NFL Predictions - Week 16

In My Humble Opinion
1

Hey, Hey!! 11-4 last week!! 143-75 overall. (Sporting News now at 142-76 for those scoring at home.) Luckily no one has clinched home field yet, so I don’t have to worry about teams sitting their stars in the second half. As an added feature this week, I’ve added italics to indicate my pick against the spread. And away we go…

Saturday

Redskins 17 at Steelers 20 (Okay, last week we went over my lack of faith in the Steelers. But the Redskins looked pathetic last week and this is the last game at Three Rivers.)

Raiders 27 at Seahawks 20 (The Seahawks are just resilient enough o make it look close. It won’t be.)

Sunday

Falcons 17 at Saints 30 (I’m sorry, but I just freakin’ love watching a team of Aaron Brooks, Willie Jackson, and Terry Allen go hog wild over their opponent.)

Broncos 31 at Chiefs 16 (Just think what the Broncos can get in trade for Gary and Anderson if Davis proves to be healthy in the off-season.)

Lions 13 at Jets 20 (Tough one. Two teams scraping for the playoffs, both coming off losses. The Jets have the players to bounce back. The Lions, well, I covered that last week.)

Packers 24 at Vikings 35 (This game will tell a lot about Mike Sherman and his staff. They’ve had a week to break down how the Rams obliterated the Vikings. Problem is Freeman and Schroeder aren’t Bruce and Holt, and Green’s not Faulk.)

Jaguars 20 at Bengals 18 (Both are out of the playoffs. The Jags have been high on playing spoiler. Can a team that’s out of the playoffs have a sandwich letdown game? I think so.)

Patriots 19 at Bills 20 (Boy, you’ve got to think that, in hindsight, the Bills would’ve rather just forfeited that Tampa game. I just can’t understand the decision to play Johnson over Flutie – it has to be politics.)

Chargers at Panthers 17 (Brad Hoover? Meet Junior Seau. Hurts, don’t it? Welcome to the NFL.)

Titans 30 at Browns 6 (This just in, Courtney Brown will be taking snaps for the Browns this week.)

Bears 17 at 49ers 26 (Last week the Bears were saying McNown would be the back-up for the rest of the year. Matthews has his best game last week. Now they’re saying McNown might start. Go figure.)

Ravens 20 at Cardinals 0 (Look, if Baltimore wanted to they could score more. I think they want to give Lewis some easy carries though.)

Colts 13 at Dolphins 17 (I still can’t understand why Fiedler was trying to throw in those torrential downpours last week. Poor, poor play calling.)

Giants 24 at Cowboys 16 (Does anybody else think of Aikman as another Phil Simms or Jim McMahon? An average QB who walked into the perfect setting. I cringe at the Steve Young comparisons I’m hearing.)

Monday

Rams 13 at Buccaneers 19 (What’s this? Two teams still in the playoff hunt on Monday Night? How’d that happen? Lynch is the key. As long as he plays, you’ve got a replay of last year’s NFC Championship. Except it’s outside. On grass. In Tampa.)

Hopefully I can string together two good weeks in a row. But, you never know. That’s why they play the games…

2

That should be:

Chargers 20 at Panthers 17 (Brad Hoover? Meet Junior Seau. Hurts, don’t it? Welcome to the NFL.)

3

Last week was rough for me. In my fantasy league, I won the conference title game 95-50 (Daunte Culpepper, Eddie George, and Mike Anderson combined for nine touchdowns) but in the pool I fell to third place- and the two people above me are tied for first! So if I want to obtain the title of “football guru” in the office, I’ve gotta pull out the stops in these last two weeks and regain first place.

Thus, my hesitant-tentative-Thursday picks, ranked in order of how confident I am that I’m right and thus how valuable the prediction is to me. Also, I’ll happily take advice and recommendations, assuming it’s not “The Bengals are going all the way!”

15: Tennessee over Cleveland
14: Baltimore over Arizona
13: Jacksonville over Cincinnato
12: New Orleans over Atlanta
11: Oakland over Seattle
10: Denver over Kansas City
09: New York Giants over Dallas
08: Carolina over San Diego
07: Minnesota over Green Bay
06: Buffalo over New England
05: Miami over Indianapolis
04: New York Jets over Detroit
03: San Francisco over Chicago
02: St Louis over Tampa Bay
01: Pittsburgh over Washington

Looks like Gazoo and I have the same picks, except for the Monday Night Game, in which I took St Louis and bet two points on them.

(Still berating myself for picking with my heart and not my head in regards to Vikes vs Rams last week)

4

Now that the Deadskins are pretty mcuh eliminated, I can safely side with you, Gazoo, and say that I think you got this one right: The Streak (should be) dead.

Somewhere in eastern Pennsylvania, the Eagles are enjoying their bye week by whipping the '85 Bears in a computer game. :slight_smile:

5

Gazoo, Gazoo, Gazoo.

You poor, misguided lad. The Rams do not suffer outside and on grass, especially in Florida, where they won’t have to worry about the freezing cold.

Last Sunday the Rams showed that they could remember how they played all last year and trampled the Vikes. They will carry that to Tampa Bay, whose offense won’t be able to keep up. I’m predicting Rams 27, Bucs 16.

6

Um, do I even have to say it?

7

Ummm. At Carolina? At Kansas City? It wasn’t cold for those games. They’re 2-2 outdoors on grass this year (against weaker opponents than the Bucs).

Oh, Rysdad - when you see this, Sledman said he did want to take you up on a bet for the Packer-Vicking game. Busy time of year for him, so he hasn’t been able to check in on the board too often though.

8

Streak ain’t dying.

GO SKINS!

9

I believe that the only thing the Rams proved last week is that the Vikings defense is as bad if not worse than the Rams, as the two teams have, basically the same offense. I had been convinced that the Vikings had the edge at defense. I was wrong. Terribly wrong.

I do believe that a good defense beats the Rams, especially on grass. If they can hold Faulk to, say, 120 total yards and not let them play “Throw the ball as far as I can and let the receiver run under it” they will lose. The Bucs can do this, and will the Rams be able to stop Dunn? I don’t think so. Look for a big game from him.

As for the Steelers, your confidence in them this week against the Skins pretty much assures a loss. Lets hope that Three Rivers goes out with a Bang and not a whimper. I, for one, will be happy with the Steelers if they go .500, which means winning one more game. If they lose to both the disarray that is the Skins and the Chargers, it will be pathetic indeed . . . And for the Love of God don’t waste another draft pick on a mediocre Wide Receiver . . .

Ah, the Cincinatti Bengals. The Washington Generals of the NFL.

10

I am a Rams fan, Gazoo. Logic has no effect on me. So to this, I say: I am rubber, you are glue . . .

11

You’re great. The best. Everyone loves you… :cool:

12

and

forces me to say:
Bill: Let me get this straight: you took all the money you made franchising your name and bet it against the Harlem Globetrotters?
Krusty: Oh, I thought the Generals were due!
[TV shows a Globetrotter spinning the ball as Generals watch]
Krusty: He’s spinning the ball on his finger! Just take it, take the ball!
[The Globetrotter kicks it into the net behind him]
Krusty: That game was fixed. They were using a freakin’ ladder, for god’s sake.

I feel much the same way about some games this football season …

13

Falcon, Falcon, Falcon…

You really don’t think that ol Black and Gold are gonna lose their last game in 3RS, do you? Seriously?

14

MB -

I’m a fan…I have to believe. :smiley:

15

Well, that is commendable.

Would I be out of line to hope for a Deion Sanders injury in this game? No matter where that bastard goes, and no matter how much preaching he does, he’ll still be a loudmouth jackass Dallas Cowboy in my eyes. I don’t wish him any permanent harm. Maybe just get his bell wrung by Bettis and sit the rest of the game out?

16

Oddly, he’s always the loudmouth jackass Atlanta Falcon to me.

Remember when Deion broke his aknle sliding into 3rd at 3 Rivers when he played for the Reds? Perhaps there can be a repeat performance . . . May he choke on a Terrible Towel.

The Redskins, at this time, represent the worst in football. Trying to buy a championship, overpaying for Free Agents, Owners exerting too much control, I could go on. There is only one thing I like about the Redskins: Daryl Green. He’s a classy guy and a better defensive back than Neon Deion will ever be. Oh, yeah, 2 things. They are losing . . .

mouthbreaker, this game scares me a little bit. The Skins have just suffered 2 humiliating losses. They may have some fire . . . On the other hand, they may have lost any fire that they might have had left . . .

Go Stihlers!

17

I thought of that too, LC, but if Cowher can’t light a fire under the Steelers asses – for not only the fact that this is the last game at 3RS but also for any prayer of clinging to a Wildcard…then we are in some seriously bad shit.

18

Can I say something?

What the HELL is the difference between Snyder and Jerry Jones? If you hate both, fine. If not, explain to me why Snyder is so much worse.

Thanks.

(And I’m STILL glad they fired Norv.)

19

Jerry Jones is worse, much worse. Snyder is his disciple.

Dallas bought themselves a couple of Championships (as did San Francisco) and they are now suffering for it. Or, more specifially, the fans are suffering, as will the Redskins fans pay for this year’s indulgence. You, Falcon, are the victim, or will be, of this year’s failure.

Jerry Jones is pure evil. PURE EVIL. Michael Irvin and Leon Lett? If they had been Steelers they would have been cut or traded after the first drug incident. Who remembers Bam Morris?

20

Yeah, pick against 'em now. When it doesn’t matter in the least.

Bitter? Nah. Not me.

Sure, the Redskins can win this one. Just like they could improbably lose to the Cardinals, then improbably beat the Rams. Watching this streak is like watching a slow-motion train-wreck. Which describes perfectly the Redskins’ season.

Like Falcon, I’m exceedingly glad Norv is gone. He was bad under Cooke, bad during the interregnum, and bad under Snyder. We can argue about Snyder, but there’s nothing to suggest that Norv was anything but part of the problem, not part of the solution. If he gets a head-coaching position somewhere else, that team will suck, too.

And why should anybody give Norv a head coaching job when Art Shell can’t even get interviewed?