NFL Playoff Picture: Impact of NFL Week 17 Odds on Playoff Chances and Seeding

There are just two games left in the NFL regular season, and every playoff-hopeful team is battling for seeding. The action continues on Saturday afternoon with three exciting games that will shape the final seeds in the AFC and NFC playoff picture.

Let's take a look at Saturday and Sunday's matchups to see how these conference showdowns will affect the playoff scenarios and each team's chances of making it.

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NFL Playoff Picture: Week 17 Odds

NFC West Odds - Cardinals vs. Rams

The Los Angeles Rams are in the drivers seat in the NFC West, and will look to finish the job with a win on Saturday night against the Arizona Cardinals. The Rams are -6.5 favorites at home in SoFi Stadium, and they clinch the division with a win. They have -750 odds to win the NFC West, giving them an 88% chance to get it done. If they lose tonight, those odds will plummet, making next week's game against the Seahawks a de facto division title game.

The Cardinals have already been eliminated, so it remains to be seen what kind of effort they will put forth on Saturday evening. They smoked the Rams, 41-10, back in the second week of the season, but that was with excessive injuries for LA. Matthew Stafford and co. are poised to get revenge today, and have been humming along with Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp. It would be surprising to see the Rams somehow blow this playoff spot based on their recent form.

AFC Wild Card Odds: Can Broncos Hold On to Final Spot Against Bengals?

The Denver Broncos will visit the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday afternoon to try and determine the final playoff spot in the AFC. If the Broncos win, they will firmly punch their ticket to the AFC playoffs and either grab the sixth or seventh seed.

The Bengals are a -3.5 home favorite, and shouldn't struggle to put up the points required to cover this spread. Their issues lie with the defense, which is mostly the reason why they have a losing record and are poised to miss the playoffs for the second year in a row. With a 50-point total that ties the highest number on the board this weekend, it's no secret that they struggle defensively and will let up a solid amount of scores to any team they face.

The Bengals would still need a lot of help to make it, even if they can get this first victory on Saturday. They hold extremely longshot odds of +1600, giving them just a 6% chance of making it as of right now. They would need the Broncos to lose again to the Chiefs in the final week, and also have both the Dolphins and Colts lose one of their final two games.

With all the talk of them blowing it, you'd think the Broncos had mediocre odds to make it. But FanDuel has them pegged at -850, giving them nearly a 90% chance of making the playoffs. This is largely because of the two game lead that they currently hold, but also because their final opponent is the Chiefs who have already locked up the top seed. Kansas City will be resting most of their stars in Week 18 when they visit the Broncos in Denver, giving Bo Nix and co. an easy path to victory

Indianapolis Colts Playoff Odds

The Colts technically have the best chance to make it out of this chase group of Dolphins and Bengals. They hold a slim tiebreaker over both teams, and if the Broncos lost both games and they won out, Indianapolis would be the first in line to steal a bid. They have games against the Giants and Jaguars which couldn't be any more winnable if they tried, so they are mostly needing the outside help of the Broncos imploding.

The Colts have +600 odds entering the weekend, giving them a 14% implied chance of making it. Those odds will improve tremendously in the event of a win over the Giants and a Broncos loss to the Bengals.

Miami Dolphins Playoff Odds

The Dolphins are sandwiched in between the middle of all this, with an outside shot of making it, but needing even more help to pass the Colts. They have games against the Browns and Jets, both obviously winnable. But they would need the Broncos to lose out as well as the Colts to drop one against either the Giants or Jags in the next two weeks.

Miami has +1200 odds to make it because of these scenarios, just a 7% shot to find a way in. They've dealt with injuries throughout the year on offense, hampering their chances of coasting to a spot, and it is probably a little too late for this team.