NFL Week 15

Here I come with post number 100 on this blog! They add up quick, evidently. And I come with picks for week 15 after getting off to a rocky start with the Saints losing last night. I did at least say it would be a close one and I lost when Chicago won the coin toss in OT. The NFL really needs to do something about that overtime format where the team winning the coin toss almost always wins the game. It hardly seems fair for them to battle for 60 minutes and then have the game decided by random chance. In any case, let's hope the other 15 picks turn out better!

Falcons over Bucs - The Bucs defense played a pathetic game Monday night and will no doubt bounce back with a better performance. I like the Falcons though because I think they'll be more desperate. Both teams have easy contests in weeks 16 and 17, but Atlanta needs to win out to make the playoffs, whereas Tampa can lose one and still have a shot.

Redskins over Bengals - Washington finally gets a win over a hopeless Cincinnati team.

Colts over Lions - This is a 1:00 pm start and should be over by about 1:10. Indy will take a four TD lead in the first half and Peyton will have a nap on the sidelines during the second half.

Chargers over Chiefs - too little, way too late for San Diego. Quite a disappointing year for the Bolts.

Seahawks over Rams - speaking of disappointing years, Seattle has really been a letdown. However, give them a ton of credit because they're not just playing out the string, they're laying it all on the line to get a few more W's.

Dolphins over 49ers - Miami will win this one, but it will be close. San Francisco is really playing hard under Mike Singletary and with a couple more solid efforts, the "Interim" tag should come off his "Head Coach" title.

Jets over Bills - New York finally gets back on the right track this week while the Bills confirm their fall from 4-0 and on top of the world to 6-10 and a long winter.

Panthers over Broncos - just call more runs to the right John Fox! Keep going there until it stops working. 300 yards against the Bucs D could be even more against a porous Broncos defense. The Panthers will remain perfect at home and on pace for home field advantage.

Packers over Jaguars - battle of underachievers here. Jacksonville is worse though and I don't expect them to do much even against the thoroughly poor Green Bay defense. Since GB hasn't been able to win at Lambeau lately, maybe a little road cooking is just what they need.

Ravens over Steelers - this is the game of the week to me. This will be the hardest hitting, manliest game, for sure. The sensational Joe Flacco will do just enough to outperform previous rookie sensation Roethlisberger. He'll just have to avoid those fatal turnovers that cost Romo the game against Pittsburgh last week.

Titans over Texans - it's going to be a shootout. These teams have been averaged a score of 29-26 in their last five meetings in favour of the Titans. I'm going to stick with the trend and pick Tennessee.

Cardinals over Vikings - I still think Minnesota stinks. They almost lost to the Lions both times the teams met. I mean, really ... how can you have any faith in a team that almost loses to the Lions?! Arizona is going to put up a ton of offense in the desert.

Patriots over the Raiders - New England keeps their playoff hopes alive with another west coast win that will likely be more difficult than it should be. After all, the Pats have made just about everything look difficult this year.

Cowboys over Giants - New York isn't playing for anything at all. They've already locked up the division and the only team that can catch them for home field through the NFC Championship game is the Jags who they can knock off themselves next week. This is a rest week for the G-Men and Dallas is going to benefit.

Eagles over Browns - where's the flex schedule now? Why are we stuck watching the crappy Browns on Monday night? Couldn't they have shifted Baltimore-Pittsburgh over? The last two Mondays don't get much better either. I guess last week's Tampa-Carolina game was as good as it gets!

Enjoy the weekend as the playoff picture continues to unfold!