NFL Week 17 Picks

Happy New Year people. Hopefully you enjoyed the celebration because 2013 might not happen (by might not, I mean won't). Week 17 always a bittersweet week for NFL fans. If your team is moving onto the playoffs you have more to look forward to but 20 teams season will end Sunday. However if you are a Browns fan you get to look forward to not watching terrible football until next September, so I guess its a win win situation in Cleveland. The picks this week are pretty tough to make because teams headed to the playoffs have different motivations of how they want to play. Either way I think I'll have a good week.

Lions 27, Packers 21 --- Aaron Rodgers probably is not going to play. The Packers have home field advantage and their only goal for this game is don't get anyone hurt. The Lions on the other hand need to win to be the 5 seed in the NFC, which means having to go to New York or Dallas rather than New Orleans or San Fran.

Vikings 20, Bears 14 --- Even without Adrian Peterson I think the Vikings finish the year on a two game win streak, mostly because the Bears have already called it a season. They are 0-5 since they lost Jay Cutler and most of the games have been big losses. The Vikings will be the more motivated team in week 17.

Patriots 34, Bills 24 --- I sure hope Tommy Brady can play with his hurt left shoulder. It sure would be a shame if he doesn't because the Pats need to win to clinch home field advantage. They will win even if Tommy can't tough it out though because the Bills are 1-6 on the road and the Patriots are 6-1 at the Big Razor Blade.

Dolphins 24, Jets 16 --- Even if the Jets pull off the win, they will most likely miss the playoffs anyway. The Dolphins have gone 5-3 in their past 8 games and will relish to chance to officially knock their division rivals out of the playoffs.

Colts 17, Jaguars 14 --- The most interesting meaningless game of the week. All Dan Orlovsky does is win, well for the past two weeks, so I think the Colts are going to play hard even though they probably shouldn't. I don't think the fans of either team would be upset with a loss, especially the Colts since they will have the number 1 pick in the draft.

Titans 21, Texans 20 --- It's hard to determine what the Texans will do this game. They have the 3rd seed in the AFC locked up, so they won't want any players to suffer an injury but they also don't want to enter the franchises first playoff game on a three game skid. This match up could also happen next week if the Titans sneak into the playoffs.

49ers 23, Rams 3 --- The Niners need to win to clinch a first round bye so they will be motivated to beat the offensively challenged Rams. In week 13 the Rams got shutout by the 49ers, 23-0 and are coming off a shutout to the Steelers, 27-0. St.Louis has only scored 166 points this season. The Alamo Bowl on Thursday between Baylor and Washington had 123 combined points. They could a certain QB from Stanford, or trade the pick for some weapons.

Cardinals 16, Seahawks 14 --- Both teams lost week to end their playoff chances but both teams have had strong second halves of the season. The Seahawks have won 5 of 7. While the Cardinals have won 6 of 8, including 3 straight home wins, which is why I give them the edge in this game.

Saints 27, Panthers 21 --- First off I like the Panthers +9. I say this because they have won 4 of 5 and lost to the Saints by 3 in the first meeting this season. Also the Saints will have an eye on the 49ers at Rams game. If the 49ers appear to have the victory in hand, it would make sense to pull Drew BREEEES and other key starters to avoid injury since they would then be the 3 seed in the NFC and would need to be ready to play next week.

Falcons 41, Bucs 20 --- The Falcons are going to want to bounce back after getting demolished by the Saints on Monday night. They have the right team coming to the Georgia Dome to make that happen. The Bucs have lost 9 straight and the last four being by an average of 23.5 points. I hope Raheem Morris doesn't lose his job but he most likely win. He reminds me of Mike Tomlin, I think he needs more time to improve the team but if it's not with the Bucs, I think he will be successful with another team in the future.

Ravens 23, Bengals 21 --- I wanted to pick the Bengals, I hope they win. But they are 0-3 against the two teams that matter in the AFC North (another shot a the Brownies in this post). The Ravens have not been the best on the road this year, only 3-4, but they need the game to win the North and clinch a bye which they will need if they want to make a run to the Super Bowl.

Steelers 21, Browns 6 --- The Browns have not scored more than 14 points vs the Steelers since 2007. The Steelers have not let a team score 10 points in the past 5 weeks and over the last 3 weeks they have let up a combined 6 points. The Black and yellow will sweep the series for the second start year.

Chiefs 24, Broncos 21 --- I know I'm picking against Tebow for the first time, maybe I'm doing it so he wins, but I think the Chiefs go to Denver and play inspired football behind Kyle Orton. The Chiefs defense is solid and the last time they played Tebow he only completed two passes. The last two weeks haven't been the best for Tebow but if there is any Tebow magic left he needs to pull it out this week.

Raiders 31, Chargers 24 --- Another tough game to predict because who knows how the Chargers will play. They got eliminated last week in a loss to the Lions. Will they be motivated to knock the hated Raiders out of the playoffs or are they already making tee times for the off season. The Raiders have lost 3 of 4 so they will probably let the Chargers hang around in the game. I think the Raiders get the win and the AFC West crown.

Eagles 31, Redskins 17 --- The Dream Team should head into next season on a 4 game win streak but a disappointing 8-8 record. Even though I'm not a big fan of Andy Reid, I don't think he should be fired. He has done plenty for the Eagles and deserves another year. Mike Shanahan however should get the boot. He is 11-20 in his first two seasons as the Redskins coach. If this guy didn't have John Elway back in the 90's people would realize he is an awful coach, but everyone is blinded by the rings.

Giants 37, Cowboys 31 --- The Giants will win the NFC East because Eli Manning will carry them to it. The is basically a playoff game, and I trust the team with the better QB. If Eli wasn't on the Giants this year they may only have 3 wins. Plus Tony Romo's hand is bruised and he has never been great in January games. Also bet on over 46. The last 5 DAL/NYG games have all scored 55 points or more.

My Playoff Seeds
AFC --- 1. NE 2. BAL 3. HOU 4. OAK 5. PIT 6. CIN (who get in with a loss even though the Titans won)
NFC --- 1. GB 2. SF 3. NO 4. NYG 5. DET 6. ATL

It should be an interesting New Years Day of NFL action