NFL Week 17 lookahead lines: Early best bets worth considering before Week 16

We again saw a decent amount of line movement this past week, and only some of it tied to injuries to players such as Patrick Mahomes and Micah Parsons. As we've talked about in the past, the 1.5-point line is the one most ripe for movement. The Rams-Seahawks game on Thursday, for example, flipped from Seahawks -1.5 on the lookahead to Rams -1.5 early in the week before coming back to Seahawks -1.5 on gameday.

Other 1.5-point lines have also shifted off that number, with the Buccaneers and Vikings growing to three-point favorites and the Bengals going even further following the benching of Tua Tagovailoa by the Dolphins. The Cardinals, on the other hand, shifted from 1.5-point favorites to 2.5-point underdogs in one of the biggest non-injury adjustments of the week.

What line moves can we predict this week? Let's take a look at the Week 17 lookahead lines at DraftKings and then share our best bets to lock in early.

Week 17 lookahead lines

Cowboys (-3) at Commanders, 52.5
Lions (-3.5) at Vikings, 48.5
Broncos (-5.5) at Chiefs, 39.5
Texans (-1.5) at Chargers, 39.5
Ravens at Packers (-3), 46.5
Patriots (-9.5) at Jets, 44.5
Seahawks (-7.5) at Panthers, 42.5
Steelers (-3.5) at Browns, 35.5
Jaguars (-5.5) at Colts, 44.5
Saints (-1.5) at Titans, 39.5
Cardinals at Bengals (-5.5), 51.5
Giants (-3) at Raiders, 43.5
Eagles at Bills (-3), 46.5
Bears at 49ers (-3), 50.5
Rams (-8.5) at Falcons, 48.5

Week 17 lookahead picks

Saints at Titans

We're starting out with the most-likely-to-move spread at 1.5, and I'm going with the team catching the points here. The Saints have won two straight and host an awful Jets team as moderate favorites, but are they a team people will be willing to back on the road in an outdoor environment? Plus, the Titans have the chance to make a major statement by upsetting a Chiefs team that doesn't have Patrick Mahomes, and they've trended toward increased scoring in recent weeks against notable defenses like Seattle, Cleveland and San Francisco. I'm predicting the Titans will reopen as favorites here.

Eagles at Bills

The Eagles are coming off a dominant win, but it came against the league's worst team. A win on Saturday against the Commanders could lock up the division, and then there will come a question of whether the team considers resting some key players or pushes to try and win the No. 1 seed, which is going to take a lot of help as they're going to be two back of whichever team wins on Thursday if they beat the Commanders. If they somehow lose to Washington but the Cowboys lose to the Chargers, Philly is out of the running for the top seed. I would make the Bills more than three-point favorites even without the potential rest factor, so any value that scenario can add is a bonus.

Patriots at Jets

Last week, I thought the Browns were decent value hosting the Bills as 8.5-point 'dogs, but after the Bills won a close game and the Browns looked terrible, the line moved up to 10. This feels like a similar situation, though I'd say the Jets are well behind the Browns, in my opinion, considering they don't have nearly the upside on defense. The Pats play on Sunday night, so the initial move upon rerelease will only reflect how the Jets look against the Saints, but with it seeming like it'll be Brady Cook under center again, I don't like their chances to impress.

Other notes: Texans-Chargers is another 1.5-point line with Houston favored, but I think that's about the right number and both teams should continue to have playoff motivation, so I didn't want to include it in the pick set above. I'd lean toward backing the Texans and expecting their edge in the trenches when L.A. has the ball to win out. ... If the Panthers come out and upset the Bucs at home, I could see them closing on the other side of seven after the Seahawks opened as 7.5-point favorites. I can't see Seattle moving higher than that even with a win on Thursday, so this feels like a situation with more upside to play the 'dog.