Site Editor Matt Loede’s NFL Picks for Week 16

Last Week: 7-9
Season: 133-88

Thursday:

Carolina at Pittsburgh – The Steelers are not a happy crew after falling to the Jets last Sunday, and they should be able to take it out on the two-win Panthers in a pre-Christmas game at Heinz Field. The Panthers pulled out a win over the Cardinals, but Carolina isn’t going to be able to go on the road in a short week and match what the Steelers have to offer in this Thursday night matchup. The Steelers should win in a route. Pittsburgh 27 Carolina 10

Saturday:

Dallas at Arizona – Ugh. One of a couple “who cares” games of the week, and it’s the prime time game on Saturday (Christmas) night. Both teams are having seasons to forget, and they want to wrap up the season as fast as they can. The Cowboys are playing better football, as shown last week with the win over the Cardinals. Dallas should win over a bad Cards team. Dallas 34 Arizona 21

Sunday:

Baltimore at Cleveland – The Browns last December saved Eric Mangini’s job, but this year they may have cost him his job with losses to the Bills and Bengals. Now they come home to take on a Ravens team that still hopes the Steelers will have a slip up so they can steal the AFC North. The Ravens defense should be able to contain the Browns on both the pass and run, and Cleveland is going to need to pull some trickery to pull this out, but that won’t be enough. Baltimore 20 Cleveland 13

Tennessee at Kansas City – Last week in St.Louis the Chiefs took a big step towards winning the AFC West, and now a win over the Titans and they should almost be ready to punch a ticket to a home wild card playoff game. Matt Cassel pulled off a gutsy effort in coming back last week, and while the Titans are a physical team, they will have to stop the Chiefs run game. Won’t happen, as Kerry Collins will struggle and the Chiefs will have enough to pull it out. Kansas City 17 Tennessee 10

New England at Buffalo – The Pats were outplayed by the Pack last week, but still pulled out a win, showing signs of a team that can win in any circumstance. This week they go to Buffalo, where the Bills are playing well in the last six weeks, winning four of six. They won’t be able to stop the Pats attack, as Tom Brady and more so the Pats run game will put up enough offense in the frozen conditions to win their 13th game of the season. New England 13 Buffalo 10

San Francisco at St.Louis – Big loss for the Rams last week, but this is another week, and it seems more and more that the NFC West is going to be won by a 7-9 team. The Rams should be able to stop the 49ers, who have fallen back into bad trends like last week against the Chargers. They are 1-6 on the road, and a switch Troy Smith should not make much of a difference, as the Rams will get a couple turnovers and make up for last weeks loss with a big home win. St.Louis 24 San Francisco 13

Detroit at Miami – The Dolphins fell at home to the Bills last week, and are 1-6 at home, one of the oddest numbers in the NFL in 2010. The Lions are playing much better, and pulled out a huge win for their growth, an OT win in Tampa last week. They should have success against the Fins, and they will attack their secondary and put up enough points to send the Fins to 1-7 at home this season. Detroit 27 Miami 23

Washington at Jacksonville – Last week the Jags could have clinched the division with a win in Indy, but instead Peyton and the Colts pulled their magic, as now the Jags need two wins and some help. This week they play the 5-9 Redskins, and should have success running the ball, and their D should get to Rex Grossman and be able to hold down the Redskins offense, which did look good last week. Won’t be as easy in JVille Sunday. Jacksonville 28 Washington 17

New York Jets at Chicago – Monday night the Bears didn’t get caught up in Brett Favre’s last stand, and the weather was more made for them than it was for Minnesota. This week they play a Jets team that pulled out a huge win in Pittsburgh, but last week gave up quite a few yards which is unlike them. They need turnovers and a sound run game to beat the Bears on the road, and it won’t be easy, as the Bears will pull out enough to get a hard fought win as they look to the playoffs. Chicago 16 New York Jets 10

Houston at Denver – About the only thing the Broncos seem to have going for them is Tim Tebow, who rallied his team last week on offense, but it still was not enough with their defense crumbling to the Raiders. The Texans were beat in Tennessee, and seem to have given up on Gary Kubiak as they at 5-9 are going nowhere fast. They are 2-5 on the road, and that will go to 2-6 as Tebow will do enough to rally his team for one more win as the team looks to make offseason changes, like the Texans as well. Denver 31 Houston 23

Indianapolis at Oakland – The best AFC game of the week pits Peyton and his merry band of Colts against a Raiders team that actually is making progress. Oakland will look to force some Colts miscues, and get Manning back to throwing picks like he was in the middle of the season. The Colts know that they have to win their last two to make sure they clinch the South, and while the Raiders won’t make it easy, the Colts will do just enough to pull it out. Indianapolis 24 Oakland 21

San Diego at Cincinnati – San Diego still thinks they can win the west, but can’t have a slip up in Cincy vs the Bengals who finally broke their losing streak last week. Last week they beat up the 49ers, and despite what should be nasty weather conditions, they should have success against the Bengals defense. Cincy needs to run the ball like they did vs the Browns, but it won’t be as easy as the Chargers will get to Carson Palmer and make it a long day for the Bengals. San Diego 24 Cincinnati 13

Seattle at Tampa Bay – Now the Bucs need two wins and it still might now be enough to get to the postseason at 10-6, but it will be a season of success if they can get there. The Hawks need a win to make sure they are fighting for the West next week then they play at home vs the Rams. They will need to not turn the ball over like they did last week vs the Falcons, and they also need to establish the run game. The Bucs have been below average at home, going 3-4, and here’s thinking the Hawks will win what’s a must win. Seattle 23 Tampa Bay 17

New York Giants at Green Bay – The Pack were close to pulling off a big upset last week in New England, and now are back at the frozen tundra needing to win the last two to give themselves a shot at the postseason. The Giants are still trying to recover after allowing DeSean Jackson to beat them on the last play of the game last week in blowing a huge lead. That won’t be easy to get over, and here’s thinking that the Pack will do enough to pull out a home win and make next weeks game vs the Bears interesting. Green Bay 21 New York Giants 17

Minnesota at Philadelphia – Joe Webb on the road vs the Eagles and Mike Vick? Do we really need to say more than that? Philadelphia 34 Minnesota 14

Monday:

New Orleans at Atlanta – The Falcons are looking to clinch the home field in the NFC, and they can do that and also send a crimp in the Saints playoff plans with a home win. They haven’t lost a home game this season, and the Saints are trying to hang on for a wild card after last weeks loss at Baltimore. The Falcons may be the most complete team in the league with the Eagles and Pats, and should have success with Michael Turner, and Matt Ryan should be able to throw on the Saints. New Orleans needs to attack, but in the end will fall short. Atlanta 34 New Orleans 24