of weeks. But there's a reason this is tied for the second-lowest total on Sunday.
When these division rivals played on Dec. 10, the Broncos won 24-7. That was with Wilson and Justin Herbert for a portion of the game, before a season-ending finger injury knocked the latter out. This one should be just as ugly as each team struggles to score.
Seahawks under 22.5 pointsBoth the Seahawks and Steelers are in must-win mode as they each compete for the final playoff spot in their respective conferences. Seattle has won two straight without scoring over 20 points and scored less than 22 points in five of the last six games.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, has the NFL's seventh-best scoring defense, allowing just 19.4 points per game.
Seattle is currently in seventh place and there's a good chance the team will remain in the playoff picture regardless of the result. The Steelers are on the outside looking in, and if they lose on Sunday, it'll be nearly impossible to make the playoffs with one week to go.
The Steelers are the more desperate group and have an elite defense, which doesn't bode well for a Seattle team that's struggled to consistently score.
Sam Oshtry is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @soshtry for more betting coverage.
Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.