Four NFL Teams With Season Win Totals On The Line In Week 18

The final week of the NFL regular season is finally upon us and that means it’s last call for some football bettors to cash in on their season win total wagers.

There are four teams on the win total bubble heading into Week 18 — Cincinnati Bengals, Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, and Seattle Seahawks — that will have varying degrees of motivation heading into the final slate of games this weekend.

Let’s take a look at the Week 18 matchups and the odds involving these four teams:

All season win totals and odds courtesy of bet365.

Cincinnati Bengals

Season win total: 8.5
Current record: 8-8

The Bengals were a popular pick to exceed their season total of 8.5 before the season kicked off in the fall, but things haven’t gone according to plan for Joe Burrow and Co. this season. They started the season with three consecutive losses and dropped four of their first five games to put themselves in a serious hole, but the Bengals have made a late charge with four straight wins heading into Week 18 to give bettors that are holding over tickets some life.

Cincinnati still has an outside shot at a playoff spot, which should bode well from a motivation perspective heading into this Saturday’s clash with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bengals are 1.5-point road favourites over the Steelers, who still have a chance to clinch the AFC North title with a win and a Baltimore Ravens loss to the Cleveland Browns. Pittsburgh claimed a 44-38 victory over the Bengals in Cincinnati in Week 13, covering the spread as three-point underdogs.

This is one of the most exciting matchups on the board in Week 18. The Bengals will likely fall short of their playoff aspirations (5% probability to make the playoffs according to NFL.com), but they can still satisfy the bettors that backed them to have a season over .500.

Arizona Cardinals

Season win total: 7.5
Current record: 7-9

The Cardinals were looking like a potential playoff team a few weeks ago, but a heartbreaking 36-30 overtime loss to the lowly Carolina Panthers followed by an ugly 13-9 loss to the Los Angeles Rams put them out of their misery.

Now, the Cardinals will square off against another disappointing team, the 6-10 San Francisco 49ers, in the regular season finale for both teams. Arizona is a 4.5-point home favourite in that Sunday clash, and the Cardinals eked out a 24-23 victory over the Niners back in Week 5.

Arizona was 6-4 following its Week 10 win over the New York Jets, but the Cardinals have dropped five of their last six games down the stretch to fall out of playoff contention and put their season win total projection in jeopardy.

Indianapolis Colts

Season win total: 7.5
Current record: 7-9

A disappointing 45-33 loss to the New York Giants last week put the nail in the coffin on Indy’s playoff aspirations, so there won’t be much motivation to notch a victory in its season finale against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. The Colts are 4.5-point home favourites in that matchup, though, so there’s still some hope they can climb to eight wins and cash the over tickets on their win projections.

Poor quarterback play and a porous defence are to blame for another failed season. The Colts haven’t made the playoffs since 2020 and there are all kinds of question marks heading into the offseason.

Seattle Seahawks

Season win total: 9.5
Current record: 9-7

Despite having a respectable 9-7 record, the Seahawks will not have a chance of making the playoffs heading into their Week 18 matchup with Rams, who have already clinched the NFC West title thanks to a five-game winning streak.

Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald doesn’t plan to sit any of his veteran players, though, and is vowing that the season finale will be like a “normal game” for his team personnel-wise.

Bettors holding over tickets on the season win total should also take solice in the fact that several key players for the Seahawks can earn financial incentives with strong showings on Sunday.

Quarterback Geno Smith can still earn up to $6 million in contract escalators depending on if the team can notch a 10th win and some other personal statistical benchmarks. Receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba also needs just five receptions to pass Tyler Lockett’s single-season team record of 100 set in 2020.

Seattle is a 6.5-point road favourite on Sunday against a Rams squad that will likely rest several starters with the division title already locked down.