Expert predictions for Patriots vs. Jaguars game

NFL picks Week 17: Expert predictions for Patriots vs. Jaguars originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The New England Patriots will play their final home game of the regular season Sunday when they host the Jacksonville Jaguars in a Week 17 matchup at Gillette Stadium.

The Patriots are favored by more than two touchdowns at many sportsbooks. It’s no surprise when you consider the Jaguars have the worst record in the league at 2-13 and a bunch of players on the COVID-19 reserve list.

This is an important game for the Patriots, though. They’ve lost two consecutive games, which have dropped New England from the AFC East leaders and the No. 1 seed in the conference all the way down to the No. 6 seed entering Week 17.

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A victory on Sunday would help the Patriots keep pace with the Buffalo Bills in the division title race and maybe even clinch a playoff spot. The Patriots would reach the postseason with a win against the Jaguars, combined with a Las Vegas Raiders or Miami Dolphins loss Sunday.

Will the Patriots avoid an upset and take a giant step toward securing a playoff berth? Here’s a roundup of expert predictions for Patriots-Jaguars (with the predicted score, when given).

Bleacher Report NFL Staff: Patriots 31, Jaguars 10

Mike Florio, ProFootballTalk: Patriots 30, Jaguars 13

Jeremy Fowler, ESPN: Patriots

Rob Ninkovich, ESPN: Patriots

Gregg Rosenthal, NFL.com: Patriots 27, Jaguars 10

Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times: Patriots 35, Jaguars 9

Albert Breer, Sports Illustrated: Patriots

Jenny Vrentas, Sports Illustrated: Patriots

Pete Prisco, CBS Sports: Patriots 31, Jaguars 7

Nate Davis, USA TODAY Sports: Patriots 27, Jaguars 13

Bill Bender, Sporting News: Patriots 30, Jaguars 14

Emmanuel Morgan, New York Times: Patriots -15.5 (ATS pick)

FiveThirtyEight model: Patriots 92 percent, Jaguars 8 percent