NFL Week 16 Picks – Who Ya Got?

I was going to rant about the bye schedule last week, but Urban Meyer was more pressing, as was COVID. What I was going to say was… The NFL needs to fix this. There should be 4 teams on bye each week from week 4 through week 11, preferably all teams in 1 division each week. No week with 6 byes and 6 weeks with 2 byes and the byes lasting from late September through the week after Thanksgiving. STOP IT!

San Francisco at Tennessee – SF has been on a roll recently, while Tennessee has cooled a bit after a hot start. One of those uncommon occurrences of a West Coast team going East and picking up a win. 49ers 26, Titans 20

Cleveland at Green Bay – What seems like 147 COVID absences is starting to catch up to the Lake Erie team. Packers 34, Browns 16

Indianapolis at Arizona – Arizona sent a locker room full of imposters to Detroit. With Hopkins out, they probably fall short against another strong offense. Colts 31, Cards 21

Baltimore at Cincinnati – The winner has the inside track to the division title. Baltimore has zero hope if Jackson isn’t playing. Too bad I have to predict the game 3 days before anyone will know. I’m going to assume he’s playing, and he will make just enough plays to pull it out. Ravens 20, Bengals 17

Buffalo at New England – Both teams reversed recent trends last week. This will be a slugfest again, just not as brutal as the last one. Patriots 19, Buffalo, NC 16

Detroit at Atlanta – Detroit will now finish with no more than 14 losses, which probably lands them third in the draft behind Jacksonville and Houston. They’re getting better, but probably still don’t have enough on defense to contain Patterson, who was named to the Pro Bowl this week. Falcons 24, lion cubs 13

Jacksonville at NY Jets – Which is the bigger dumpster fire? I think we all know the answer to that, despite the home team’s struggles. j-e-t-s jets jets jets jets jets jets jets jets jets jets jets 19, Jags 10

LA Chargers at Houston – Little commentary needed. Total mismatch. Clippers 34, Texans 10

LA Rams at Minnesota – I’m in the consolation bracket in my fantasy league, with an overall record of 7-8. Without Cooper Kupp, I probably would have gone 3-11 and been done. Here’s hoping he has yet another game of 9 catches, 120 yards and 2 TDs. He probably will, as Stafford will take out his frustration from being robbed of a Pro Bowl spot on a struggling defense. Rams 38, Norwegians 23

NY Giants at Philadelphia – The Eagles are rising, but the coach has COVID. The G-men aren’t even the best team in their city. Little drama will ensue. Eagles 30, little people 13

Chicago at Seattle – Both franchises staring total rebuild in the face. Quality of play expected to be generally low. Seahawks 20, bear cubs 10

Denver at Las Vegas – Both of my fantasy QBs are down – Mayfield and Bridgewater. Denver seems to have rebuilt the defense on the fly, even without Vonn Miller. Vegas has been flailing around, wildly inconsistent since the drama unfolded. Probably not the highest-quality game on the slate, but one of the closer ones. Raiders 23, Donkeys 20

Pittsburgh at Kansas City – Pittsburgh is still hanging in there despite a questionable defensive attack. KC is all the way back on defense after a rough start. Chiefs 20, Steelers 10

Washington at Dallas – Ron’s guys are gamers, but there’s too much talent on the other squad, particularly on defense. Cowboys 23, The Team Formerly Known As Redskins 10

Miami at New Orleans – NO is better with Kamara, but Miami hasn’t lost since Halloween. Hard to imagine them not continuing against a team still missing numerous players. Fish 24, Aints 17

Tampa Bay at Carolina – I enjoyed watching Tampa get shut out last week, even if it was the Aints who did it. Arians will never be as good of a coach as he thinks he is. Brady tosses a $1,000 computer on the ground like it’s an empty soda bottle (c’mon, man!). We have a better defense than NO does, and Godwin is out for a year with a torn ACL. But we haven’t won at home since September. We should have an opportunity for an upset, but I’m sure we’ll find a way to blow it. Bucs 23, panther kittens 9

Last week’s record: 11-5

Season: 139-85