There's nothing quite like the NFL.
Football is one of the most intense, exciting sports on the planet. The source of the now-ubiquitous saying "Any Given Sunday," the NFL is a place where even struggling teams have a chance to topple the best in the league. Anything can happen when you only play 17 regular season games a year.
That uncertainty is a huge driver behind the excitement the NFL generates each and every season. What's more fun than watching something totally unexpected unfold before your eyes?
That's why, this year, we'll be bringing you four bold predictions to watch for each week of the 2023 NFL season.
NFL Bold Predictions for Week 17
Bryce Young Will Be a Top-6 QB
Little has gone right for the Carolina Panthers during their brutal and disappointing 2023 season, but it might be ending on an optimistic note. First overall pick Bryce Young is starting to look like the player the team thought they were drafting back in May.
Over the team's last two games, Young has completed 41 of 60 pass attempts (68.3%) for 479 yards, 2 touchdowns, and no interceptions. His 8.65 adjusted yards per attempt in that span is nearly double the 4.72 he averaged over the rest of the season, indicating that he could be starting to put it all together.
If that is the case, Young and the Panthers could be set up for an exciting Week 17 contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Offenses facing the Jaguars during their recent four-game losing streak are averaging 29.5 points and 402.5 scrimmage yards per game. Those numbers would rank second-worst and worst in the league this year, with only the Washington Commanders' defense looking close to as bad on a statistical basis. The Jags haven't been that poor for the whole year, but they've been a disaster lately.
It's also worth noting that Young has faced a pretty rough schedule. According to Pro-Football-Reference's strength of schedule system, the Panthers have the sixth-hardest schedule in the NFC this year. Young personally went against a pretty rough group of opposing defenses, too, as just three of the defenses he's faced all year rank inside the bottom-10 defenses in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks.
When he has had the privilege of facing down those weaker defenses, he's actually put up okay numbers, like when he scored 20.3 FanDuel points against the Detroit Lions in Week 5 or when he posted 14.5 points against the Houston Texans in Week 8. This is very encouraging considering the baseline he's been working with this year.
The point is that Young has shown he can at least score fantasy points in good matchups. Even if he can't hold up against average defenses yet, he is still capable of moving the ball in the right circ*mstances. This week, he'll get to take on December's worst defense and will put up the first top-six fantasy quarterback finish of his career.
Ty Chandler Will Be a Top-3 RB
Week 16 didn't quite go to plan for the Minnesota Vikings -- it's hard to have a plan when your quarterback throws four interceptions -- but it sure looked like Ty Chandler cemented himself as the team's lead back. The second-year back out-touched teammate Alexander Mattison 8-to-2, finishing the game with 17 rushing yards to Mattison's -1. The team told us they wanted to focus on Chandler as the lead back and committed to that decision, even as they struggled to move the ball on the ground.
Chandler should have a much easier time picking up rushing yards against the Green Bay Packers in Week 17. The Packers have given up the ninth-most fantasy points per game to opposing running backs this year and have allowed the third-most total rushing yards of any defense. They frankly aren't stopping much on defense at all this year -- even Bryce Young's Panthers scored 30 on them last week.
Just based on the matchup, it feels relatively safe to say the Vikings should want to lean on their running game this week. That feels even safer to say amidst their current quarterback controversy. Head coach Kevin O'Connell has yet to name a starter for Week 17 given the torrent of turnovers the team has seen from both Nick Mullens and Joshua Dobbs. The best way to prevent your quarterback from turning the ball over is to make sure he doesn't have a chance to turn the ball over. That could put the rock in Chandler's hands a lot.
Heavy expected rushing volume and a soft matchup will make Chandler one of the more exciting running backs to watch this weekend. Add in the former North Carolina Tar Heels back's 4.38-second wheels and ability to hit the big play, and he could be must-watch football in Week 17. He will leverage his skills and opportunity into a top-three fantasy finish at the position.
Both Chris Godwin and Mike Evans Will Be WR1s
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have caught fire in the second half of the year. Their ground game is finally getting enough done while their aerial assault is firing on all cylinders. Quarterback Baker Mayfield has produced an elite 141.2 quarterback rating in his last two starts, throwing for a combined 664 passing yards and 6 touchdowns. They've been playing fun football and will keep the ball rolling this week against the New Orleans Saints in a divisional battle with serious playoff implications.
Correlation is not necessarily causation, but it's been noteworthy that Mayfield's strong recent stretch of play has coincided with a new tendency to hammer slot receiver Chris Godwin with targets. Only Amari Cooper (36) has seen more targets than Godwin's 34 over the last three weeks. After seeing an average of 7.1 targets per game through his first 12 games of the year, he is now averaged 11.3 targets per game over his last three. That volume puts him into the WR1 conversation each week -- and he's cashed in with 16 grabs for 233 yards in his last two games.
We already know Mike Evans is a weekly threat to post WR1 numbers. The star receiver punched his time card with yet another 1,000-yard season and leads the league with 13 receiving touchdowns.
We've seen both of these studs blow up for huge games this year now, even though we haven't exactly seen it happen at the same time. That will change this week.
The Saints have played some stingy defense this year but were exposed last week on Thursday Night Football when the Los Angeles Rams effortlessly passed for over 300 yards against them, becoming the first team all year to do so. But the Rams were really just the first team capable of taking advantage of the Saints missing two critical defenders in their secondary in Marshon Lattimore and Marcus Maye. Since the Saints' Week 11 bye, they've faced three of the NFL's worst passing offenses and a Lions team that didn't need to pass much to put up 33 points.
Without Evans' nemesis and one of their better safeties, the Saints will be in trouble against the Bucs. Godwin will leverage his volume into a top-12 fantasy finish, and Evans will do the same with big plays down the field and touchdowns.
The Patriots Will Upset the Bills -- Again
According to FanDuel Sportsbook's Week 17 Betting Odds market, the Buffalo Bills (-11.5) are heavy home favorites over the New England Patriots -- and it makes sense. The 9-6 Bills have scored the sixth-most points this year, recently toppled the mighty Dallas Cowboys and the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, and they have one of the league's best quarterbacks in Josh Allen. The Patriots have literally none of that.
However, the Pats have already upset the Bills once this year when they claimed victory in these rivals' nail-biting Week 7 matchup. They will do so again in Week 17.
For starters, the Patriots' offense was a calamity for most of the year but has looked uncharacteristically competent lately. After averaging just 12.3 points per game through the first 12 weeks of the season, they've now averaged 21.3 points per game over their last 3 contests while playing a trio of the NFL's strongest defenses. They have a chance to top that recent three-game average this week against a banged-up Bills defense.
On the flip side, Buffalo's offense could pair surprisingly poorly with New England's defense. While the Bills' rushing attack has surged to new heights lately, the Patriots' rushing defense has shut down their opponents' ground attacks, allowing the fewest yards per carry (3.2) and the second-fewest total rushing yards (1,272). If the Bills spend too much time trying to establish the run, they could let the Patriots steal this one out from under their noses.
It's also worth noting that Josh Allen has historically struggled against the Patriots. He has a career 88.1 quarterback rating against Bill Belichick, significantly lower than the strong 97.3 rating he's averaged over the last four years. They've bottled him up on the ground by limiting him to just 31.3 rushing yards per game, taking out an important element of his game.
The Patriots are looking feisty in the closing weeks of the season, and the Bills -- who nearly lost to the Easton Stick-led Los Angeles Chargers last week -- have a tendency of "playing down" to their competition. If the Bills aren't careful, they might lose another game to the Pats this year.
If that sounds as possible to you as it does to me, you can bet the Patriots' moneyline at +490. If you are interested in making other Week 17 bets, FanDuel Sportsbook is also offering a 25% profit boost promotion for live wagers in this week's Thursday Night Football matchup between the New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns.
Interested in playing NFL DFS? Head over to FanDuel’s daily fantasy football lobby to see all the offerings for this week's slates.
Sign up for FanDuel Sportsbook and FanDuel Daily Fantasy today!
The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.
