The NFL is back for Week 17 of the 2023 season as the Miami Dolphins travel to take on the Baltimore Ravens at the M&T Bank Stadium for some New Years Day football action in the final game of 2023.
The Ravens are currently 10-3 for the season at the time of writing having won each of their last three games, while the Dolphins are 9-4 so far this season having been beaten by the Tennessee Titans in their last game at the time of writing.
We'll take a look at the match-up and provide you with our best free NFL betting picks to see if we can earn you some extra cash while you enjoy the action on the field.
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Baltimore Ravens vs Miami Dolphins information
- Sunday, December 31st 2023
- M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland
- 13:00 ET kick-off
Season so far
Baltimore have been one of the surprise packages of the NFL season and their playoff spot is already secured after an excellent campaign.
The Ravens opened the season with back-to-back wins over the Houston Texans 25-9 and then the Cincinnatti Bengals 27-24 to get off to a great start, but they then suffered their first defeat of the season against the Indianapolis Colts 22-19 in overtime of week 3.
They followed that up with a dominant 28-3 win over the Cleveland Browns in week 4 before another defeat against the Pittsburgh Steelers 17-10 in week five, which set them up for a hugely impressive four-game winning streak.
Baltimore claimed a 24-16 win over the Tennessee Titans in London, England before a 38-3 thumping win over the Detroit Lions in week 7. That was followed up with a 31-24 win over the Arizona Cardinals in week 8 before a sensational 37-3 win over the Seattle Seahawks. A second meeting with Cleveland didn't end well for them though as they fell to a 31-33 defeat in week 10.
Since then though they have won three in a row with another win over the Bengals, before a 20-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers and 37-31 overtime win over the Los Angeles Rams.
The Ravens will face the Jacksonville Jaguars in week 15 and San Francisco 49ers on Christmas Day before facing off with Miami in this game.
Miami have also had an excellent season themselves with a 9-4 record securing their own playoff spot at the time of writing.
The Dolphins started the season with three wins in a row over the Los Angeles Chargers 36-34, a 24-17 win over the New England Patriots and an incredible 70-20 win over the Denver Broncos. But a trip to Denver to face off with the Broncos didn't end too well as they were hammered 48-20 for their first defeat of the season.
They bounced back with two consecutive wins over the New York Giants and then the Carolina Panthers by huge margins, but their trip to face the Philadelphia Eagles saw them beaten comfortably once again 31-17 in week 7.
Miami earned a win over the Patriots for a second time this season by the same 31-17 scoreline in their next game before the Kansas City Chiefs beat them 21-14 in Frankfurt, Germany which saw them go into their bye week on a downer.
They returned in week 11 with a 20-13 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, before two more wins over the New York Jets and Washington Commanders, but a one-point defeat to Tennesse last time snapped their run.
Before this game they will face off with the Jets once again in week 15, before hosting the Dallas Cowboys in week 16.
NFL Picks: Baltimore Ravens to win
Home advantage plays a big part in the NFL when two tops teams go head-to-head, and that's the case here once again.
Baltimore have been one of the best teams in the league this season and at the time of writing nobody has a better regular season record than them (tied with Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers).
That's because offensively they get the job done, and defensively even on a bad day they can outscore you. Both teams are already set for the playoffs so there could be some rotation with the lineups and players being rested, and the Ravens have the deeper roster so expect them to get the victory and build momentum towards the playoff campaign in the new year.
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NFL Picks: Back the Unders
So far this season both the Dolphins and the Ravens have been rampant offensively and solid defensively.
After 13 games this season Baltimore are averaging 27.77 points scored per game, while defensively they are allowing an average of 16.77 points per game.
Alternatively Miami have been very strong too, averaging 31.61 points per game scored this season while defensively they have allowed 22.61 points per game on average.
Neither team are likely to go too heavy in this game with their post-season places already cemented, so expect some low quality football with some half-hearted performances which should less points than usual scored. If the Under is at 49 points or below, take it.
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