NFL Week 16 Predictions

December 18, 2007, 6:48 PM | 4 Comments

Last week’s picks generated a ho-hum 10-6 week, but it wasn’t without it’s surprises. Seattle basically cemented their “pretender” status in losing to the Panthers and with the talent on the Bengals and Ravens, they just shouldn’t be losing to the 49ers and Dolphins respectively.

Last week also generated a number of significant news items… none bigger than Brett Favre passing Dan Marino’s all time passing yardage mark with a 7 yard slant to Donald Driver. It was nice to finally see Double D on the end of one of Favre’s record breaking passes this year and very classy of the St. Louis fans to give a standing ovation in recognition.

I was personally disappointed by 2 things last week when the Patriots didn’t end up beating the pants off of the Jets and when (as mentioned above) the Ravens put an end to the Dolphins bid for a winless season. What can I say, sometimes it’s just fun to watch that sort of thing.

With week 16 comes the announcement of this year’s Pro Bowl teams, and I’m happy that 4 from the Packers (Favre, Driver, DE Aaron Kampman and CB Al Harris) have been named as starters (well, Driver is the 3^rd WR, but that’s pretty much a starter) and several others have been named as alternates. It’s a clear indication of how well the Packers are doing this year, and how much really can change in the NFL year to year. And how about Vikings RB Adrian Peterson? He’s been named as the NFC’s starting running back in his rookie year. If that doesn’t assure his Rookie of the Year status, I’m not sure anything will.

Game of the Week: Packers at Bears

First, there really aren’t that many obviously compelling games this week. Second, this is the oldest rivalry in the NFL and Packers vs. Bears is always a great game. I don’t expect Green Bay to cruise easily through this game though because even though the Bears have been eliminated from playoff contention, they’ll still be amped up and looking for a win. Green Bay should be able to win their final 2 games of the year (this one, and next week against Detroit at Lambeau Field in Green Bay) and if they do so they could potentially clinch home field advantage for the playoffs if the Cowboys lose one of their remaining 2 games.

Sure, it’s probably not likely that the Boys will lose another game against the Panthers or Redskins, but after their loss to Philadelphia, the injuries, and Roy Williams being suspended for 1 game for breaking the “Roy Williams rule” yet again, it wouldn’t surprise me if they coughed up their lead. The road to the Super Bowl going through Lambeau would be something to see.

Here are my predictions for week 16! Total so far: 152-72.

Away	Home	Comments	Pick	Result
Steelers (10-5)	Rams (3-12)	Cris Collinsworth said it best on Football Night in America about last week’s Jags/Steelers game: The Jaguars out Steelered the Steelers. Pittsburgh is just not an elite team in the AFC, but they should still get the win this week.
Cowboys (13-2)	Panthers (6-9)	Losing that ugly one to the Eagles last week put Dallas in a tie with Green Bay for home-field advantage in the NFC. Dallas holds the tiebreaker and probably will retain it with a win this week, but like every other Packers fan I wouldn’t mind if they lost.
Chiefs (4-11)	Lions (7-8)	After looking so impressive with a 6-2 start, the Lions have now lost 6 straight games and are out of playoff contention. They won’t get their 10 wins that Jon Kitna promised, but they should be able to get #7 this week.
Browns (9-6)	Bengals (6-9)	Cleveland just keeps rolling. Cincinnati just keeps disappointing.
Packers (12-3)	Bears (6-9)	Last time these 2 teams met, the Packers had every opportunity to win, but were killed by some key mistakes. Things have changed a lot since early October and I really don’t think the Bears have the offense to be able to keep up with the Packers in the end.
Giants (10-5)	Bills (7-8)	Buffalo won’t make the playoffs, but they’ve been better than most expected this season. The Giants lost a huge component to their offense in Jeremy Shockey, but even with him I wouldn’t like their chances in Buffalo in late December.
Texans (7-8)	Colts (13-2)	Indy’s pretty much wrapped up all they can, so I expect them to try and get ahead early and pull their starters mid-way through the 3rd quarter.
Eagles (7-8)	Saints (7-8)	I think the Eagles have a great chance to win this (meaningless) game. As long as Westbrook is in the lineup and they get adequate play from their QB, the Eagles should win.
Raiders (4-11)	Jaguars (11-4)	Jacksonville just keeps getting better and will be a scary opponent for any team in the AFC in January. Oakland should just lose out so they can waste the highest possible draft pick in 2008.
Falcons (3-12)	Cardinals (7-8)	I feel bad for Falcons fans – their team is in utter disarray. Arizona has a great chance ahead of them to finish this season at .500. This week it’s the Falcons, next week it’s the Rams and both games are on home turf.
Buccaneers (9-6)	49ers (5-10)	Congrats to the Bucs, who won their division last week and finally (after 30-some years) returned a kick for a touchdown. Another win this week for TB.
Dolphins (1-14)	Patriots (15-0)	After their dominating performance last week, I was almost going to pick the Fins to knock off the Pats this wee… Riiiiiight.
Ravens (4-11)	Seahawks (10-5)	The Ravens have now lost 8 straight games, capping it off with a loss to the worst team in the NFL last week. Does that make THEM the worst team in the NFL now? Seattle at home in December is a tough draw even for a good team.
Jets (3-12)	Titans (9-6)	OK, so they didn’t get beaten to a bloody pulp by the Patriots last week. They have the weather to thank for that. Tennessee needs this win to stay in the playoff picture and should be able to get it.
Redskins (8-7)	Vikings (8-7)	If the Redskins defense can give Tavaris Jackson fits like Chicago did last week, they just might have the offense to win. I’ll stick with the Vikings though, becasue that “if” is a big one.
Broncos (6-9)	Chargers (10-5)	This is the first year in a long time that the Broncos really aren’t a competitive team. San Diego should stay hot this week and grab another win, even though it really won’t mean much for their playoff picture – they’ve already clinched their division.

So there you have it! Enjoy the final 2 weeks of this year’s regular season. Also, here are this week’s ESPN Expert Picks.

Update: 11-5 this week wasn’t too bad, but I did expect better. A lot of surprises this week, but such is life in the NFL. See you next week for my week 17 picks.

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