The Buffalo Bills will be looking to clinch the AFC East title for a second straight year and assure themselves of home-field advantage on wild card weekend when they host the New York Jets on Sunday as heavy 17-point favourites on the NFL odds for Week 18 at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
The Bills have posted three straight dominating wins to pull even with New England in the division standings. Buffalo also holds the edge in tiebreakers, and can claim the division crown with a win in Sunday afternoon’s matchup at Highmark Stadium.
After enduring a worrisome 3-5 midseason run the Bills have rediscovered their offensive touch, averaging 31 points per game during their current win streak. In addition, a stout Buffalo defence has limited opponents to 15 or fewer points in five of their last six home dates. The Bills’ current surge is reflected on the Super Bowl 56 odds, where they now trail only Green Bay and Kansas City as a +750 wager.
The Jets’ bid to play spoiler is diminished by their performance on the road this season where they have gone 1-6 SU, with their lone victory coming against the Houston Texans.
The Patriots, meanwhile, aim to build on last week’s 50-10 demolition of the Jacksonville Jaguars when they visit the Miami Dolphins as 7-point chalk on Sunday. New England can still claim the AFC East title with a win over Miami combined with a Bills loss. However, the Patriots will have to overcome a shaky 2-6 SU and ATS run when visiting the Dolphins, who currently enjoy a five-game SU winning streak on home turf.
Five teams remain in the hunt for two AFC wild card spots. One of those spots will go to the winner when the Las Vegas Raiders host the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night as 3-point underdogs at online betting sites. Victorious in three straight, the Raiders sit deadlocked with the Chargers at 9-7, but are winless in their past three home appearances on Sunday Night Football. The Chargers snapped a two-game slide with last weekend’s 34-13 rout of the visiting Denver Broncos, but have tallied consecutive SU wins just once since Week 5.
The Indianapolis Colts can lock up the AFC’s top wild card with an outright victory when they visit the Jaguars, but they are winless SU and ATS in six visits to Jacksonville. And both Baltimore and Pittsburgh remain mathematically in contention, but both these AFC North rivals will need a win and plenty of help from other teams to clinch a wild card when they face off on Sunday with the Ravens set as 5.5-point home favourites.
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