Week 17 NFL Picks:
2025 Edition

Shoutout to the top performers of Week 16! wchappy* won outright with 13 correct picks!

This year we are hosting our pick'em contest on Sleeper, and just because you've missed the contest up to this point doesn't mean you can't try to get a weekly win in the final week of the regular season.

Let's get to our concensus misses and lone wolf picks from Week 17.

*If you want to be shouted out by name, be sure to let us know who you are!

Big Misses

This week featured two games where the three of us were in agreement and went down with the ship together. Those games were:

Detroit Lions (-3.5) at Minnesota Vikings - All three Sportsballers laid the points and were left disappointed by an awful offensive showing in a must-win game by the Lions. For the first time all season, not a single person in our pool got this game correct.

Pool results: 0% took MIN

Los Angeles Rams (-8.5) at Atlanta Falcons - All three Sportsballers laid the points and were treated to three Matthew Stafford interceptions as he very well Maye have thrown away his first career MVP.

Pool results: 22% took ATL

Lone Wolf

We also had several games where one of us went off the beaten path. Here are those games and whether our lone wolf got the kill or unexpectedly found himself as the prey:

Dallas Cowboys (-3.5) at Washington Commanders - Cory was the lone member of the Sportsballers to lay the points. Eric failed to make his pick in time for the early Christmas game and Evan took the Commodes. Once the Cowboys opened the scoring about five minutes into the game, Washington never again pulled within the spread.

Pool results: 89% took DAL

Baltimore Ravens at Green Bay Packers (-2.5) - Cory was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the Ravens and the points. Derrick Henry had himself a monster game with four rushing touchdowns and the Packers could do nothing to keep up, losing despite never punting for the third time this season.

Pool results: 33% took BAL

Seattle Seahawks (-7.5) at Carolina Panthers - Cory was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points on the home team. Zach Charbonnet had himself a day and Carolina's offense was late to the party as the Seahawks won easily.

Pool results: 46% took SEA

Arizona Cardinals at Cincinnati Bengals (-7.5) - Evan was the lone member of the Sportsballers to lay the points. Joe Burrow and Chase Brown combined for more than 400 yards of offense and four touchdowns, two more than the Cardinals managed as a team.

Pool results: 54% took CIN

Pittsburgh Steelers (-3.5) at Cleveland Browns - Eric was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points. The Browns stuned their rivals, forcing Pittsburgh to prepare for an NFC North title game in Week 18 instead of celebrating this evening.

Pool results: 15% took CLE

Jacksonville Jaguars (-6.5) at Indianapolis Colts - Cory was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points. It came down to a final heave to the end zone that was picked off, but Philip Rivers and the Colts did keep their margin of defeat just inside the spread.

Pool results: 27% took IND

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-5.5) at Miami Dolphins - Cory was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points. Tampa's recent struggles continued today and Miami surprised their in-state, inter-conference rivals.

Pool results: 35% took MIA

New England Patriots (-12.5) at New York Jets - Cory was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points, perhaps expecting the Patriots to relax once the game was in hand. They may have done so, scoring just once in the second half, but they still won by 32 points in a blowout.

Pool results: 85% took NE

Philadelphia Eagles at Buffalo Bills (-2.5) - Eric was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points. For the second time this season, Jalen Hurts failed to complete a pass in the second half of a game the Eagles won. Philly led 13-0 entering the final quarter, and the Bills comeback attempt came up a failed 2-point conversion short of completion.

Pool results: 58% took PHI

Standings

P.S. Don’t forget to catch the latest episode of our podcast! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter/X so you never miss an announcement about when our next show will air. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell icon to be alerted when we go live. And catch every episode you miss live on your favorite podcast app; we’re on Apple and Spotify!