Caleb Wilfinger

One of the two games on Saturday’s NFL Week 16 slate comes in the NFC East, where the Eagles are set to take on the Commanders in the first of a pair of games over the final few weeks of the season. Philadelphia appeared to finally have its “get right” game a week ago, but it was against a Raiders team that is probably the worst outfit in football at the moment, so it’s hard to properly assess just how well the Eagles are playing at the moment. What we do know is that Philadelphia has largely struggled to consistently score for most of the season, and it’s actually the run game that has continued to underperform against expectations. This is the worst rush attack that the Eagles have had in years, and it’s certainly worth examining if Philadelphia will be able to continue winning without having a successful ground game. After all, it’s not as if Jalen Hurts is playing his best football at the moment, so the Eagles below average passing game shouldn’t be expected to have much success on the road in a divisional game.

On the other side, Washington is without Jayden Daniels for the remainder of the season, but Marcus Mariota has been effective as a backup quarterback when called upon this season. Just last week, the Commanders knocked off the Giants as short road underdogs, and the offense was surprisingly competent given the injuries that Washington has sustained to this point. With that in mind, even if the Commanders fall behind in this game, we can still count on Mariota and this offense to fight and stay within striking distance against an opponent that has struggled to win by margin all season long. I’ll take the full touchdown with the home team.

Eagles vs Commanders prediction: Commanders +7 available at time of publishing. Playable at that number. 

If you’re looking for a new sportsbook, check out Bet365, the world’s #1 sportsbook. They have an amazing sign-up offer where you can INSTANTLY receive $150 in bonus bets from a $5 wager, regardless of whether that bet wins or loses! There’s no catch, it’s really that simple. ⏰ in time to fade or follow our experts’ Eagles vs Commanders predictions.

On the Los Angeles side of things, the Rams offense has been one of the best in football all season long, and we can expect another solid showing on Thursday. Even against an excellent Seattle defense, there should be avenues for the Rams to see success on the ground and through the air. That’s where Kyren Williams comes in, as the dependable Rams running back has 10 touchdowns on the season while averaging just under 5 yards per carry in the process. Williams can also catch passes out of the backfield, which could come into play against a Seattle defense that should look to heat up Matthew Stafford and make things uncomfortable for the Rams downfield passing game. Look for Williams to find the end zone for a fourth consecutive contest on Thursday.

One of the most consequential games on the NFL Week 16 slate comes in Chicago, where the Bears are going to take on the Green Bay Packers in a massive showdown in the NFC North. These teams just met two weeks ago in Green Bay, and the Packers were able to come out on top in a game that came down to the final possession. This time around, Chicago is in a much better position as a team, and I actually make the Bears a small favorite in this game given the key injuries that Green Bay has sustained in recent weeks. Ben Johnson’s group was just in a very difficult situational spot against the Browns a week ago, and this offense didn’t miss a beat against the stout Cleveland defense, as Chicago racked up 31 points and dominated the game from start to finish at home. Caleb Williams is playing the best football of his young NFL career at the moment, while the Bears defense has shown signs of improvement of late. Given the fact that Chicago came up just a few yards short of sending the previous meeting between these teams to overtime, it’s hard not to favor Williams and company to pick up a possible division-clinching win at home.

While Chicago has impressed me in recent weeks, the Packers are a team that I’ll be looking to fade in the immediate future, albeit through no fault of their own. Green Bay is still one of the best teams in the NFC, but the Packers’ hopes of winning a Super Bowl were essentially dashed a week ago when Micah Parsons went down with a torn ACL in a loss to the Broncos. The rest of the Green Bay defense is still very solid, but it’s hard to quantify just how much of a difference-maker Parsons is in a variety of areas. Elsewhere, the Packers might also be without top wide receiver Christian Watson in this game, and that doesn’t bode well for Jordan Love’s downfield passing efficiency against an opportunistic Bears secondary that has made a living on forcing turnovers this season. I’ll back the home ‘dog while I’m still getting plus-money in what should be a terrific game on Saturday.

Packers vs Bears prediction: Bears ML (+100) available at time of publishing. Playable to -110.

If you’re looking for a new sportsbook, check out Bet365, the world’s #1 sportsbook. They have an amazing sign-up offer where you can INSTANTLY receive $150 in bonus bets from a $5 wager, regardless of whether that bet wins or loses! There’s no catch, it’s really that simple. Join Bet365 right now ⏰ in time to fade or follow our experts’ Packers vs Bears predictions.

The final game of the opening round of the College Football Playoff will commence on Saturday evening from Autzen Stadium, as the Oregon Ducks are set to host the James Madison Dukes in a game that appears to be pretty lopsided on paper. This is the largest spread of any College Football Playoff game in this new 12-team format thus far, and all signs would traditionally point to the Ducks winning big and advancing to the quarterfinals in a few weeks. In all honesty, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Dan Lanning’s team controlled this game from the opening kick and won by 17-20 points. However, even when pricing in an extra point or two for the atmosphere at Autzen Stadium at night in what should be one of the best Oregon crowds in recent memory, I just cant get to this number now that it’s currently sitting above 3 touchdowns.

This is a very difficult game to handicap given the impending coaching turnover on both sides, but I have massive respect for this James Madison coaching staff, and they should have their team ready to play in a game where the Dukes have nothing to lose and are playing with a bit of house money. In its only game against a Power 4 opponent on the road this season, James Madison was tied with Louisville in the 4th quarter and that was long before the Dukes were a finished product on offense. In fact, since Alonza Barnett III became the full-time quarterback, this has been a well-oiled machine (18th in success rate, 28th in EPA per play), albeit an offense that hasn’t faced a defense like what they’ll see against Oregon. Where JMU is pretty underrated nationally is on defense, as the Dukes are tops in the nation in success rate allowed, to go along with top 10 marks in EPA per play and points per drive allowed. They’ll certainly have their work cut out for them against an excellent Oregon offense, but the Ducks are still dealing with a number of injuries heading into this game and it’s not a guarantee that Will Stein’s offense will be at full strength, to say nothing of the focus concerns I have with the Ducks given both of their coordinators have already accepted other Power 4 head coaching jobs. Given the massive spread at play here, the backdoor could be wide open in the fourth quarter, and it’s not a guarantee that Oregon is just going to show up and win by 4 touchdowns on Saturday.  

James Madison vs Oregon prediction: James Madison +21.5 available at time of publishing. Playable at that number. 

If you’re looking for a new sportsbook, check out Bet365, the world’s #1 sportsbook. They have an amazing sign-up offer where you can INSTANTLY receive $150 in bonus bets from a $5 wager, regardless of whether that bet wins or loses! There’s no catch, it’s really that simple. Join Bet365 right now ⏰ in time to fade or follow our experts’ James Madison vs Oregon predictions.