NFL Week 16 Preview

Fantasy Football Start Em’ Sit Em

Quarterback Start: Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers, Kirk Cousins, Cam Newton

Quarterback Sit: Carson Palmer, Matthew Stafford, Joe Flacco, Andy Dalton

Running Back Start: Rob Kelly, Jonathan Stewart, Frank Gore, Derrick Henry

Running Back Sit: Adrian Peterson, Tevin Coleman, Terrence West, Isaiah Crowell

Wide Receiver Start: Ty Montgomery, DeSean Jackson, Malcolm Mitchell, Michael Thomas

Wide Receive Sit: Steve Smith Sr., Larry Fitzgerald, Terrelle Pryor, Brandon Marshall

Tight End Start: Kyle Rudolph, Zach Ertz, Antonio Gates, Cameron Brate

Tight End Sit: Eric Ebron, Dennis Pitta, Jason Witten, Jordan Reed

Defense/ST Start: Patriots, Chargers, Titans

Defense/ST Sit: Ravens, Redskins

Clinching Scenarios: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000760475/article/week-16-nfl-playoff-clinching-scenarios

Week 16 Game Picks

Giants vs. Eagles: It’s really simple for the Giants at this point; win and they’re in. Even with Janoris Jenkins’ status unknown, the Giants defense should be able to do their part in the game. The Eagles receiving corp aren’t world beaters and the Giants pass rush has been superb as of late. Carson Wentz won’t have much time to throw even with Lane Johnson returning. So I expect the Giants to win this game.

Falcons vs. Panthers: The Falcons offense did just fine with Julio Jones and now he’s back to face a team he lit up earlier in the season. The Panthers deserve a little credit for not rolling over to close the season, but I doubt their defense will find much success against this offense. Expect Matt Ryan to shred this defense once again as the Falcons win the game.

Dolphins vs. Bills: The big thing to note in this game is that the Dolphins 30th ranked rushing defense will have to stop the Bills running attack. To make matters worse, the key to the Dolphins defense has disappeared lately. Has anyone seen Jay Ajayi in recent weeks? With a hobbled offensive line in front of him and Kyle Williams stuffing the run for the Bills, I don’t see Matt Moore bailing his team out of this one. Look for the Bills to win.

Redskins vs. Bears: After Monday’s loss to the Panthers, Washington cannot afford anymore setbacks. Kirk Cousins should have no trouble throwing the ball all over the Bears secondary and Rob Kelly should find himself plenty of room to run. It will be up to the Washington defense to stop a Bears offense that looked pretty good last week. Jordan Howard can seemingly run on anyone and Alshon Jeffery looked good coming off of suspension. It’ll be a high scoring affair, but I expect the Redskins to pick up the victory.

Jets vs. Patriots: The Patriots should have little trouble taking care of business against the Jets.

Chargers vs. Browns: This is it for Cleveland. This is their best chance to avoid an 0-16 season. They’re facing a very injured Chargers team that will be traveling to another time zone to play a 1:00 game. Philip Rivers is turnover prone and doesn’t have much in the way of an offensive line to protect him. It looks good on paper. The problem is even with the weak Chargers offensive line, the Browns don’t have any pass rushers to make it a problem. Also, they have no one in the secondary that can keep up with the Chargers quick receivers. Sorry Browns fans, you’re one week closer to infamy following yet another loss.

Titans vs. Jaguars: The Titans just keep on surprising following a win in Arrowhead of all places. This matchup with the Jaguars will look similar to their first meeting. I expect the Titans to run at will and pick up a win.

Vikings vs. Packers: I mentioned last week that the Packers were getting hot at the right time, but no one expected Ty Montgomery to be the fix to the Packers running problems. If he can keep up the high level of play, he will make the Packers offense balanced and extremely dangerous. Montgomery will particularly be huge against the Vikings defense as I don’t expect Rodgers to post huge numbers on them. Even with Rodgers playing more of a game manager role, I expect the Packers to take care of business against the Vikings.

Colts vs. Raiders: The Raiders enjoyed a bonus home game in San Diego last week, but didn’t really play well. In any event, they have a chance to get closer to winning the AFC West with a win over the Colts. Their defense will be put to the test by Andrew Luck. With the Colts offensive line, I expect some blitzes to throw Luck off his game. After that I expect the Raiders offense to do enough to secure a win.

Buccaneers vs. Saints: A few weeks ago, the Buccaneers embarrassed Drew Brees and beat the Saints. Expect a different outcome this time around. The Saints will likely rely on a more balanced strategy this time around. Look for New Orleans to give Mark Ingram some more carries as they do have the size to run on the Tampa defense. And after last week’s showing against the Cardinals, you have to love the Saints chances if Brees plays that well. The Buccaneers won’t go quietly though with their playoff hopes on the line. Even with that I expect the Saints to come out on top.

49ers vs. Rams: The game no one wants to see. In this game the Rams should have the advantage. The 49ers run defense is the worst thing going today and Todd Gurley probably can’t wait to get on the field with them. Carlos Hyde on the other hand will find trouble against the Rams defensive line. As long as Jared Goff doesn’t goof, the Rams should be able to get the rookie QB his first win.

Cardinals vs. Seahawks: Hopefully this turns out to be more than a kick fest, but I have my doubts. Both offenses have similar struggles with keeping their quarterbacks clean. So you can already expect a close game. I also expect a tough outing for both starting running backs. David Johnson in particular will be in for a long day since the Seahawks will have Michael Bennett around this time along with K.J. Wright. The Seahawks will win the game by keeping Arizona out of scoring situations.

Bengals vs. Texas: For the second-straight year, Brock Osweiler was shown the bench in favor of another quarterback. Enter Tom Savage, who can actually get the ball down field to the Texans receivers. Lamar Miller should be thrilled since that means no more stacked boxes to slow him down. With Houston’s defense being among the best, they should be able to slow down the Bengals and win the game.

Ravens vs. Steelers: The divisional rivalry game we all want to see. With the AFC North at stake, both teams need their best effort. What’s interesting is that the Ravens are the team that forced the Steelers into their run first philosophy. Ever since then, Le’Veon Bell has put up MVP numbers as the focus of the Steelers. Baltimore will have to improve on last week’s terrible outing against the run and force Big Ben to throw the ball. Unfortunately, I don’t believe they can stop Bell. Last week’s game and the outing against Dallas proves they can be ran over. I’m picking the Steelers.

Broncos vs. Chiefs: With the Broncos offense only being found on the side of a milk carton, it’s hard for me to give them a real chance to win. With the Broncos bad offense line meeting the Chiefs front seven, the ending won’t be pretty if you're a Broncos fan. I’m picking the Chiefs to end the season of the defending champions.

Lions vs. Cowboys: There have been whispers that the Lions have what it takes to beat Dallas in a potential playoff matchup. Their offense does have the capability to move the ball against them, but what about their defense? Can they stop the Dallas offense from imposing their will? Not this week. I’m picking Dallas to win and clinch the NFC East.