NFL Week 16 Picks & Predictions For Sunday, December 26, 2010
By Anthony Rome
(TheSpread) - A couple of totals have caught our eye this Sunday. Check out our NFL Week 16 Picks & Predictions article to see who we like today in football.
Texans vs. Broncos
Even though the total is sitting at 48.5, this one could go over by halftime. Neither of these teams play defense and while Matt Schaub and Co. struggled last Sunday in Tennessee, the Texans’ offense should bounce back this week. (It’s kind of hard not to when you’re playing the Broncos.) On the other side, Denver will look to keep things conservative with Tim Tebow again, but conservative doesn’t always produce low-scoring results. Tebow made a couple of nice plays last week and he could find the end zone a couple times again this week against a bad Houston secondary. The over is 4-0 in the Broncos’ last four home games and 6-1 in the Texans’ last seven games overall. It’s also 4-0 in Houston’s last four road games and 5-1 in their last six versus the AFC. According to current NFL odds and oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com, the over/under total for this game is 49.5. Our pick is the over.
Chargers vs. Bengals
We normally don’t advise laying this many points with a road team but we’re not going to overthink this one. The Chargers need this game badly, while the Bengals don’t. Cincinnati was happy enough to break its losing streak last week but a better San Diego team should pound the Bengals with its playoff hopes on the line. Cincy has a couple of great young corners in Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph, but Philip Rivers is playing outstanding ball right now and he’s starting to get his rhythm back with Vincent Jackson. The Bengals could have a hard time moving the ball against San Diego’s stout defense, as well. The road team is 4-0 against the spread in the last four meetings between these two teams and the Chargers are 5-1 ATS in their last six games versus the AFC according to latest NFL trends. Our pick is the Chargers –9.
Patriots vs. Bills
We love the over in this one. After the Patriots nearly lost to the Matt Flynn-led Packers last Sunday, we expect Bill Belichick’s team to come out more focused and prepared this week. That means plenty of points for Tom Brady and Co., which still managed to put up 31 points on a good Green Bay defense last week (although they got help from a defensive touchdown and an unexpected kickoff return by guard Dan Connolly). The under has been hitting a lot in the Bills’ home games (4-0 to be exact), but we like bucking the trend here. Buffalo had some success moving the ball against the Patriots in Foxboro last Sunday and the over is 4-0 in New England’s last four road games. If it snows, we like the over even more. Brady averages about 96 points per game in blizzards, so have at it Mother Nature – pound Buffalo with the white stuff. Our pick is the over 44.5.
Ravens vs. Browns
It’s high time the Ravens’ defense locks in again. They’ve struggled the past few weeks but the Browns are a perfect matchup for them. Cleveland likes to pound the ball with running back Peyton Hillis and go with short to mediate routes with rookie quarterback Colt McCoy. Baltimore wound rather have opponents line up and try to smash them because Ray Lewis and Co. enjoy being physical. On the other side, Cleveland’s defense is somewhat underrated, although it didn’t play well last week in Cincinnati. That said, they’re back home and this is a divisional game, so expect this one to be close throughout. The under is 4-1-2 in the last seven meetings between these two teams in Cleveland and 9-4-1 in the Ravens’ last 14 road games. Our pick is the under 40.