NFL Week 17 Picks: Odds, Over/Under Predictions for Every Game

There are several games with playoff implications in Week 17, and the Washington Redskins hosting the New York Giants is one of the biggest.

The Redskins are playing to become eligible for the postseason. If they beat their division rivals, the Redskins are going to the playoffs. Almost certainly.

The “almost certainly” has to do with the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions, who will be playing Sunday night for the NFC North title. The team that loses the game will be out of the playoffs if the Redskins beat the Giants. However, if the Packers and Lions play a rare tie game, the Packers would win the division, and the Lions would have the same 9-6-1 the Redskins would end up with after beating the Giants.

The tiebreaker would go to the Lions, since they defeated Washington earlier in the year.

While there have been two ties this year, a third would be shocking. There haven’t been three ties (or more) in an NFL season since 1973, which was the last year before regular-season overtime was instituted in the NFL. There were seven ties in that season.

The Redskins can go into their game with the Giants feeling confident that if they win, they will be in. Handicappers have given the Redskins the edge against the Giants, who are locked into the No. 5 seed. The Redskins are seven-point favorites, according to OddsShark. 

That may be a bit much for the Redskins. While the Giants can’t change their playoff position, they will be back in action in the wild-card round, it does not make sense for head coach Ben McAdoo to let his players have the full week off.

He has not indicated he will do that, either.

While it may make sense to get quarterback Eli Manning out after some point in the game, he could sharpen up his game …

continue reading in source www.bleacherreport.com