RJ's NFL Picks - Week Sixteen
Published December 21, 2006
I went 11-5 last week. That puts me at 133-91 for the season, which is an overall winning percentage of approximately 59%. (For a comparison, check out the "experts" over at ESPN.)
The following are my picks for the NFL's Week Sixteen:
Thursday, December 21
Minnesota (6-8) at Green Bay (6-8) - 8:00 p.m.
The Packers have won two in a row, but are only 2-5 at home. The Vikings have won only two out of their last eight, and those victories came against mighty Arizona and fearsome Detroit. These two teams last met in Week Ten, with Green Bay picking up the win on the road, 23-17.
RJ'S PICK - PACKERS BY 5
Saturday, December 23
Kansas City (7-7) at Oakland (2-12) - 8:00 p.m.
The Chiefs have lost three in a row and are 2-5 on the road. That's not good. However, the Raiders have lost seven in a row and are 0-5 against division rivals. And that's just plain horrible.
RJ'S PICK - KANSAS CITY BY 11
Sunday, December 24
Baltimore (11-3) at Pittsburgh (7-7) - 1:00 p.m.
Baltimore has wrapped up the AFC North, but is still fighting for a first-round bye. Their defense has given up the fewest points of any team in the NFL. The Steelers have won three in a row and are 5-2 at home. This should be a great game.
RJ'S PICK - PITTSBURGH BY 2
Carolina (6-8) at Atlanta (7-7) - 1:00 p.m.
Carolina has completely collapsed, having lost their last four games. Atlanta still has a realistic shot at making the playoffs as a Wild Card in the sorry NFC.
RJ'S PICK - FALCONS BY 3
Chicago (12-2) at Detroit (2-12) - 1:00 p.m.
The Bears have already clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs, so I'm thinking they'll pretty much hand this one to Detroit. Which is the only way Detroit could possibly win.
RJ'S PICK - LIONS BY 17
Indianapolis (11-3) at Houston (4-10) - 1:00 p.m.
The Colts looked impressive last week, beating a solid Bengals team after they had lost three of their last four. They've already clinched the AFC South, but Tony Dungy badly wants that first-round bye, so don't expect them to just roll over for the Texans.
RJ'S PICK - COLTS BY 7
New England (10-4) at Jacksonville (8-6) - 1:00 p.m.
This is an incredibly tough game to pick. New England is 5-1 on the road, but Jacksonville is 6-1 at home. Both teams have outstanding defenses and above-average offenses. New England needs a win in order to clinch their division; Jacksonville needs a win in order to stay alive as a Wild Card contender. This is a must-watch matchup.
RJ'S PICK - JAGUARS BY 1
New Orleans (9-5) at New York Giants (7-7) - 1:00 p.m.
The first half of the season, the Giants were 6-2. But they have gone 1-5 so far in the second half. If they want to be playing into the postseason, they pretty much have to win this one. New Orleans has already clinched their division, and has a decent shot at a playoff bye. The Saints have a better record on the road (5-2) than the Giants have at home (3-4). Wanna bet Eli Manning wishes he was playing for the Chargers now?
RJ Elliott is a graduate student at the University Of Central Florida. His passions in life are sports, politics, nature, and women who have piercings they never told their daddy about. He dislikes daytime television, left-wing dictators, and people who talk like Garrison Keillor. He is ambivalent about the names "Trig" and "Piper."
- RJ's NFL Picks - Week Sixteen
- Published: December 21, 2006
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Sports
- Filed Under: Sports: Football (American)
- Part of a feature: NFL Picks
- Writer: RJ Elliott
- RJ Elliott's BC Writer page
- RJ Elliott's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us
Comments on this articleComments
1-0 coming into today...
Kansas City (7-7) at Oakland (2-12)... KC.
Baltimore (11-3) at Pittsburgh (7-7)... Somehow Pittsburgh fought their way to a .500 record. I must have been sleeping the past month because I sure didn't see that coming. I still don't see them overcoming Baltimore.
Carolina (6-8) at Atlanta (7-7)... Atlanta.
Chicago (12-2) at Detroit (2-12)... The entire Chicago team would have to get food poisoning to lose to hapless Detroit.
Indianapolis (11-3) at Houston (4-10)... Indy.
New England (10-4) at Jacksonville (8-6)... Brady controls this game easily. NE.
New Orleans (9-5) at New York Giants (7-7)... New Orleans. The Giants are in a downward spiral.
Tampa Bay (3-11) at Cleveland (4-10)... Cleveland.
Tennessee (7-7) at Buffalo (7-7)... Tennessee. I have a hard time picking against the miracle team.
Washington (5-9) at St. Louis (6-8)... St Louis.
Arizona (4-10) at San Francisco (6-8)... San Francisco. (Though now that I've picked them they're going to lose.)
Cincinnati (8-6) at Denver (8-6)... Cincinnati.
San Diego (12-2) at Seattle (8-6)... San Diego.
Philadelphia (8-6) at Dallas (9-5)... I pray to god it is Philly. I'll pick Dallas though, just so I don't slit my wrists if Philly loses.
New York Jets (8-6) at Miami (6-8)... NYJ
Ok... The Oakland Raiders have not won a game since Oct 29... the season has been an absolute nightmere.. Last week was also a game they were supposed to win and instead they took it up the wazoo.. hard..lol. This last home game is a must win for every single person on the raiders side of the field. If the raiders lose this game, Shell and everybody else on the Raiders coaching staff will slit there wrist on the spot, and the fans will burn down the Oakland Colloseum.
Raiders by 20
the rest of my picks will be up when I get back from the game later tonight... lol.. Ya im going to this game..
"RJ'S PICK - KANSAS CITY BY 11"
Final Score:
KC 20, Oakland 9 - RJ 2-0 (I nailed the spread!)
I guess the raiders decided to stick with Al Davis's "Committment of Excellence".. oops I mean -of being the worst NFL team of all time.
1-1 going into sunday... So now Theory is one up on me.. :)
Here are my picks.
PIT- umm.. more motive maybe?
ATL- idk.. I like Atlanta more that Car..
CHI- watch Detroit win..
INDY- only lock of the week?
JAX- need it more??
N.Y.G- post season aspirations.. saints going on the road..
CLE- tampa will show up at home vs seattle next week.
BUF- no reason for Tenn to win.. Buf last home game.
STL- tough game in a tough week.. who knows.
SF- RJ and Theory picking... can't be good news.
CIN- righfully so.
SEA- say it aint so.. but.. I see unexpected win here.
DAL- philly 3rd road game in a row.. good luck.
N.Y.J.- I dont like Miami.
It's halftime (or thereabouts) in all nine of the early games, and my pick is losing in each and every single one. Merry f---ing Christmas! :-/
Final Scores:
TB 22, Browns 7 - RJ 2-1
Carolina 10, Atlanta 3 - RJ 2-2
Final Scores:
Baltimore 31, Steelers 7 - RJ 2-5
Titans 30, Buffalo 29 - RJ 2-6
Final Score:
Bears 26, Lions 21 - RJ 2-7 (!)
Rams 37, Redskins 31 (in OT) - RJ 3-7 (I nailed the spread again...)
NO 30, Giants 7 - RJ 4-7
ESPN's NFL "experts" -
Theismann 6-5
Salisbury 5-6
Hoge 5-5
Jaworski 5-6
Schlereth 5-6
Allen 6-5
Mortensen 4-7
Golic 8-3
Accuscore 4-7
Hoge is such a douche. He was too pussy to pick the NE-JAX game, which was one of the most difficult picks to make this week.
Hoge also attempted to cheat last week by changing his SF-SEA pick after the game was over! The man is clearly out of control.
Final Scores:
Arizona 26, SF 20 - RJ 4-8
Denver 24, Bengals 23 - RJ 4-9 (!)
Theismann 8-6
Salisbury 6-8
Hoge 7-6
Jaworski 7-7
Schlereth 7-7
Allen 8-6
Mortensen 6-8
Golic 9-5
Accuscore 6-8
Yep. I'm in last place.
9-5... I was excited while looking at the scores, though, because I forgot I picked Atlanta and Cleveland. I was like, "Dood. I slayed this week!" Still not too bad, though...
(I can't believe I varried that much from RJ, though... sorry dude)
Donald Trump just called me a loser on Fox News.
Theismann 8-7
Salisbury 6-9
Hoge 7-7
Jaworski 8-7
Schlereth 7-8
Allen 8-7
Mortensen 6-9
Golic 10-5
Accuscore 6-9
Well, at least now I'm tied with a few "experts" for last place...
omfg
10-6... but I don't care because of how my Eagles did tonight! Thank you Jesus! Thank you Santa! Thank you KwanzaBot!
Theismann 8-7
Salisbury 7-9
Hoge 8-7
Jaworski 9-7
Schlereth 8-8
Allen 9-7
Mortensen 6-10
Golic 11-5
Accuscore 6-10
For the week, I beat two, tied one, and lost to six...
I'm 140-100 for the season, which is a winning percentage of 58.3%
ESPN's NFL "experts" -
Theismann 134-90 (59.8%)
Salisbury 140-100 (58.3%)
Hoge 139-100 (58.2%)
Jaworski 143-97 (59.6%)
Schlereth 144-96 (60.0%)
Allen 145-95 (60.4%)
Mortensen 130-110 (54.2%)
Golic 149-91 (62.1%)
Accuscore 149-91 (62.1%)
So I'm ahead of two, tied with one, and behind six for the season...
4-12 lol -_-
Here's an idea for next season: Weekly NFL Picks, by RJ, DOM, and The Theory, all in one article!
Thoughts?
Possible, though it seems like it might be kind of hard to co-ordinate in a timely manner. Because we would all want to wait to pick until after Monday evening... then would have to somehow compile them, send them to you (assuming you'd be the posterer... though I would have the capacity, too), and get them up by Thursday.
However, if you think that would work I would not be opposed. Here is my email sirtheory at gmail dot com.
I'm not quite sure what my situation will be next season cuz Im prob gonna go up to humboldt to continue my school.. but if things arn't too crazy, I would definetley be down to do weekly picks with you and Theory.
Fair enough. Just be sure to remind me of this offer sometime in the Summer of '07... ;-)
"RJ's NFL Picks - Week 17" will probably be up tomorrow (Friday) night...FYI...
Still looking for week 17 , lot of thought going into it this week, you know about the Saturday game right since it's Sat morning and still no picks, you can still overtake the "experts" , finish dtrong mate.
Nick
ment strong
Oh and i went 13-3 last week against the spread picking ALL the dogs. I'm 113-232 against the spread with pushes omitted and having worst year of my life, after winning the pool last year, looking towards going all dogs in week 17 again except da bears,rams and panthers against the spreads incase anyone is interested. Cheers all happy new years great coloumn.
Nick
or 113 right and 119 wrong , we do it differently across the pond, cheers.
Nick
Just in case "RJ's Week 17 NFL Picks" doesn't get published in time:
Saturday, Dec. 30
New York Giants (7-8) at Washington (5-10) - 8:00 pm
The Giants have finally slipped below .500 after having dropped their last two games. However, they are still likely to make it into the postseason with a win Saturday night (depending on how Green Bay does, and the strength-of-victory tiebreaker). The Redskins are just playing for pride, and the chance to be spoilers.
RJ's Pick - Redskins by 1
The thing about the Redskins is they don't know how to quit. I don't see them being an easy pushover... nor do I see them losing. The Giants are going to be in complete disarray with this loss and heads are going to roll in NY.
skins/giants:
giants 4-6 at skins;over 5-0 skin home games vs giants
JUST SO YOU KNOW
Nick Stone
Er, just in case:
Sunday, Dec. 31
Carolina (7-8) at New Orleans (10-5) - 1:00 pm
Carolina becomes a playoff team with a win and a Giants loss plus a Packers loss. New Orleans has already wrapped up the #2 seed in the NFC and has nothing to play for, so they may rest their starters.
RJ's Pick - Carolina by 3
Cleveland (4-11) at Houston (5-10) - 1:00 pm
Cleveland has dropped three straight. Houston is coming off a shocking win against the Colts last week.
RJ's Pick - Texans by 4
Detroit (2-13) at Dallas (9-6) - 1:00 pm
This is a sad week for me, as I find myself forced to pick against my beloved Lions. Dallas is still playing for something (the NFC East title), while Detroit would actually be better off losing, so they can get the #1 pick in next year's draft.
RJ's Pick - Dallas by 23
Jacksonville (8-7) at Kansas City (8-7) - 1:00 pm
Both teams still have a shot at earning a Wild Card berth, but they both need a win and a lot of help. Jacksonville is an awful away team, so I'll go with the Chiefs.
RJ's Pick - KC by 5
New England (11-4) at Tennessee (8-7) - 1:00 pm
Tennessee has won sin in a row. If they can make it seven, they have a decent shot at making the postseason. And you can be sure that nobody wants to meet a team as hot as the Titans in the playoffs.
RJ's Pick - Tennessee by 2
Oakland (2-13) at New York Jets (9-6) - 1:00 pm
The Jets are in with a win. Oakland is winless of the road this year.
RJ's Pick - Jets by 11
Pittsburgh (7-8) at Cincinnati (8-7) - 1:00 pm
The Bengals can still make the playoffs with a win and some help. But the Steelers stand in their way, and the Super Bowl champs aren't going to just roll over for a division rival in their last game of the season.
RJ's Pick - Steelers by 6
Seattle (8-7) at Tampa Bay (4-11) - 1:00 pm
Seattle has nothing to play for since they wrapped up the NFC West last week. They've lost three in a row, and will probably rest some of their starters in this one. I believe we are about to witness a division champ go staggering into the playoffs as a .500 team.
RJ's Pick - Tampa Bay by 2
Saint Louis (7-8) at Minnesota (6-9) - 1:00 pm
The Rams still have a chance to qualify for the postseason. The Vikings just want this season to end.
RJ's Pick - Rams by 1
"Tennessee has won sin in a row."
Should be "six" in a row. That's why they have editors, I guess... :-/
Man, you are pure kick ass. I loathe anyone in the NFC east - except the Eagles. Datsa nice beating dey lay on de Cowgirls.
I know its late...
N.Y. Giants
New Orleans
Cleveland
Dallas
Jacksonville
Tennessee
N.Y. Jets
Pittsburgh
Seattle
St. Louis
San Diego
Philadelphia
Baltimore
Indianapolis
Denver
Chicago
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/57359)
Thanks for publishing this so fast, Matt! :)