Will Jackson Be Back for Sunday’s Huge NFL Showdown?

Posted on: December 29, 2025, 10:44h. 

Last updated on: December 29, 2025, 10:44h.

• Playoffs all but set after NFL’s penultimate weekend
• Ravens and Bucs most favoured to fill final two playoff spots
• Purdy has five TDs, three passing and two rushing, against Bears

The NFL playoff picture is much clearer this morning, with all but two playoff spots locked up.

The Pittsburgh Steelers (9-7) and Baltimore Ravens (8-8) square up next Sunday night for the last remaining AFC playoff spot – 8:20 p.m. EST kickoff. The winner will lock up the AFC North title and secure a No. 4 seed in the playoffs. The loser of that game is out of the playoffs.

The Steelers aren’t going to have wide receiver DK Metcalf, who is suspended. Ravens’ QB Lamar Jackson is out with a back injury, missed yesterday’s game against the Green Bay Packers, and his status for Sunday is unclear. Early week lines show the Ravens as ML betting favourites. At DraftKings the Ravens are -180, the Steelers +150. The spread there is Ravens -3.5 (-105), Steelers +3.5 (-115). At FanDuel the Ravens are -172 on the ML, the Steelers +144.

“I’m told, right now, it’s a shade under 50/50 as to whether he’ll be available for the showdown next weekend in Pittsburgh,” said ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio on NBC’s Football Night in America.

SNF Showdown for All the Marbles

In the NFC, the Carolina Panthers (8-8) are still in the hunt for the last playoff spot there, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-9) on the bubble.

A big storyline out of the NFC for bettors is the emergence of 49ers QB Brock Purdy, playing at an MVP level. In last night’s 42-38 shootout win over the Chicago Bears, Purdy had five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing). San Francisco hosts the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday night with all the marbles on the line – the NFC West division title, No. 1 seed in the NFL playoffs with home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Purdy has raised the level his game at the perfect time.

The Seahawks are slight betting favourites this morning, -112 at DraftKings ML, the 49ers at -108.

According to ESPN’s playoff projections, the Bucs are 54.2% to make the playoffs, the Panthers 45.8%. In the AFC, the Ravens are 57.8% to make the playoffs, the Steelers 42.2%.

NFL Betting: Best Games for Punters Yesterday

“We had a mixed bag of results on the day, with certain underdogs coming through in the morning, including the Dolphins and Browns winning outright,” said Joey Feazel, Head of Football at Caesars Sportsbook. “Customers were the beneficiaries of Joe Burrow and the Bengals offense, who clearly have not quit on the year like some teams that are out of contention.

In the late afternoon, the customers were all over the Giants in the race for the 1^st overall pick in the NFL Draft and it was evident that the Raiders wanted that pick much more. The Eagles/Bills game gathered a decent amount of Over money, so the low-scoring affair was good for the book.”

Best games for bettors at Caesars Sportsbook were Texans/Chargers, Bengals/Cardinals, Patriots/Jets, and Giants/Raiders. The best games for the books were Buccaneers/Dolphins, Browns/Steelers, Ravens/Packers, Lions Vikings and Bills/Eagles.