What will NFL Week 18 bring us?
Football bettors step into uncharted waters, with the extended schedule and expanded postseason providing unique edges and angles we’ve never had before. The final slate of NFL betting in the regular season puts plenty in front of us: playoff pushes, potential rest spots, and mystery motives for those teams not making the cut.
We dig a little deep with our best NFL Week 18 spot bets – uncovering hidden value with our letdown, look-ahead and schedule spots.
Letdown spot: Seattle Seahawks (+6.5) at Arizona Cardinals
After losing to the Bears at Lumen Field in Week 16, the Seahawks had to do right by their loyal fans in the home finale on Sunday. Seattle had the perfect setup to send the Twelve home with smiles on their faces, hosting the lowly Lions in Week 17.
Mission accomplished. The Seahawks blasted Detroit 51-29 with Russell Wilson looking like his old self and DK Metcalf getting his fill of end zone celebrations, with three of his six catches going for touchdowns. All is right in the Emerald City … for now.
Seattle isn’t postseason bound and makes the trip to Arizona in Week 18 with little more than pride to play for. Pete Carroll’s crew won’t roll over for the Cardinals, but they run the risk of being fat and happy after that Week 17 cupcake. Arizona can still make a play for the NFC West crown, should the Rams lose to the Niners, so the Cardinals will be going all out.
Look-ahead spot: Buffalo Bills (-17) vs New York Jets
The Bills can win the AFC East title with a victory over the Jets at home Sunday. And with books laying 17 points in front of Buffalo, that doesn’t seem like too tough a task. That, my friends, is where the let-down lies.
Buffalo clinched a playoff spot with the win over Atlanta on the weekend and is fighting to hang onto the No. 4 seed while the rival Patriots play at Miami in pursuit of the same dream. However, New England needs to beat the Dolphins and benefit from a Bills loss to take the division title.
Buffalo’s best approach to Week 18 is to come out swinging and put New York well behind it on the scoreboard, leaving the option to rest starters and key contributors in the second half as they look ahead to postseason prep.
That doesn’t seem like a stretch, but it does leave the back door wide open for a feisty Jets team that just took Tom Brady to the brink. If you aren’t buying into New York and all those points right now, it might be a solid in-game play should the Bills get their way in the opening half. Live betting could be your best friend as you and NFL teams scoreboard watch in Week 18.
Schedule spot: Kansas City Chiefs (-10) at Denver Broncos
The flexible Week 18 schedule gave Kanas City the middle finger by slotting the Chiefs into one of two Saturday games. Kansas City, which has an outside shot of claiming the No. 1 seed in the AFC should it win Saturday and Tennessee loses, is laying double digits in Denver.
Kansas City not only has to play on a short week after losing at Cincinnati in Week 17 but plays its second straight road game (and third roadie in 24 days) in the thin, energy-sapping air of Mile High Stadium. The Broncos are out of the postseason race, but head coach Vic Fangio is rumored to be on the chopping block and this last stand against KC could be the decider, so don't doubt Denver's motivations.
The Chiefs were as big as -10.5 for this finale but we’re seeing the spread tick down under the key number with some books serving Kansas City -9.5 (-110) as of Monday afternoon. Should this spread close at double digits, it will surprisingly be just the second time Kansas City has been a favorite of -10 or higher on the road since Patrick Mahomes took over under center in 2018. The Chiefs are 8-1 SU but 4-5 ATS as double-digit chalk the past two seasons.
