Predictions For Week 15 In The NFL

Recommended Reading
(1)
Steve Wyche Atlanta Journal Constitution "Falcon CB Rips Petrino"
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/falcons/stories/2007/12/12/hall_1213.html
Reason to read this article: insider reports on how Falcon players truly feel about former coach Bobby Petrino.
(2)
Jeff Gordon, St Louis Post Dispatch "For Rams It Could Have Been Worse Under The Conditions" http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/jeffgordon/story/60D694388731F831862573AD000A11F4?OpenDocument
Reason to read this article: excellent analysis on Scott Linehan’s job security
(3)
Jason Whitlock, Kansas City Star "Herm Deserves Time To Rebuild" http://www.kansascity.com/sports/columnists/jason_whitlock/story/395741.html
Reason to read this article: excellent analysis on Herman Edwards’ job security
(4)
Joe Posnanski, Kansas City Star "KC owes Peterson a lot, but it’s time for him to go"
http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/385724.html
Reason to read: a columnist thinks Chiefs GM Carl Peterson should be fired. Very in depth, a must read.
(5)
Monte Pool, San Francisco Examiner "Nolan over and over fumbled the ball"
http://www.insidebayarea.com/sports/ci_7699532
Reason to read: an in depth analysis of the relationship between 49er quarterback Alex Smith and 49er head coach Mike Nolan. (Note: this won’t have a happy ending)

On to my predictions for Week 15

Last week I was a sensational 13-3, making me 93-52 for the season. 64.2%. Not bad. Not excellent, but not bad at all.

Bills over Browns: quite simply, the biggest AFC match this week.
Why? If the Bills lose, they are eliminated. A Bills loss coupled with a Titan loss to KC would mean that the only team that can catch the Browns for the last playoff spot is Denver. Not only that, but for Denver to catch Cleveland they’d have to go 3-0 to finish the season, while Cleveland loses to both the 49ers and Bengals. Not bloody likely.

A Bills win would tie them with Cleveland at 8-6. The Bills would have both the head to head tiebreaker plus the better conference record (7-5 to 6-5)

So this is the swing game. Fans of the Titans, and either the Broncos or Texans are looking closely and hoping for a Bills win.

And yes the Bills will win. Speaking of the Texans and the Broncos...

Broncos over Texans: quite simply, this is an AFC Playoff Game between a pair of 6-7 teams. The winner gets to 7-7 but the major stumbling block is that even if the Browns lose, the Bills would move to 8-6, which is still one game up with only 2 games to play.

Titans over Chiefs: The only question surrounding the Chiefs now are whether GM Carl Peterson and coach Herman Edwards will be fired. Noone expects KC to win another game this season.

The Titans need this game badly: hopefully the blown 14 point 4th quarter lead to the Chargers will be forgotten once this game starts.

Redskins over Giants: I am picking Washington for 2 reasons. (A)I believe that Joe Gibbs has one more playoff push before he retires and (b)they have an extra three days of rest due to having played a Thursday game the week before.

Saints over the Cardinals: quite simply, this is an NFC Playoff Game. The loser is out, perhaps not mathematically, but in every other way.
I’m going with the Saints because whenever the Cardinals play a big game, they lose.

Vikings over the Bears: The Vikings are hoping for 3 things to happen on Sunday.
(1)Redskins lose to the Giants
(2)Lions lose to the Chargers
(3)Cardinals beat the Saints

If this trifecta occurs, then the Vikings would need only win 2 of their last 3 games to make the playoffs. The Vikes schedule: Bears, Redskins, Broncos.

Bengals over 49ers: Do you think this is a meaningless game? Think again. Marvin Lewis has never finished below .500 and he doesn’t want to start now. That means the Bengals have to win their last three and the journey begins against San Francisco.

Bucs over Falcons: The Bucs will look to wrap up the NFC South by beating a Falcons team that has given up, both emotionally and physically. Did you see the effort on national TV Monday night? You didn’t? I can’t blame you because there wasn’t any.

Ravens over Dolphins: I’d really like to pick Miami because I feel so bad for Cam Cameron. A year ago at this time he was the offensive coordinator for the 14-2 Chargers. Now he’s at the helm of a ship that has nothing but leaks.

Packers over Rams: Brock Berlin will be making his second straight start. Berlin is a decent quarterback but needs much more game experience before I can pick him to beat Favre and the Packers.

Cowboys over Eagles: If the Eagles were 6-7 I’d pick them to win simply because they would desperately need the game. But the Eagles are 5-8, still mathematically alive but who’s kidding whom? If McNabb struggles, don’t be surprised if Kevin Kolb takes a few snaps in the 4th quarter.

Seattle over Carolina: Last year the Panthers were 6-4 heading into week 12. Since then they have gone 7-12. At 5-8 the Panthers have given up and John Fox will pay the price once the season ends. One would expect that Seattle, having clinched their division and knowing they won’t get a bye week, will suffer a letdown. They will, but they’ll still win.

New England over the Jets: The no brainer of the week. If I were Eric Mangini, I’d blitz on every down and make sure Tom Brady gets hit hard on each and every play. Who cares about 15 yard penalties? If the Jets are going to lose, they better make sure to get their licks in.

Steelers over Jags: Another big game. The Jags are trying to lock up the #5 seed and the Steelers are trying to win their division.

The Steelers are one game up on the Browns, two games up if you include the series sweep. If Pittsburgh loses and the Browns win, they’d be tied for the division lead. The Steelers would have the Rams and Ravens, the Browns would have the 49ers and Bengals. Seems like a simple schedule for both teams but nothing ever is in December.

The Steelers win this game based on the desperation factor.

If the Steelers lose however, they may drop to the #4 seed in the AFC because...

Chargers over Lions: A San Diego win and a Steeler loss would vault the Chargers into the # 3 seed.
The Chargers and Steelers would both be 9-5, but the Chargers would have the better conference record (7-3 versus 7-4) The Browns, should they beat the Bills, would also have a 7-4 conference record.

How does Detroit recover after blowing a 13 point 4th quarter lead to Dallas? They don’t.

Colts over the Raiders: Colts are trying to lock up the # 2 seed which would guarantee a bye week. Why isn’t Jamarcus Russell starting for the Raiders? The 2 game winning streak is over, and the playoffs are officially out of the question. Shouldn’t the young QB with the 31 million dollar signing bonus get significant playing time in the next 3 games?

That’s it for me. I’ll be back Tuesday afternoon with my usual look at Sunday’s games.