Week 16 has come pretty fast hasn't it? A playoff-like atmosphere coming in Atlanta with an epic NFC South matchup between the Falcons & Saints on Monday night. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers returns from injury to try to win out and get Green Bay into the postseason. Mark Sanchez and the Jets travel to Chicago with their playoff lives on the line.
Let's Get After It . . .
Quick Word on Pittsburgh v. Carolina: The Steelers Thursday night 27-3 beatdown of the Panthers was probably the easiest 15-point spread I'm ever going to cover. Two teams going in opposite directions, the Panthers are going to part ways with head coach Jon Fox at the end of the season while the Steelers are planning for January football. Easy call. 1-0
Last Week: 8-8
On The Season: 123-93-7
Christmas Night 7:30 PM (EST)
Dallas At Arizona Under interim head coach Jason Garrett the Cowboys are 4-2 heading into Christmas day. Scoring 20.1 PPG over the first eight games, the Jason Garrett Cowboys are scoring 32.1 ppg over the last six. Backup quarterback Jon Kitna leads the NFL's 4th ranked passing offense into Arizona against a Cardinals team allowing nearly 230 yards-per-game through the air. Cowboys -7
Sunday 1:00 PM (EST)
New England At Buffalo The first time these two AFC East rivals met Buffalo lost by just eight points. A week after New England struggled to stop the Packers who ran up 370 yards of offense on the Patriots, they get a Buffalo team coming off a division win against Miami. The Bills can rush the ball and will hopefully avoid turnovers to keep things close against New England. Bills +9
New York (Jets) At Chicago The Bears have something to prove after getting their doors blown off against New England a couple weeks ago, they've got to prove they aren't just a good NFC team. With Sanchez on the mend, going against a Bears team with a quality pass rush isn't a good thing. Bears -1
Baltimore At Cleveland The Ravens passing offense still hasn't come together but running back Ray Rice sure looked good against New Orleans last week. With Baltimore shaping into playoff form, are the Browns still playing tough? With back to back losses to Buffalo and Cincy, I think Cleveland is going to pack it in even if this is a divisional opponent. Ravens -4
Tennessee At Kansas City Quarterback Matt Cassel's gutsy performance (lame pun, totally intended) after returning from an emergency appendectomy last week was great. The Chiefs are making a run at the postseason and aren't going to let Tennessee steal one here. In Arrowhead, the Chiefs are going to give their fans something to get excited about. Chiefs -5
San Francisco At St. Louis With NFC West division title hopes still up for grabs, the Rams are going to make a last ditch effort. The 49ers have been so disappointing this year and their 1-6 record on the road is exactly what I'm talking about it. I've been saying it for weeks, whether or not the Rams get into postseason this year what Sam Bradford has done as a rookie has exceeded every ones expectations. Rams -3
Detroit At Miami The Dolphins were hoping for a better season with less quarterback problems for sure, funny how the same can be said about Detroit. A matchup in Miami with a Dolphins team that is just 1-6 at home and a Lions team that is 1-6 on the road. I'll go with the Lions because they did me right last week. Lions +4
Washington At Jacksonville Still an opportunity for the Jaguars to get into the postseason, I can't see it happening. With Maurice Jones-Drew expected to be out with an injury, the Jaguars are going to have a tough time on Sunday. Washington gets one here, despite controversy flowing through the beltway. Redskins +7
Sunday 4:00 PM (EST)
San Diego At Cincinnati San Diego still has a shot at the postseason, and as long as they do expect big things from Phil Rivers. Winning out and having Oakland upset Kansas City would put San Diego into the postseason, hard to believe after their 2-5 start.Chargers -8
Houston At Denver If I was running the Texans organization, head coach Gary Kubiak would have already been jobless. They opened up the season 4-2 and looking like a playoff team, then they lost seven of their next eight. Tim Tebow gets his first win as a starter in Denver, the Broncos get a late Christmas gift. Broncos +3
Indianapolis At Oakland Did Oakland watch the Colts performance against Jacksonville last week? Indy opened up early slowing down Maurice Jones-Drew and forced the Jaguars offense to turn to their below average quarterback. The Colts game plan will be more of the same, while playing on the road. Oakland shakes things up. Raiders +3
New York (Giants) At Green Bay The Giants don't seem mentally tough after last weeks heartbreaking loss to Philadelphia. Which is exactly what Green Bay looks like after their wake-up call to New England on Sunday night just days ago. An offense that can spread it out, mix it up in the run game lately, the Packers and Rodgers flex their muscles at home. Packers -3
Seattle At Tampa Bay The Bucs are going to hand Seattle a loss almost guaranteeing that the Week 17 match up with St. Louis will decide the NFC West. To think that an either 7-9 or 8-8 team is going to reach the playoffs and host a home game is crazy to me, but Seattle, St. Louis, or San Francisco are poised to do just that. Buccaneers -6
Sunday Night 8:20 PM (EST)
Minnesota At Philadelphia Shouldn't the NFL find a way to flex a game into this Sunday night spot? A night later we're all going to get to see New Orleans @ Atlanta, a potential playoff game and the Sunday night gets the Vikings @ Philly. The Eagles are going to run it up and put this one away very early, that is unless you believe in Joe Webb. Eagles -15
Monday Night 8:30 PM (EST)
New Orleans At Atlanta Allow the hype to be built. Matt Ryan v. Drew Brees. Mike Smith v. Sean Payton. The 12-2 Falcons are preparing for home field throughout and only the Saints are sitting in their way. They bring their 6-0 home record, outscoring opponents 169-112 at home, winning every type of close call you can, the Falcons are bringing it. New Orleans remains in cloudy waters after Monday night. Falcons -3
No comments:
Post a Comment