LOOKING AT WEEK 15 IN THE NFL
by Trace Armstrong on December 16, 2011 a 2:31 PM
Hey everyone, it’s been finals week for my graduate school courses so
I’ve been neck deep in school. So this week rather than go for the full
column, I’ll only make my weekly predictions.
Last week I went 12-4 which brings me up to 139-69 on the year.
Jacksonville Jaguars @ Atlanta Falcons
I picked Atlanta. I have a screen shot if anyone wants proof.
Winner: Atlanta.
Dallas Cowboys @Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Dallas needs a bounce back win after losing to the Giants last week.
Tampa has played horribly most of the year and that trend continues.
Winner: Dallas by 10.
Miami Dolphins @ Buffalo Bills
Miami
got killed by the Eagles this week and will get barely edged out by the
Bills. It’s in Buffalo and its going to be cold on Sunday.
Winner: Buffalo by 5.
Seattle Seahawks @ Chicago Bears
Have you watched the Bears backup quarterback play? He’s been horrible. Seattle rides Lynch to a close win in Chicago.
Winner: Seattle by 3.
Tennessee Titans @ Indianapolis Colts
The Colts are still horrible and will continue the trend. Tennessee has to probably win out to make the playoffs.
Winner: Tennessee by 10.
Green Bay Packers @ Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs still stink.
Winner: Green Bay by 21.
Cincinnati Bengals @ St. Louis Rams
The
Rams are a horrible team with so many problems on both sides of the
ball. I would argue they are worse than the Colts right now.
Winner: Cincinnati by 10.
New Orleans Saints @ Minnesota Vikings
Brees should be able to tee off on the putrid Vikings secondary. The Vikings offense can move the ball but not enough to win.
Winner: New Orleans by 10.
Washington Redskins @ New York Giants
The Giants are kicking
much better. The Redskins are playing well but not well enough to knock
off the Giants. Their defense is much better than New England’s.
Winner: New York Giants by 7.
Carolina Panthers @ Houston Texans
I really want to pick
Carolina, I really do but their defense is so bad it’s hard to do so.
I’m expecting a shootout but the Texans
to pull it out in the end.
Winner: Houston by 7.
Detroit Lions @ Oakland Raiders
This is the hardest game for
me to pick this week. The Raiders have Denarius Moore returning so that
should give Palmer some options on offense. That said, I think the Lions
want the playoff berth much more than the Raiders.
Winner: Detroit by 3.
New England Patriots @ Denver Broncos
Here
is something to consider. Everyone has jumped on the Tebow train this
week predicting the Broncos will upset the Patriots. I have news for all
of the bandwagon jumpers, it isn’t happening this week. New England
will get their points and get them consistently throughout the game. Of
the three teams that have beaten New England this season, all of them
have scored at least 24 points to win. Since Tebow has started, they
have only crossed the 24 point barrier twice, against Oakland and
Minnesota. At the time, Oakland was in a quarterback transition and
Minnesota’s secondary has been so bad they have on average given up 28.5
points in every loss so that puts Denver on par with everyone else. Can
Denver win? Absolutely. Do I think they will? No.
Winner: New England by 10.
New York Jets @ Philadelphia Eagles
How
is this in the Vegas zone of Eagles by 3? The Eagles have played like
crap for weeks with the exception of last week’s Dolphin demolition. The
Jets find ways to make the playoffs every year as one of my
counterparts has constantly reminded me.
Winner: New York Jets by 3 in some fluky play with 1 minute to go.
Cleveland Browns @ Arizona Cardinals
What’s
going on in the desert? The Cards beat the 49ers last week? Considering
I’ve seen no tape of the game I don’t know how they did it.
Winner: Arizona by 7.
Baltimore Ravens @ San Diego Chargers
This
feels like it is going to be more competitive than it has any reason
being. Baltimore has been on a role but this feels like a letdown/trap
game.
Winner: San Diego by 3.
Pittsburgh Steelers @ San Francisco 49ers
I’m
withholding my pick until Monday. If Roethlisberger sits on the bench,
Steelers lose. If he plays, they win. Until I hear one way or the other
if he plays or not, I’m sitting on it.
