Three 8-6 AFC squads will look to boost their playoff chances with straight-up wins this weekend. That includes the Baltimore Ravens, who travel to Pittsburgh to battle the Steelers for first place in the AFC North on Sunday afternoon as six-point underdogs at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Baltimore enters Sunday afternoon’s Ravens vs. Steelers betting matchup at Heinz Field trailing 9-5 Pittsburgh by just one game in the AFC North, but it can claim first place on tiebreakers if it draws even with the Steelers in the divisional standings.
Pittsburgh takes a five-game SU and against-the-spread win streak into the penultimate weekend of the NFL regular season. However, the Steelers have lost SU and ATS in two of their past three home dates and are winless in their past four meetings with the Ravens, including two defeats at Heinz Field.
On Saturday afternoon, the 8-6 Tennessee Titans will continue their pursuit of first place in the AFC South when they visit the Jacksonville Jaguars as five-point favorites. Tennessee has won three straight SU, including a pair of road wins, and can force a potential showdown with the Houston Texans for the division title with a SU win over the Jaguars on Christmas Eve.
Houston sits alongside the Titans at 8-6 but currently owns top spot in the division on the strength of a 27-20 win over Tennessee in Week 4.
The 2-12 Jaguars return home following a 21-20 loss in Houston as 3 1/2-point underdogs, extending their SU slide to nine games. Jacksonville has been outscored by a 78-61 margin in two straight losses to Tennessee, but is unbeaten SU in its past two home dates with the Titans, according to the OddsShark NFL Database.
The Texans will look to record a third straight outright victory for the first time this season when they battle the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday night as slim one-point home favorites.
Houston is 5-1 SU at home this season, but has failed to cover in four of its past five games overall. However, the Texans have won six of their last seven games against the Bengals, whose only road win in their past six games came against the Cleveland Browns.
In other NFL Week 16 betting action, the 8-6 Green Bay Packers look to maintain their claim on the second NFC wild-card spot when they host the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday afternoon as seven-point betting favorites.
As well, the 8-6 Tampa Bay Buccaneers will try to keep pace with Green Bay as they visit the New Orleans Saints as three-point underdogs, while the 8-6 Denver Broncos try to end a two-game slide when they visit the Kansas City Chiefs on “Sunday Night Football” as 3 1/2-point underdogs.
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