How Bengals or Dolphins can clinch playoff spot, plus 10 crazy offseason predictions and Week 18 picks

It’s officially time for your favorite part of the Friday newsletter, which is where I round up five NFL writers and we all make some picks for the upcoming week. Just in case you’ve forgotten, our five writers are: Pete Prisco, Will Brinson, Jordan Dajani, Tyler Sullivan and myself. It took 17 weeks, but we finally had a week we can be proud of. In Week 17, we went 5-0 straight up and 4-1 against the spread, which means we’re now 43-42 ATS and 48-32 straight up on the season. 

If you’re new here, here’s how things work: I’ll give you one pick from each writer and then direct you to the rest of their picks. That way, if you like their pick, you’ll be able to click over and check out all of their Week 18 picks, but if you hate their pick, you can ignore the rest of their picks and move on with your life. 

• Pete Prisco — Packers (-9) 30-20 over Bears. From Prisco: “The Packers are playing for seeding here, while the Bears are playing for nothing. The Packers need to bounce back after a loss to the Vikings. I think they do. Jordan Love throws it around to light up the Bears.” For the rest of Prisco’s Week 18 picks, be sure to click here.
• Tyler Sullivan — Bengals (-1.5) 27-23 over Steelers. From Sullivan: “Joe Burrow is running too hot to fade at the moment, especially when facing a Steelers defense that just allowed Patrick Mahomes to light them up for 320 yards passing and three touchdowns on Christmas. Cincinnati has also been the top team to back when they head out on the road, coming into Week 18 with a league-best 7-1 ATS record. That includes a pristine 5-0 ATS record as a road favorite, which is exactly what they are in this AFC North showdown.” For the rest of Sullivan’s Week 18 picks, be sure to click here.
• Will Brinson — Jets (+1.5) to beat Dolphins. From Brinson: “Maybe the Jets pack it in and I look stupid here, but I’m expecting a decent game from Rodgers in what could be his last game ever. Of all the matchups in Week 18, this feels like the biggest “division rival ruins a possible playoff berth for no real good reason” matchup.” You can check out the rest of Brinson’s best bets for Week 18 here.
• Jordan Dajani — Vikings (+3) 40-33 over Lions. From Dajani: “The Lions lost a high-scoring shootout at home to Buffalo in Week 15, and I see the same thing happening vs. Minnesota. Sam Darnold is riding high after throwing for a career-high 377 passing yards vs. the Packers. In a shocking turn of events, it’s the Vikings that acquire the first-round bye in the NFC.” For the rest of Dajani’s Week 18 best bets, be sure to click here.
• John Breech — Seahawks (-6.5) 31-17 over Rams. “The Rams could clinch the No. 3 seed in the NFC if they win this game, but Sean McVay clearly doesn’t care about that, because it’s looking like he’ll be resting his starters. Also, Geno Smith will get a $2 million bonus if he leads the Seahawks to 10 wins and this would be their 10th win. If you combine those two facts together, that makes me feel like this one isn’t going to be close.” For the rest of my Week 18 picks, be sure to click here. 

For more Week 18 NFL picks, you can check out out our CBSSports.com picks hub here. 

4. NFL bold predictions for Week 18: Chiefs upset Broncos 

After giving you some bold predictions for Week 17 last Friday, Garrett Podell is back with five more for Week 18. And if last week is any indication, he might nail them all. In Week 17, Garrett correctly predicted that the Bengals would beat a team with a winning record for the first time all season. 

Let’s take a look at two of his bold predictions for Sunday:   

• 1. Carson Wentz leads to Chiefs to upset win over Broncos. “The Chiefs (15-1) are resting numerous key starters in Week 18 since they have nothing to play for, however, the Chiefs will beat a Denver Broncos team (9-7) starved to reach the postseason for the first time since they won Super Bowl 50 back in 2015. … Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix has run into a late-season, rookie wall as he’s thrown six interceptions in the last four games after tossing just six in his first 12 career games. Those struggles plus the Chiefs’ sense of calm in close games will be why Kansas City beats them to send them into an early offseason for the ninth year in a row.”
• 2. Baker Mayfield breaks Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay record for most TD passes in a season. “If Mayfield throws five, that would give him 44 passing touchdowns in 2024 — a figure that would break Brady’s Buccaneers single-season record of 43 that he set back in 2021. Mayfield has a much more motivating factor driving him in Week 18 than just stats: his Buccaneers can clinch the NFC South division title with a win over the Saints.”

Podell made a total of five bold predictions for Week 18, and you can check out all of them here.

5. 10 crazy predictions for the 2025 offseason

The offseason will officially be starting next week for more than half the NFL. Since we’re going to see so many teams go into offseason mode starting on Monday, we thought we’d also go into offseason mode right now by offering some crazy predictions for the 2025 NFL offseason. 

With that in mind, Jordan Dajani came up with a few crazy predictions for the offseason: 

1. Raiders hire Deion Sanders. “I don’t doubt that Sanders wants to remain at Colorado and continue to build something special, but the call of the NFL is impossible to ignore. New Raiders minority owner Tom Brady and his crew pitch Sanders about taking the Raiders job after Vegas surprisingly fires Antonio Pierce. They sell Sanders on “Sin City,” how the Raiders are a sleeping giant and explain how ownership will build a support system they claim will guarantee success.”

2. Raiders trade up for Shedeur Sanders. “Part of the Raiders’ pitch to Deion will be the idea to trade up to the No. 1 overall pick to select his son, Shedeur Sanders. Vegas needs a franchise quarterback anyway, and Sanders is viewed by many as the best in this class. The Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year completed 74% of his passes for a conference-leading 4,134 yards, 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. And keep in mind that Tom Brady knows Shedeur, and has apparently mentored him for years.”

3. Garrett Wilson gets traded to the Broncos. “Garrett Wilson’s future with the New York Jets is unclear at this point, and if he’s available via trade, every team with a WR1 need should be calling about him. … Our prediction is that Wilson is dealt to the Broncos to serve as Bo Nix’s new No. 1 wideout. Someone who can both stretch the field, and move the chains with his ability to dodge defenders.”

4. Colts hire Mike Vrabel. “Shane Steichen being fired this offseason would be surprising. He went 9-8 in his first season as head coach with backup quarterback Gardner Minshew, and engineered a breakout season for running back Zack Moss. However, in 2024, Anthony Richardson has struggled, Joe Flacco has been terrible and the defense looks like one of the worst in the league. Who will replace Steichen? How about a former rival in Mike Vrabel! The former Titans head coach fits the ‘leader of men’ box that Jim Irsay wants to check, and he will even give Vrabel some roster control as he attempts to right the ship.”

5. Tee Higgins signs with the Commanders. “Since Washington hit on Jayden Daniels, general manager Adam Peters understands his “Super Bowl window” is open right now. … Our prediction is that Washington signs former Cincinnati Bengals wideout Tee Higgins in free agency to a four-year, $108 million deal that carries an AAV of $27 million. That would put Higgins in the top 10 of highest-paid wide receivers currently.”

To see Jordan’s full story, which includes a total of 10 crazy predictions, be sure to click here. 

6. Extra points: Jets start coaching search off with two big names