Welcome to an extra special sports Saturday! We have a pre-Christmas feast of 11 NFL Week 16 games to tuck into today, and some wild scenes can be expected with some extreme weather around the country. We also have a college football bowl game to enjoy, so let’s get straight to making your next bet better!
About Last Night
Fantastic Friday in the NBA
We hope the Pickswise handicappers boosted your Christmas shopping bankroll on Friday by going 3-1 with our 3-star NBA plays. Germantas Kneita went 3-1 with his NBA prop picks too. The Nets beat the Bucks 118-100 and the Grizzlies outshone the Suns 125-100.
Bruins beat the Devils
The big game of the day in the NHL was Bruins vs Devils, and Boston came out on top 4-3, with all their goals coming in the second period.
Bowl wins for Houston and Wake Forest
Both Friday’s bowl games went under, with Houston beating Louisiana 23-16 in the Independence Bowl and Wake Forest comfortably covering in a 27-17 Gasparilla Bowl win over Missouri.
Today’s Slate
11 Christmas Eve NFL games
It should be a fun day for TV viewers in the NFL, if not for the players and fans in the outdoor stadiums. The Saints vs Browns game has a line of just 32.5 points. The later afternoon slate features the Eagles vs Cowboys NFC East matchup before the Raiders and Steelers play on Saturday Night Football.
Hawaii Bowl takes center stage
Middle Tennessee takes on San Diego State in the Hawaii Bowl at 8:00 pm ET on ESPN.
Best Bet of the Day
NFL: Pittsburgh Steelers -1.5 over Las Vegas Raiders
8:15 pm ET, NFL Network
The Steelers have won 3 of their past 4 games, with the only loss in that span coming by just 2 points against the Ravens. Kenny Pickett is making his return from the concussion protocol, and he was really starting to settle in before getting hurt. Perhaps most encouragingly for Pittsburgh’s offense, they were finally able to get the ground game going last week against a tough Carolina defense. They had 156 yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground, and if they can have anywhere near that kind of production then they should win this game. The Raiders gave up 172 yards to Rhamondre Stevenson in their most recent game, so the Steelers should be able to run effectively.
Must-watch
Be sure to check out our daily show Let’s Bet It on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/c/Pickswise at 10:00 am ET.
Mark Zinno and Brandon Marcello are your hosts today and they will be joined by Pickswise props specialist Bobby “Prop Holliday” Stanley to look at every angle of today’s NFL and college football games before giving out their Plays of the Day.
You can also access the show at any time through Spotify and Apple Podcasts (search for Let’s Bet It Presented By Pickswise).
The Week 16 edition of Pickwise Playbook, our weekly NFL preview show, is also available, featuring former NFL star Tank Williams, so be sure to check that out, too!
Read all of our great sports analysis as it arrives throughout the day on the tab.
Stat of the Day
The Bills are 1-6 against the spread in their last 7 games when favored by 7 points or more.