NFL Week 18 Sunday Best Picks

Week 17 in the NFL didn’t exactly deliver many exciting matchups, and it’s not a guarantee that things change with this Sunday’s slate. The Week 18 board gives us a few games that have meaningful implications in the NFL playoff picture, including the Miami Dolphins vs. New England Patriots, Detroit Lions vs. Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football.

With the Week 18 slate set to get underway in earnest on Sunday, it’s time to get into our NFL predictions and three best bets for this slate of games. 

NFL Week 18 Predictions

Pick #1: New England Patriots -10.5 over Miami Dolphins (-110) Click Here to Bet

Pick #2: Denver Broncos -12.5 over Los Angeles Chargers (-110) Click Here to Bet

Pick #3: Chicago Bears -3 over Detroit Lions (-110) Click Here to Bet

Pick #1: Patriots -10.5 over Dolphins (-110) Click Here to Bet

New England enters this game needing a win and a Denver loss to the Chargers in order to snag the top spot in the AFC postseason picture. The latter result is unlikely, but we can still expect Mike Vrabel’s team to show up ready to play on Sunday. 

Drake Maye and the Patriots are 12-1 in their last 13 games, with only a 35-31 defeat against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills during this torrid stretch. They'll also have an edge at home, especially considering since Week 8, the Dolphins have not won a true road game over any team other than the Jets. Former starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has been benched, so his season — and probably his entire career with this franchise — is not going to matter during Sunday’s game. With that in mind, we can expect Quinn Ewers to struggle a bit against a formidable New England defense. 

Pick #2: Broncos -12.5 over Chargers (-110) Click Here to Bet

Much like the Patriots, the Broncos are chasing after the top seed in the conference heading into the postseason, while the Chargers are projected to be the last Wild Card team in the field in the AFC – assuming all the favorites take care of business this weekend. Despite this being a game in which our expert would typically look to back the underdog given the fact that this total is well below 40, it’s hard to get there with the Chargers when considering their injuries and availability report this week.

The situational spot certainly favors Denver in this matchup, as the Broncos defense will likely be able to take advantage of a bad quarterback situation for Los Angeles. The Chargers have elected to sit the banged-up Justin Herbert in this game, which immediately puts an already struggling offense at a massive disadvantage against one of the best defenses in football. Without Herbert, it’s hard to see the Chargers moving the ball at all on Sunday, so our expert likes Denver to win comfortably in this one. 

Pick #3: Bears -3 over Lions (-110) Click Here to Bet

A year ago, it was the Lions who were sitting atop the NFC North, while the Bears were parked in the basement. What a difference a season makes, as the roles are reversed with these teams heading into Sunday’s matchup. Bears head coach Ben Johnson helped the Detroit offense dominate in years’ past as their coordinator, but with his shift to the Windy City has come a total reshaping of the Chicago offense, and the results have largely been very positive. Not only is Caleb Williams playing the best football of his career, but the Bears have been able to generate a solid running game to help out their young quarterback. 

On the other side, Detroit hopes to snap a three-game winning streak, and the Lions haven't won a game on the road since Week 10 against the lowly Commanders. It’s safe to say that this will be a much tougher task for Dan Campbell’s struggling team. While the Bears might look to rest a few starters on Sunday, Chicago is still playing for its playoff seeding this week, so we can’t see the Bears taking their foot off the gas against a division rival.