Well, that’s a Beary, Beary, Christmas. The Bears, down 10 with 3 minutes left, rallied to beat the Packers 22-16 in OT. Chicago closed a 1.5-point favorite and the Total went Under the closing 44.5. In the CFP, Miami, Ole Miss and Oregon advanced.
Playoff stakes, bottom-feeder takes
Oh, sure, there are NFL games today with playoff implications.
Case in point: The Bucs (-3) and Panthers will play today (and again in Week 18) with the NFC South title at stake.
But what about the games featuring teams that have no hope this season?
Case in point: The Chiefs were eliminated from the playoffs last week, lost Patrick Mahomes to an ACL injury and have dropped 5 out of their last six. KC (-3) will play the Titans, 2-12 and tied with the Giants and Raiders for worst record.
Matt Youmans is ready to fire:
The Titans could and probably should win this game behind rookie quarterback Cam Ward, who has totaled four touchdown passes in the past two games, and running back Tony Pollard, who has topped 100 yards rushing in each of the past two games. This is one of those times when you feel an obligation to play the ugly ‘dog and tune in to see what goes wrong.
Other Best Bets columns
👉 Pauly Howard (kicking props)
Josh Appelbaum will post his NFL Sharp Report this morning.
Everything we do on Week 16 is posted here.
Other NFL resources
>Fantasy Points WR/CB Matchup Tool
>DraftKings/Circa Betting Splits
VSiN Pro subscribers have access to the plays from hosts and guests on our NFL picks page.
3 Survivors advance with Eagles
As they are every week, the selections for the three Circa contests were revealed Saturday night on The Football Contest Show (9-10 ET):
>Circa Survivor: Of the 10 live entries vying for the $18.7M prize, three already have advanced with the Eagles’ 29-18 victory over the Commanders. The pending seven: Texans (3), Saints (2), Bills (1) and 49ers (1).
>Circa Million: The most popular pick was the Bears PK vs. the Packers (1,414), followed by the Lions -7 vs. the Steelers (1,341), Eagles -6.5 vs. Commanders, Broncos -3 vs. Jags (1,311) and Patriots +3 vs. Ravens (1,290). So the consensus is off to a 2-0 start.
Check out our contest hub for complete consensus picks and individual selections.
The most popular pick in the Circa Friday Football Invitational is the Giants +3 vs. the Vikings.
Adam Burke breaks down how the EdgeBoost Average Joe contestants played the card.
CFP quarterfinals set
We’re down to eight teams in the College Football Playoff:
Dec. 31
>Cotton Bowl: Miami (+9.5) vs. Ohio State, 7:30 ET
Jan. 1
>Orange Bowl: Oregon (-1.5) vs. Texas Tech, Noon ET
>Rose Bowl: Alabama (+7) vs. Indiana, 4 ET
>Sugar Bowl: Ole Miss (+7) vs. Georgia, 8 ET
Everything else we do during bowl season is posted here.
Quick Hits
NBA: Zach Cohen‘s Best Bets and Steve Makinen‘s Analytics Report will hit around mid-morning on our NBA page. Our Opta AI NBA player props projections are here.
College Basketball: Greg “Hoops” Peterson has his Best Bets for today’s menu.
Get real-time steam alerts from the DonBest Screen. Sign up now for a 7-day free trial at go.donbest.com. Use the promo code VSIN10 for 10% off your initial subscription.
NHL: VSiN hockey analyst Jonathan Davis will post his Best Bets around mid-day.
Soccer: Nigel Seeley has Best Bets for the EPL menu.
