NFL Week 16 Predictions: Early Projections for Vegas’ Odds, Lines and Spreads

The NFL is giving fans a Christmas gift of earlier football, featuring the majority of the Week 16 slate on Saturday instead of Sunday.

With four different days of prime-time games plus an extra battle Sunday afternoon, you will be able to follow as many key matchups as ever this week as teams jockey for playoff position. Considering 14 of the 16 games feature at least one squad battling for the postseason, there is quite a bit to watch.

There are certain to be surprises, but here is an early look at the week ahead in the NFL.

Top Games of the Week Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers

The AFC North will come down to two teams that don’t exactly like each other.

With two games remaining, the Pittsburgh Steelers (9-5) hold a slight edge over the Baltimore Ravens (8-6) in the standings. A Steelers win would clinch the division, but a loss would put the Ravens in first place with a season sweep over their rival.

While some would have preferred a clinched division by now, Pittsburgh safety Mike Mitchell is ready for the challenge, per Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL.com:

Ravens’ win means no wiggle room for Steelers. Christmas matchup IT. Mike Mitchell: “You never want it easy. You want to take everything.”

— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) December 18, 2016

Both squads seem to be playing at their best over the past few weeks. The Steelers have five wins in a row, while the Ravens have won five of the last seven, with the only losses coming to the New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys.

The key for Baltimore is being able to contain Le’Veon Bell as it did earlier in the year, holding the running back to just 32 yards on 14 carries. However, he is such a versatile weapon that even a solid defense like this one will struggle to keep him from picking up large chunks of yardage.

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