WEEKLY PICKS
WEEK 16

Christopher Kay’s Weekly Picks

Saturday
Atlanta Falcons at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Both these teams are coming off embarrassing losses.  The difference in this one is going to be the ability of the Bucs defense to shut down Michael Vick’s running ability and force him to beat them with the passing game.  He can’t pass however, which poses a problem for the Falcons in this one.      
Buccaneers over Falcons 23-20

Buffalo Bills at Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals and the Broncos are battling for the second seed in the AFC.  Since the Broncos beat the Bills last week, it only seems fair for them to allow the Bengals to win this week.  Not to mention, the Bills defense won’t be able to stop Carson Palmer.  If Losman starts, he’ll get many attempts as the Bills try and play catch up all day.  This is good for his much needed experience. 
Bengals over Bills 38-20

Dallas Cowboys at Carolina Panthers
The Cowboys, specifically Drew Bledsoe, can’t do anything against teams that can rush the passer.  With Julius Peppers, the Panthers are one of those teams.  After being demoralized by the Redskins last week, they won’t be up to the challenge against the Panthers.  Bledsoe will be beaten up badly once again. 
Panthers over Cowboys 23-10

Detroit Lions at New Orleans Saints
Wow.  Where to begin?  No one can possibly care about either of these two teams, including their home fans.  Both the Lions and the Saints continue to play out the season and wait to see what happens next year with their front offices.  Will the Lions fire Matt Millen?  Will Tom Benson move the Saints?  That’s really the only thing worth noting about either of these sorry franchises. 
Saints over Lions 26-18

Jacksonville Jaguars at Houston Texans
The Texans showed they can win when they aren’t playing to secure the number one overall pick.  The Jaguars showed that they can’t easily beat teams they’re supposed to beat considering their record.  The Texans are at home and will play hard once again, to further dispel rumors that they’ve thrown games in order to have the first pick in the 2006 entry draft. 
Texans over Jaguars 27-24

New York Giants at Washington Redskins
All of a sudden the Redskins are back in the playoff hunt.  They’re big win over Dallas will fire them up for this division game.  Tiki Barber will go up against a team that can actually tackle and will not get another easy 200 yards.  This will be Clinton Portis and Mark Brunell’s day. 
Redskins over Giants 23-13

Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns
The Browns couldn’t manage to score a touchdown against the Raiders; they’ll have a much harder time doing so against the Steelers.  I like where the Browns are headed, but this year, they’re still bad.  Bettis and Parker will be running downhill on the Browns all day and both will put up big rushing numbers. 
Steelers over Browns 28-6

San Diego Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs
If the Chiefs plan on tackling Ladainian Tomlinson the way they tried tackling Tiki Barber, look for a 300 yard game from LT.  This isn’t the Colts, but I’m sure the Chargers will be revved up to play a division opponent.  And when they try, they seem unstoppable.  The thrill of their victory over the Colts will push them past the Chiefs even in Kansas City, where it’s so tough to win.  I would put 8 men in the box all day against the Chiefs, and force Trent Green to win the game.  He can’t. 
Chargers over Chiefs 38-23

San Francisco 49ers at St. Louis Rams
Yawn. 
Rams over 49ers 24-17

Tennessee Titans at Miami Dolphins
All teams in the AFC East, other than the Patriots, should be embarrassed this year.  They all had a golden opportunity to knock the Pats off their throne this year, but managed to gift wrap the division title for them by all managing to have horrible seasons.  The Dolphins are still a year and a new QB away from the title, but they’ve made great strides with Saban this year.  Ricky Williams looks nothing like his former self, but he’ll manage to carve the Titans up, along with Ronnie Brown. 
Dolphins at Titans 24-22

Philadelphia Eagles at Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals got beat by the Texans last week.  They got beat by the worst team in football.  As bad as McMahon and the Eagles have been, they should be able to muster enough points to beat the Cardinals.  It’s the time of season when there are many games that don’t mean anything; this is just another one of them. 
Eagles over Cardinals 17-13

Indianapolis Colts at Seattle Seahawks
In this Superbowl preview game, you’ll see a lot of Shaun Alexander and he’ll get a couple of TDs and be that much closer to the all-time most TDs scored in the regular season record.  The Seahawks are still trying to clinch home field advantage through out the playoffs, whereas the Colts already have that in the AFC and aren’t going for their perfect season anymore.  Peyton Manning and friends will see some rest during this game, and the Seahawks will win it, becoming the best team in the NFL regular season this year.  We’ll all have to wait for the Superbowl to see which team is really better though, when everything is on the line. 
Seahawks over Colts 32-24

Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos
Unfortunately for the Raiders, as mentioned previously, the Broncos are still in a fight with the Bengals to see who gets the 2nd seed in the AFC and the first round bye that comes along with it.  This is so important since the team that loses the race will most likely face the Steelers in the first round, and risk an early exit.  The Raiders haven’t looked good at all this season, despite much fanfare before the season began.  The Broncos on the other hand, have been really good all year and this should be an easy game for them. 
Broncos over Raiders 31-13

Sunday
Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers
This game should be scary for the Bears.  Although they are a much superior team, and should have no problem shutting down Favre and the Packers, this is a classic rivalry and Favre wants to be a spoiler in any way he can against the Bears.  Unfortunately, not only will the Bears be able to shut down the Packers, Rex Grossman will also be able to lead the offense up and down the field against the sorry Packer defense.  This game smells like a blowout.  Let the Rex Grossman hoopla begin. 
Bears over Packers 27-6

Minnesota Vikings at Baltimore Ravens
The Vikings came crashing down to earth, much like I had predicted.  I am a genius.  They aren’t as good as people thought, and Mike Tice is getting undeserved attention as a head coach of the year candidate.  With another coach, this team has the players to be great and a Superbowl contender.  It is DESPITE Mike Tice that this team has won a few games recently. 
Ravens over Vikings 17-10

Monday
New England Patriots at New York Jets
This is the finale for ABC and their Monday night telecasts.  Sadly, the Jets didn’t live up to their hype and are one of the worst teams in the league.  The Jets won’t be able to muster any Monday night magic, mainly because they don’t have a QB or RB at the moment.  The Pats will win and then the media will go crazy over the Patriots and their 4 game winning streak (over the Jets, Bills, Bucs, Jets, in that order).  Not a very imposing win streak by any means. 
Patriots over Jets 30-10