Looking for NFL week 18 tips, like best spread, total, touchdown and player props? You've arrived at the right place, cause we have you covered!
It's the final week of the regular season in the NFL and that means there are a lot of dead rubbers on the slate this week so we'll be looking at some of the games with playoff implications for our selections.
There aren't many of those games either though, so it's worth taking a look at certain contract incentives that players across the league have in place. While I'm sure the front offices won't be too happy, the coordinators and coaches do tend to try and reward their players for a tough four months of work, so it's worth keeping an eye on them.
The final AFC playoff spot is up for grabs, but the Broncos secure that with a win, and they're 11-point favourites against a Chiefs team who look like they'll be resting most starters, so that should be sorted. The NFC South is still open, but the Buccaneers are 14-point favourites against the Saints, so they should secure the fourth seed in the NFC.
The weekend closes with the battle for the one seed on that side of things, with the Vikings visiting the Lions, knowing the winner will gain home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Best Spread – Buccaneers -14 vs Saints
Usually, I don't touch double-digit spreads, let alone two TD spreads, but this week, with so many dead games, it's more limited, and I think the Buccaneers will finish the season in style with a big win over the Saints.
The Buccaneers have been firing on all cylinders in recent weeks and put up 48 against the Panthers last weekend while the Saints struggled to 10 points against the terrible Las Vegas Raiders with a backup QB and very little offensive options.
I think Tampa hold the Saints to a similar 10 points in this one and they should be able to put up 30 with a good run game and a wide receiver who needs 85 yards to hit 1,000 yards for his 11th straight season. I think he'll hit 100 and a couple of TDs in this one.
The other side of the ball the Tampa defence has been stepping up recently as well and should do well against a host of backups on the Saints offensive lineup.
Give me 30-10, and I'll be fine with this one, and then we get Tampa winning the NFC South, which, as a neutral, is preferable to the hapless Falcons.
Best Total – Bills vs Patriots o36.5
It's a game that doesn't mean a whole lot with the Bills locked into the second seed in the AFC and the Patriots probably preferring to lose to gain the best spot they possibly can in the draft in April this year, with a loss they local up the top pick in the draft which I'd imagine they'll look to trade out of to pick up some much-needed assets.
It looks like the Bills will at least start Josh Allen, which I believe will be for a half, before resting their main guys for Mitchell Trubisky to come into the game in the second half. We've seen in seasons past that the Bills can blow away teams in the first half, and I think we might get there here.
I do like the Bills to cover the first-half spread with their starters out there, as I think they'll get three TDs, and that's most of the way to cover the total here. The Patriots look like they'll be playing their starter throughout, and while they're not great, I think Drake Maye has enough about him to get a couple of TDs on the board for his team. 28-21 here and well over the total.
Best Touchdown Scorer – Mike Evans @ 8/13
I don't go for odds-on shots in this column, but with so little available in Week 18 and with one I'm quite confident in, I'll go for Mike Evans to score this weekend, so I'll take the odds-on and Evans to continue his big streak to start his career with another 1,000-yard season.
He scored twice last week, and in a game I expect them to be in full control of, I think he'll go in again this weekend. You can get 5/2 on Boylesport for two or more, which I'm not against either.
Best Player Prop – Courtland Sutton o80.5 rec. yards
Courtland Sutton needs 82 receiving yards to earn himself a cool $2m bonus on his contract for the year, that's one of the biggest remaining incentives as we enter this final week of the season. The Broncos need to win the game and their run game has been stuttering so it seems likely they'll naturally be aiming for Sutton anyway, but in a game against a Chiefs team who will be resting a lot of their starters, I don't see why they won't try and get their star player a nice bump on his pay cheque for the season.
If you enjoy the other kind of football, why not take a look at some of our other predictions pieces?
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