NFL Week 17 picks against the spread

San Francisco 49ers @ Los Angeles Rams (-10)

The San Francisco 49ers are doing that thing again where they win games at the end of the regular season that mean nothing. They’ve won two of their last three games, and played toe to toe with the Chicago Bears last week. Kyle Shanahan has been a great coach, and really turned this team around once they figured out how to play without Jimmy Garoppolo.

The Los Angeles Rams won’t take this matchup lightly with so much on the line in Week 17. The Rams have been petering down the stretch, and could now lose their first-round bye with a loss here. This game is too important for the Rams to sit back on it, plus they want to erase all the bad play that’s plagued their December.

Ten might seem like a lot of points, but I can’t see the Rams doing anything but keeping the foot on the gas and taking it to their opponent this weekend. Expect to see a lot of Jared Goff getting the offense going, and maybe a little Todd Gurley if he can play. If not, they did just fine with CJ Anderson.

Los Angeles (R) 38, San Francisco 10

Arizona Cardinals @ Seattle Seahawks (-13.5)

There are certain games where a team plays for a head coach to make him look good even if he’s on the way to getting fired. It’s usually a guy who’s been with the team for a while, and someone they’ve really grown to love over time. That’s not what is happening with Steve Wilks. It may not be fair that he’s only getting a year as head coach with a roster not good enough to win games, but he hasn’t had enough time with these players to build that chemistry.

The major issue with this game is the Seahawks have nothing to play for. After beating the Kansas City Chiefs last week, the Seahawks are basically locked their place into the fifth seed in the NFC playoffs. They have no chance to move up, and but if the Vikings win and they lose they could move to sixth. That’s probably why most sports books don’t even have this on their board, but the ones that do have it around 13.5 points in favor of Seattle.

When there are as many variables as there are in this matchup (will Russell Wilson play the whole game, what other starters will sit, how much will the Seahawks care), take the points. Don’t feel very good about it, and you should probably skip this game entirely, but if you have to bet on this game go with the Cards.

Seattle 20, Arizona 10