NFL & Fantasy News
(Won-Loss Record and Last Week’s Ranking in parentheses)
1. Green Bay Packers (14-1) (1) - Wire to wire #1.
2. New England Patriots (12-3) (2) - 7 in a row gives them the longest winning streak in the NFL.
3. New Orleans Saints (12-3) (3) - Congratulations Drew Brees.
4. Baltimore Ravens (11-4) (4) - Can clinch a bye with a win over the Bengals.
5. San Francisco 49ers (12-3) (5) - A win over the Rams gives them a first round bye.
Hit the title/read more to see the Power Rankings
This was a week for tought talk and big plays and for a few concession speeches too.
And if you’re looking for a good place to start, how about the Christmas wish of a season the Detroit Lions have now delivered to their fans, making the playoffs for the first time this century.
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It’s an unusual week in the NFL, as the league elected to place its slate of games on Saturday, Christmas Eve Day, and go with only one game on Christmas night. This will be a decisive week for many teams as well, for although we’ve gone through 15 weeks of games, there’s still so many possible playoff scenarios it’s not possible to run them all down without a spreadsheet.
Coming off a week filled with upsets, I had a decent enough rebound week, and I stand at 32-27-1 in Best Picks and 118-110-3 overall for the season. There’s a few good plays this week, so I’m looking forward to good Christmas week of football.
Hit the title/read more to check out the picks for the sixteenth week of the NFL...
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Thursday Night Pick
Houston (-5.5) @Indianapolis (Danny Sheridan)
The Colts won their game last week, and the Texans, I believe, fell victim to a little post-first-playoffs-ever letdown. Back to normal this week, as the woeful Colts run defense will have no answer for Arian Foster and Ben Tate, which will mean TJ Yates won’t miss Andre Johnson nearly as much. The Texans defense will step up as well, and this game will not be close. Look for the Texans in a controlled romp, with the score only looking somewhat reasonable because Houston will spend the second half controlling the ball and killing clock.
Houston Texans 24 Indianapolis Colts 14
Power Rankings
(Won-Loss Record and Last Week’s Ranking in parentheses)
1. Green Bay Packers (13-1) (1) - Oh well, nobody’s perfect.
2. New England Patriots (11-3) (6) - I keep telling people this is NOT last year’s Patriots. Sooner or later they’ll listen.
3. New Orleans Saints (11-3) (3) - Only question: Can they win on the road in the playoffs?
4. Baltimore Ravens (10-4) (2) - Costly misstep a lot less costly than it might have been.
5. San Francisco 49ers (11-3) (7) - Came after gimpy Ben like cheetahs on a wounded antelope or an open bag of Cheetos, depending on the cheetahs.
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Twas the week before Christmas and in the NFL
Fans all over were saying, “What the Hell?!”
The Redskins gave the Giants some poorly timed grief
And The perfect Green Bay Packers even lost to the Chiefs
The Texans went down to the Panthers of all teams
And Tim Tebow ran out of magic this week it seems.
The Chargers and Seahawks both dashed playoff hopes
And the Eagles made the Jets look like the New York Jokes
But Santa’s naughty list didn’t include everyone
The Indianapolis Colts, at long last, have won.
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On Saturday Night Live, Jesus paid a special visit to his favorite son Tebow and the Denver Broncos. In the clip, Jesus has a pep talk with the team to say “hey it’s not a good week for me if I have to drop everything to bail you guys out in the 4th quarter every game”. Needless to say, Jesus meant what he said because Patriots ended up beating the Broncos 41-23.
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All good things must come to an end, and one of those things was my winning streak. 0 for 4 on the Best Picks? Ouch! For the season, I’m still 31-25-1 and 108-104-3 overall, but I need I nice run at the end of the year to finish over .500. Yeah, me and a dozen NFL teams. There’s a real playoff logjam and with just three weeks to go, just one misstep can cost you. That said, even though just about EVERY game has some sort of playoff implications, there’s only a couple of them on the schedule anyone would actually want to see, and there’s a number of tough ones to pick as well.
We’re also headed into the coach’s minefield at this point of the season. Joining Jack Del Rio on the unemployment line this week were Kansas City’s Todd Haley and Miami’s Tony Sparano. I’m not sure I get why anyone would want to fire their coach at week 15, unless they’re hoping to get a look at an assistant they may want to promote from within. Either way, there’s a number of coaches whose jobs may disappear once the season is over, including Steve Spagnuolo (STL), Leslie Frazier (MIN), Raheem Morris (TB), Andy Reid (PHL), Norv Turner (SD) and even Jason Garrett (DAL), although Jerry Jones’ unusually detailed vote of confidence suggests that Garrett is safe.
Hit the title/read more to check out the picks for the fifteenth week of the NFL...
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Thursday Night Pick
Jacksonville (+11) @Atlanta (Danny Sheridan)
The Jaguars put up a huge number against Tampa Bay last week, but don’t expect a repeat performance. Atlanta needs this game; they have the inside track to a wildcard in the NFC. Most important of all, Atlanta’s defense is pretty good. I can’t see Jacksonville doing much against them. On the flip side, the Jaguars have lost some key people on defense. The team that was really shutting people down in the middle of the season doesn’t have the horses to keep doing it. Plus, Atlanta is at home. They’re a lot better at home. As much as it pains me to give a big 11 points with a team I think is nothing special, this week the Falcons should cover it.
Atlanta Falcons 24 Jacksonville Jaguars 10
Power Rankings
(Won-Loss Record and Last Week’s Ranking in parentheses)
1. Green Bay Packers (13-0) (1) - One more win to clinch best record throughout.
2. Baltimore Ravens (10-3) (2) - Still pacesetting in the AFC.
3. New Orleans Saints (10-3) (3) - Defense showed it can win a game too.
4. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-3) (4) - Ben on one leg > most QBs with 2.
5. Houston Texans (10-3) (5) - First playoff appearance in franchise history guaranteed. Don’t celebrate too much, you’re still right there in the running for a first round bye.
Hit the title/read more to see the Power Rankings
This is the year of Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. No argument. This is the year of Tim Tebow. Again, no argument. This is the year of Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Rodgers on a three-way quest to break Dan Marino’s passing record. No argument, no argument & no argument.
This is even the year of Cam Newton, and one of the more remarkable rookie seasons, even in defeat, anyone has ever seen. Again, I’m not quibbling with any of that.
But on this day, and for the last couple of weeks, and perhaps for the next few to come, this has also been the year of T.J. Yates. Who? You know, that guy who replaced that guy (Matt Leinart) who replaced that guy (Matt Schaub) on that team (the Texans) that FINALLY made the playoffs.
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While this video couldn't be further from the truth and most NFL fans have forgiven Vick for what happened off the field, the dog fighting issue will always haunt him.
But as someone who is a big Vick fan, this video will definitely ruffle some feathers over at PETA but that just means it's actually funny.
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