Talk about an average week, after finishing week 15 with a .500 record, I need to get back to the 67% course that I'd been on up to last week There were a lot of upsets, thankfully in the games that best helped our Ravens move into the top Wild Card slot in the AFC. . San Diego took care of business last night in putting the final nail in Tennessee's playoff coffin. Hopefully that trend will continue this week, but this time I will pick the right winners, with the Ravens-Steelers tilt coming in tomorrow's post.
Here we go with the key matchups that affect the AFC playoff races and the rest will follow after the 'Jump.'
Bengals over Chiefs: A win by Cincinnati and they clinch the AFC North and while I'd love to see our Ravens sneak in there, I just can't see a KC team that lost at home to both Buffalo and Cleveland go on the road and win.
Dolphins over Texans: Both teams are fighting for their playoff lives and Houston is a long shot to make it and shouldn't have the passion that the home team from Miami will bring to the game.
Patriots over Jaguars: New England will clinch the AFC East while at the same time put Jacksonville out of the playoff race with a resounding victory at home.
Colts over Jets: No way Indianapolis sits their starters until this game is long decided as they want to go 16-0 and this also puts New York out of their playoff misery.
Eagles over Broncos: Philly needs to lock down the NFC East and won't let a borderline playoff team from Denver get in their way, despite the return of safety Brian Dawkins to his former home.
Falcons over Bills: We could be seeing the end of the TO era in Buffalo as their disappointing season begins to wind down and although Atlanta is out of the playoffs, they still will play for pride at home.
Browns over Raiders: As impressive as Oakland has looked in wins over the Steelers and Broncos, they are still a unpredictable team and Cleveland's QB Derek Anderson tries to make a plea for a job next year.
Packers over Seahawks: Green Bay wants to rebound after losing on the final play last week and Seattle just wants to end this horror of a season.
Giants over Panthers: At one point, fans were thinking this might be the NFC Championship Game, but New York is barely in the playoff race while Carolina is headed home after the season.
Saints over Buccaneers: New Orleans will take out their frustrations of just missing out on perfection and Tampa is just the unfortunate sacrificial lamb.
Cardinals over Rams: Arizona is primed for another playoff run while St Louis is wondering who will not only be their QB this week but next year as well.
49ers over Lions: Matthew Stafford's painful rookie season is officially over but Detroit will have to wait two more weeks before figuring exactly whether they will draft first or second next April and SF will run all day on them.
Cowboys over Redskins (Sunday night): Can Washington look that bad two weeks in a row on national TV? Yes, they can and surprisingly enough, Dallas can look that good in December two weeks in a row as well.
Vikings over Bears (Monday night): As bad as Chicago has looked, can they continue to make Minnesota look like it is having another "Brett Favre" swoon late in the season? Uhhh,..nope.
Last week: 8-8
Season record: 147-75