NFL Picks: Week 16

[Edskin]

www.edkleese.blogspot.com

Last Week: 7-9
Season: 141-83
Record Picking Redskins Games: 8-6
Against the Spread: 24-30-2
Lock of the Week: 8-6

Last Week’s Pats: Not much to choose from. About the only thing worth bragging about was my prediction that the Raiders would stay within a TD of the Colts.

Last Week’s Apologies: Underestimated the Texans, Saints, and most notably the Redskins. All three of those teams came up with clutch victories in games they needed to keep their playoff hopes alive.

This Week’s Picks:

Pittsburgh at St. Louis: The Steelers are fortunate to be wrapping their season up against the Rams and Ravens because I have not been impressed with them over the past few weeks. I certainly can’t pick the lowly Rams to win this game, but I could definitely see them keeping it close.

Steelers 27, Rams 19

Dallas at Carolina: The Cowboys will bounce back from their ugly loss to Philly. The miserable Carolina offense will make sure of it.

Cowboys 26, Panthers 10

Oakland at Jacksonville: Very big win for the Jags last week in Pittsburgh. They are beginning to look like the third best team in the AFC.

Jaguars 31, Raiders 16

Kansas City at Detroit: The “suitcase” game. Both of these teams have pretty much packed it in.

Lions 28, Chiefs 20

Houston at Indianapolis: Texans are out of the playoff race, but they do still have a shot at the first winning season in franchise history. Indy doesn’t really need this game, but I think they will wait until next week to sit their stars.

Colts 24, Texans 20

Philadelphia at New Orleans: The Eagles are a prideful team, so I don’t see them “laying down” even though they were eliminated from playoff contention. Jim Johnson’s defense swarmed the Cowboys last week and Drew Brees better be on the lookout this Sunday. Having said that, the Eagles have been far too inconsistent this year (on both sides of the ball) for me to feel comfortable picking them this week. I view this game as a total toss-up. In that situation, I’ll go with the team that has more on the line.

Saints 26, Eagles 23

New York Giants at Buffalo: Was last week’s 12 point loss to Washington a sign of impending doom for the Giants? Or was it just a blip on the radar screen. New York needs only win in their final two games to clinch a playoff berth, but with the Patriots looming, the noose could tighten quickly if things don’t go well early this week in Buffalo. This is not a good situation for the Giants.

Bills 20, Giants 17

Green Bay at Chicago: Upset of the year. No doubt, the Bears have “earned” their 5-9 record this season, but this is a rivalry game and Chicago would like nothing more than to spoil the plans of the Packers. With the Saints coming to town next week, the Bears have one final opportunity to leave their mark on the 2007 season. I’d be wary if I were Green Bay and New Orleans.

Bears 19, Packers 17

Cleveland at Cincinnati: Going with another upset here, although I’m not really sure why.

Bengals 28, Browns 24

Atlanta at Arizona: The Cardinals had their chances this year, but once again, they found a way to blow it almost every time. Arizona should be very disappointing with their 2007 season. I see them taking a little frustration out on the painfully bad Falcons this week.

Cardinals 34, Falcons 13

Tampa Bay at San Francisco: The 49ers played with a bit of pride last Saturday against Cincinnati. Look for them to do it again this week, although I still think they come up short.

Bucs 23, 49ers 17

New York Jets at Tennessee: The Titans are still very alive. They need some help, but no way do I see them dropping a must-win game at home against the Jets.

Titans 22, Jets 13

Miami at New England: Tom Brady is still 5 touchdown passes away from setting the single season mark after his poor game last Sunday. I think he gets VERY close to setting that mark this weekend.

Patriots 41, Dolphins 14

Baltimore at Seattle: The Ravens hit rock bottom last week by losing to the 0-13 Dolphins. Scratch that, the Ravens hit rock bottom last week by announcing Brian Billick will return next season.

Seahawks 24, Ravens 10

Washington at Minnesota: Excellent match-up between two teams playing very good football right now. This game will fall on the shoulders of Todd Collins. The Vikings will not allow the Redskins to control flow with their running game. Collins will need to make plays downfield in order for Washington to keep drives alive and keep the ball out of Adrian Peterson’s hands. I have a funny feeling Collins does just that this Sunday evening.

Redskins 27, Vikings 20

Denver at San Diego: If I were a Broncos fan, I think I might be starting to get a little sick of Mike Shannahan.

Chargers 31, Broncos 20

4 To Score

1. Redskins (+6.5) against the Vikings. Of the Redskins 7 losses, only one has come by more than 8 points.
2. Bills (+3) against the Giants. This is a pick against the Giants as much as it is for the Bills.
3. Patriots (-22) against the Dolphins. Pats get the offense back on track.
4. Bears (+8.5) against the Packers. Pretty big spread for a home team in a rivalry game.