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Best NFL Games to Bet on in Week 18

The NFL Week 18 schedule runs on Saturday and Sunday, with the final pieces to the playoff puzzle. Let's preview two of the most meaningful games below.

Saturday| 8:00 PM ET | Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers (+1.5, O/U 49.5)

This Saturday night, we'll find out who wins the NFC West, and more importantly, the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. The Seahawks come in as a slight favorite both to win this game and the Super Bowl, but that could certainly change based on how they perform here. The Seahawks have some of the best metrics of any team this season, but they'll have to avenge their Week 1 loss at home to these 49ers, and they'll have to get Sam Darnold to show the world he can, in fact, win the big games like this and do it in the playoffs too. He'll have Jaxon Smith-Njigba this time, who has played as well as any wide receiver this season.

Meanwhile, the 49ers are peaking at the right time. They've been good all year despite the injuries, and that Week 1 win at Seattle where an injured George Kittle was replaced by Jake Tonges, who caught the game-winning touchdown, is why this game can give them the No. 1 seed now. It's a huge opportunity as this means the 49ers can get a first-round bye, then host two playoff games before also hosting the Super Bowl at Levi's Stadium in February. That means five straight home games without having to travel, which is unheard of in NFL history.

The other good news is that the 49ers are fairly healthy right now. They expect to have Kittle (ankle) back this week, but even if he can't play, Tonges has proven he is capable. Ricky Pearsall is playing very well despite not scoring a touchdown all year (is this his week?), and Christian McCaffrey has a shot at 1,000 receiving yards to go with over 1,000 rushing yards.

But unlike the question marks with Darnold and the offense, Brock Purdy is on fire with 10 total touchdowns in his last two games alone. His mobility has a huge impact on this offense, being so lethal even without Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, or the injuries to other weapons this year. Purdy has taken this team to the Super Bowl two years ago and is playing with the same type of efficiency that led the league in 2023 right now. Seattle's defense is obviously stingy, but Purdy has enough big-game experience and success to play really well here and punch the 49ers' ticket to stay home through February if they keep winning.

One thing to consider from Week 1 is that the 49ers don't have Nick Bosa and Fred Warner anymore; their two best defenders lost to injury. That could certainly help Darnold and JSN perk up and score more points than they did in their first game together in Week 1.

Sunday| 8:20 PM ET | Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (+3.5, O/U 41.5)

You know the drill when it's Steelers vs. Ravens. It's going to be a physical, low-scoring, and close game between these teams, with the AFC North and the No. 4 seed on the line this Sunday night. It's also a massive legacy game for these head coaches as John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin are meeting for the 40th time, and according to some, it might be the last should the losing team move on with a different coach in 2026. Tomlin had his shot to clinch the division last week in Cleveland, but the Steelers were so worried with Myles Garrett breaking the sack record that they never got the ball in the end zone.

But this is also a big legacy game for the multi-MVP quarterbacks. The only problem is, in true Steelers vs. Ravens fashion, we're not sure if it will be Aaron Rodgers vs. Lamar Jackson for the second and possibly last time. Jackson's back knocked him out of the New England game, and he did not play against the Packers. Tyler Huntley did well in his absence last week at Green Bay when Derrick Henry rushed for 216 yards and four touchdowns. They'll need a steady dose of King Henry regardless if it's Huntley or a not 100% Jackson at quarterback. As of Wednesday, it's unclear whether Jackson will be under center on Sunday night.

The thing about this rivalry is that it's usually never mattered who the quarterbacks were, because the game is going to be tight. The Steelers have also done a great job of winning the close ones, as they did again in Baltimore earlier this year. Aaron Rodgers thew for a season-high 284 yards, but a solid two-thirds of those yards came to players he may not have this Sunday night, including suspended wideout D.K. Metcalf and injured tight end Darnell Washington. That could make things very hard on Rodgers, who was not sharp in his connections to wide receivers like Scotty Miller, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Adam Thielen in Cleveland last week.

However, there is a possibility that Rodgers could retire, and this could be his last game, should the Steelers lose. Rodgers has lost his last three home elimination games, including a 2022 game with Green Bay, where he lost to the Lions in Week 18 with a playoff spot on the line. This is his biggest game since then, and he'll have to make do with the receivers he has left. But the Baltimore defense also has been vulnerable to the pass all year, and they obviously have blown double-digit leads on Sunday Night Football against the Bills (15 points) and Patriots (11 points) this year, so that's always on the table with these teams, too.

It should be a good one in Pittsburgh to close one of the craziest regular seasons in recent memory in the NFL.