NFL picks 2019, Week 17: Our experts like the Raiders’ odds at a miracle spot in the playoffs

The final standings of the 2019 season are almost set. So are the standings among the SB Nation team of weekly NFL pickers.

Our champion is Christian D’Andrea, who enters the final weekend of the regular season with a 162-78 record. That’s a full nine games better than anyone else on the panel.

Finishing last is our crew of dog friends, who offered their canine expertise all year to mixed results. A few of the most accurate dog oracles of the season will be back for the playoffs, but the team on a whole is now eight games behind any of the human prognosticators. They’re still very good dogs, though.

In the last week of the season, there are 16 divisional battles, and a few that will have an impact on the postseason field.

Philadelphia took the lead in the NFC East by beating the lifeless Cowboys in Week 16. But our experts still don’t fully trust the Eagles. Three predicted the Giants will extend their two-game winning streak and knock off Philadelphia. That’d leave the door open for Dallas to win the division by handling Washington.

And even though the Cowboys inexplicably blew their chance to finish the NFC East, almost everyone is picking Dallas to handle Washington.

The panel has less faith in the Titans to capitalize on their win-and-in situation, although Tennessee’s competition is a lot stiffer. The Titans need to avenge their Week 15 loss to the Texans to make sure the Steelers or Raiders don’t have a chance to snake the AFC’s last wild card berth. The majority of the experts think Houston will finish the season sweep.

That’d be a golden opportunity for the Steelers, but they have a tough task against the Ravens. While Baltimore will rest its starters after locking up the top seed in the AFC, Pittsburgh has no choice but to stick with Duck Hodges at quarterback. The rookie was briefly benched in Week 16 before he was forced back into action after Mason Rudolph suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. Our experts don’t like Hodges’ chances against the Ravens.

In fact, if the panel ends up siding with the right teams in Week 17, Oakland will finish its unlikely run to the postseason. To make the playoffs, the Raiders need:

Most of our experts are predicting all four of those results to come to fruition. That seemed impossible just a couple weeks ago when the Raiders blew a fourth-quarter lead to the Jaguars to drop to 6-8.

The last game of the regular season is a pivotal rematch of a Monday Night Football thriller from Week 10. The Seahawks escaped Levi’s Stadium with a 27-24 victory in overtime, San Francisco’s first loss of 2019.

The winner in Week 17 will decide the division champion and possibly the top seed in the NFC. Neither team is rolling into the last week of the season with a ton of momentum now, though.

San Francisco is 2-2 in its last four games and needed a fourth-quarter comeback to knock off the Rams in Week 16. The 49ers’ once impervious defense has given up 106 points in the last three weeks. Injuries suffered by Richard Sherman, Dee Ford, and Jaquiski Tartt have contributed to those struggles.

Seattle’s been even worse, with two losses in its last three games. Most recently was the Seahawks’ 27-13 loss to the Cardinals, who improved to just 5-9-1 on the year. A large part of Seattle’s recent slide has been a string of injuries that cut through the team’s offense. Running backs Chris Carson (fractured hip), Rashaad Penny (torn ACL), and C.J. Prosise (broken arm) are all done for the year, and left tackle Duane Brown is undergoing minor knee surgery.

Brown may return if the Seahawks make a deep run in the playoffs. The team also staged a reunion with both Marshawn Lynch and Robert Turbin to address the running back scourge..

Still, our group likes the 49ers in Round 2. Just three are picking the Seahawks, which will land them the No. 5 seed in the NFC and a trip to Philadelphia or Dallas in the Wild Card Round. Considering the Seahawks are 7-1 on the road, that might not be such a bad thing.

Sookie is a Florida native and a very good dog. She turns 9 years old in one week and is part boxer, chow, bulldog, and miniature poodle. Her favorite things to do are to ride in the car and roll in the yard.

So how did she make her picks? Naturally, Sookie used her telepathic powers!

Our guest picker for the regular-season finale is Patrick Holloway, deputy site manager at our 49ers blog, Niners Nation. Here are all our picks for the week, although they’re subject to change by Friday if injury news or rested starters changes any minds.