RJ bell and Mackenzie Rivers talk NFL betting recap for Week 17 RJ Bell and Mackenzie Rivers closed out Week 17 with a concise but data heavy betting recap that blended market results, team motivation, and late season NFL trends, grounding every conclusion in performance metrics rather than narrative guesswork. Bell acknowledged a winning week that still felt unsatisfying due to a lost best bet and a misread on the Raiders, noting that injury related assumptions about tanking did not align with observed effort. That misread fed into a broader discussion about how perceived tank games often produce the opposite result, as teams under scrutiny tend to play harder, a pattern Bell argued is more reliable than public speculation. The conversation expanded into league wide scoring and game flow data, highlighting that Week 17 produced a season high number of games where one team never trailed, yet historical analysis since the introduction of the 17 game schedule showed no consistent late season bias toward blowouts. Bell emphasized that Week 18 stands apart, with teams typically maintaining effort regardless of playoff position, a finding supported by multi year data showing fewer one sided games in the final week. From a betting performance standpoint, the duo cited a 22 and 8 run over six weeks, reinforcing confidence heading into the season finale. Team level analysis focused heavily on net point margin and first down differential since Week 11, metrics Bell described as among the strongest predictors of future performance. Jacksonville, San Francisco, New England, Seattle, and the Rams emerged as clear leaders in point margin, while the Saints quietly ranked among the best in first down differential, contrasting sharply with struggling teams like the Jets, Raiders, and Cardinals. Quarterback form was treated with the same rigor, as Rivers detailed dramatic midseason turnarounds from Trevor Lawrence and sustained late season efficiency from other passers, while also flagging volatility in players such as Sam Darnold. Turnover efficiency further separated contenders from pretenders, with Seattle standing out as a playoff caliber team despite poor turnover luck, a profile Bell suggested could signal hidden upside. Throughout the discussion, the hosts returned to a central theme, late season betting edges come from understanding effort, efficiency, and underlying stats, not from assuming teams will quit or coast based on standings alone
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