MNF Week 17 expert picks: Bills at Bengals

POD staff picks for the “Monday Night Football” matchup between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals.

The NFL closes out Week 17 with a matchup between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals, in what has become an important game for AFC playoff seeding.

The No. 1 seed in the AFC is currently occupied by the Kansas City Chiefs (13-3) but the Bills (12-3) have a chance to jump them for the top spot if they can beat the Bengals on Monday night. If they beat the Bengals, then win next week—against the current AFC No. 7 seed New England Patriots—they will keep the No. 1 seed and secure a first-round bye.

The Bengals (11-4) currently sit in the No. 3 spot in the AFC and a win over the Bills would make them the AFC North champions, locking up a home-field playoff game. If the Bengals lose to the Bills, they will face the No. 6 seed Ravens (10-6) in Week 18, with the winner receiving the AFC North crown and a first-round playoff game at home.

The good folks over at DraftKings Sportsbook are favoring the Bills by less than a field goal and the POD staff is split right down the middle on who they like to win this game. And with the spread so close, if a staff member picked a team to win outright, they also picked them against the spread as well.

Here is who each of our staff is picking for Monday’s nights game:

Here’s how to watch tonight’s final “Monday Night Football” game of the regular season:

Date: Monday, January 2, 2023
Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
Location: Paycor Stadium
TV: ESPN
ESPN Announcers: Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Lisa Salters (field reporter)
NOTE: The Manningcast on ESPN 2 will return for the Wild Card round of the Playoffs
Online Stream/Replay: ESPN+, ESPN APP, NFL+ Premium

Enjoy the game and come chat with us in the comments.