Wise n' Shine: NFL picks and college football predictions for Saturday, December 24

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Phil Agius

NFL

Show Bio

I've been writing about the NFL and a host of other sports for the UK's top daily betting paper the Racing Post for more than 20 years. An incurable Browns fan (1-31 survivor), I also specialise in all kinds of motorsport betting including F1, MotoGP, IndyCar and NASCAR. For Phil Agius media enquiries, please email contact@pickswise.com.
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Welcome to an extra special sports Saturday! We have a pre-Christmas feast of 11 NFL Week 16 games to tuck into today, and some wild scenes can be expected with some extreme weather around the country. We also have a college football bowl game to enjoy, so let’s get straight to making your next bet better!

About Last Night

Fantastic Friday in the NBA
We hope the Pickswise handicappers boosted your Christmas shopping bankroll on Friday by going 3-1 with our 3-star NBA plays. Germantas Kneita went 3-1 with his NBA prop picks too. The Nets beat the Bucks 118-100 and the Grizzlies outshone the Suns 125-100.

Bruins beat the Devils
The big game of the day in the NHL was Bruins vs Devils, and Boston came out on top 4-3, with all their goals coming in the second period.

Bowl wins for Houston and Wake Forest
Both Friday’s bowl games went under, with Houston beating Louisiana 23-16 in the Independence Bowl and Wake Forest comfortably covering in a 27-17 Gasparilla Bowl win over Missouri.

Today’s Slate

11 Christmas Eve NFL games
It should be a fun day for TV viewers in the NFL, if not for the players and fans in the outdoor stadiums. The Saints vs Browns game has a line of just 32.5 points. The later afternoon slate features the Eagles vs Cowboys NFC East matchup before the Raiders and Steelers play on Saturday Night Football. Check out today’s NFL predictions.

Hawaii Bowl takes center stage
Middle Tennessee takes on San Diego State in the Hawaii Bowl at 8:00 pm ET on ESPN. Check out today’s NCAAF picks.

NFL Week 16 Promo Codes

Find all the latest Sportsbook Promo Codes and Bonuses for NFL Week 16, including sportsbooks live in your state.

Best Bet of the Day

NFL: Pittsburgh Steelers -1.5 over Las Vegas Raiders
8:15 pm ET, NFL Network

The Steelers have won 3 of their past 4 games, with the only loss in that span coming by just 2 points against the Ravens. Kenny Pickett is making his return from the concussion protocol, and he was really starting to settle in before getting hurt. Perhaps most encouragingly for Pittsburgh’s offense, they were finally able to get the ground game going last week against a tough Carolina defense. They had 156 yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground, and if they can have anywhere near that kind of production then they should win this game. The Raiders gave up 172 yards to Rhamondre Stevenson in their most recent game, so the Steelers should be able to run effectively. Read our full Raiders vs Steelers predictions.

Must-watch

Be sure to check out our daily show Let’s Bet It on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/c/Pickswise at 10:00 am ET.

Mark Zinno and Brandon Marcello are your hosts today and they will be joined by Pickswise props specialist Bobby “Prop Holliday” Stanley to look at every angle of today’s NFL and college football games before giving out their Plays of the Day.

You can also access the show at any time through Spotify and Apple Podcasts (search for Let’s Bet It Presented By Pickswise).

The Week 16 edition of Pickwise Playbook, our weekly NFL preview show, is also available, featuring former NFL star Tank Williams, so be sure to check that out, too!

Must-read

Our comprehensive coverage of today’s NFL action can be accessed via the hub of our NFL Week 16 betting guide, which has links to all our expert analysis, picks, parlays and prop bets — including Jared Smith’s NFL best bets, our Week 16 NFL mega parlay and Prop Holliday’s best NFL prop bets.

We have NCAAF best bets for today’s bowl game, and if you’re looking ahead to the Christmas Day NBA games, we already have Same Game Parlays for Lakers vs Mavericks, Grizzlies vs Warriors and Suns vs Nuggets.

Read all of our great sports analysis as it arrives throughout the day on the Analysis tab.

Stat of the Day

The Bills are 1-6 against the spread in their last 7 games when favored by 7 points or more.

Boost of the Day

Derrick Henry to have 100+ rush yards and Patrick Mahomes to have 250+ pass yards

FanDuel Sportsbook has enhanced the odds of an NFL player prop parlay of Tennessee running back Derrick Henry rushing for 100+ yards against the Texans today and Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes recording 250+ passing yards against the Seahawks. The odds have been boosted from -120 to +150.

Pickswise is the home of free sports picks, news and best bets. Check out our expert NFL Picks, NBA Picks, MLB Picks and NHL Picks pages for our latest game picks.

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