{"id":6093,"date":"2008-12-20T12:13:34","date_gmt":"2008-12-20T17:13:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.capperspicks.com\/blog\/?p=6093"},"modified":"2023-02-07T06:30:20","modified_gmt":"2023-02-07T14:30:20","slug":"free-week-16-nfl-predictions-201208","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/cappers\/free-week-16-nfl-predictions-201208\/","title":{"rendered":"Free Week 16 NFL Predictions"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>THE NFL DOUBLE TAKE<\/h2>\n<p>Sometimes they agree, sometimes they disagree; this week it\u2019s a bit of both.<\/p>\n<p>We had our writers break down four of the biggest Sunday afternoon matchups and here\u2019s what they came up with.<\/p>\n<p>If you like to ride the hot picks, Cras is 7-1 against the spread (ATS) with his Double Take selections over the past two weeks. For the season, he\u2019s 33-24-3 while Mike is 32-25-3. \u00a0 <!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>San Diego Chargers @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/h3>\n<p>Mike: San Diego is one of my least favorite teams to back right now. They are still mathematically alive for the playoffs but that\u2019s only because of a giant collapse in the fourth quarter by Kansas City last week.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Tampa has lost the last two weeks on the road at Carolina and Atlanta, but they return home where they are 6-0 and quarterback Jeff Garcia is expected back in the lineup after being out last week. The spread in this game has moved from three to 3.5 but I\u2019m not shying away in the least.<\/p>\n<p><em>Pick: Tampa Bay -3.5<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #993366;\">Cras:<\/span><\/strong> Tampa Bay has lost back-to-back games, yet it seems that no-one is willing to give the Chargers a shot on Sunday and I don\u2019t get it. Sure, the Bucs are great at home but they\u2019ve also been run over the past two weeks and have issues at quarterback with starter Jeff Garcia questionable with an injury.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, I know that San Diego barely escaped with a win over Kansas City last week but I am still riding the Chargers as 3 \u00bd-point dogs this week. There\u2019s too much at stake for both teams for this to be a blowout either way. This is a close game down to the final whistle.<\/p>\n<p><em>Pick: San Diego +3.5<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Pittsburgh Steelers @ Tennessee Titans<\/h3>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Mike:<\/span><\/strong> This is a huge game in the AFC as it will likely decide home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Steelers will still have to win next week at home against Cleveland, but that is as close to a sure thing as you will ever get.<\/p>\n<p>In terms of this game, Pittsburgh has been great during their five-game winning streak, while Tennessee has been shaky the last month. With Albert Haynesworth and Kyle Vanden Bosch both out for the Titans, I can see why this spread has moved three full points in Pittsburgh\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n<p><em>Pick: Pittsburgh -2<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #993366;\">Cras:<\/span><\/strong> The NFL keeps throwing its best teams at the Steelers and, like many Sportsbook.com members, I expect them to survive and collect another payday on Sunday. Pittsburgh has endured a brutal schedule that might come back to haunt them in the postseason but it won\u2019t hurt them this week.<\/p>\n<p>Tennessee is coming back down to Earth after their fast start and last week\u2019s loss to Houston was a big one. Not only did it put Pittsburgh in position to claim home-field throughout the playoffs but Tennessee also lost their defensive anchor, Haynesworth, for the final two games. That\u2019s enough to make winning this weekend a tough task.<\/p>\n<p><em>Pick: Pittsburgh -2<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Atlanta Falcons @ Minnesota Vikings<\/h3>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Mike:<\/span><\/strong> Minnesota clinches the NFC North division with a win but this is not an easy opponent by any means. Tarvaris Jackson will start at quarterback again for Gus Frerotte but I\u2019m not fully sold on Jackson, even if he has played well the last couple of weeks.<\/p>\n<p>Atlanta may be my favorite team in the NFL right now. They run the ball great and they can throw it too. Running will be the key this week because Minnesota has lost defensive tackle Pat Williams which makes them more vulnerable there. I think this is a field goal game either way, so give me the Falcons.<\/p>\n<p><em>Pick: Atlanta +3<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #993366;\">Cras:<\/span><\/strong> Atlanta has been getting it done with the run this season and that\u2019s going to be a tough task against Minnesota. The Minnesota defense ranks first against the run and Arizona didn\u2019t even try to establish any type of run game against them last week with just seven attempts.<\/p>\n<p>If Atlanta, the league\u2019s top rushing offense, can\u2019t get anything going on the ground, then it may be too much to ask for rookie quarterback Matt Ryan to get it done through the air. It\u2019s been a magical season for Ryan and the Falcons but it\u2019s clutch time and I think it\u2019s too much to ask of this team to get the job done in Minnesota this week.<\/p>\n<p><em>Pick: Minnesota -3<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Philadelphia Eagles @ Washington Redskins<\/h3>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Mike:<\/span><\/strong> Washington is one of the most disappointing teams in the league over the last six weeks. They have lost five out of their last six games after starting out the year looking solid at 6-2. The Redskins also look like they have quit on first-year coach Jim Zorn.<\/p>\n<p>Philadelphia has been red-hot since the benching of Donovan McNabb, winning three in-a-row and covering all three. McNabb still seems mad at the organization about it, but I\u2019m sure coach Andy Reid would have done it sooner if he knew it would work. Giving the points here is an easy decision for me.<\/p>\n<p><em>Pick: Philadelphia -5<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #993366;\">Cras:<\/span><\/strong> So much for the Redskins being a contender in the NFC East. The only teams they\u2019ve beaten since Week 8 are Detroit and Seattle, two of the worst in the league. The 6-2 start is now a distant memory, as well as any postseason aspirations.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why the majority of bettors at Sportsbook.com love the Eagles this week. Washington is on a downward spiral and the Eagles are on the way up and in search of a spot in the playoffs. More importantly, Philadelphia is a money-making 9-5 ATS and has covered three-straight.<\/p>\n<p><em>Pick: Philadelphia -5<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>WANT A 10% SIGNUP BONUS ON YOUR FIRST DEPOSIT? CLICK HERE TO DEPOSIT WITH YOUR CREDIT CARD SAFELY AND SECURELY ONLINE TODAY \u2014 WIN $100,000 IN THE PARLAY CONTEST!!!<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While the full card of week to week NFL game picks aren&#8217;t 100% free NFL picks, we do our best to give you as many free picks as we can, onto the Week 16 NFL Predictions&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[258],"tags":[1822,6858,413,1655,5137,1824,827,1821,862,6842,989,6966,1027,1028,1820,7002,1123,5136,1178,6639,6624],"class_list":["post-6093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cappers","tag-advisors","tag-atlanta-falcons-vs-minnesota-vikings","tag-experts","tag-free-nfl-pick","tag-nfl-betting-predictions","tag-nfl-expert-prediction","tag-nfl-gambling","tag-nfl-plays","tag-nfl-schedule","tag-philadelphia-eagles-vs-washington-redskins","tag-pick","tag-pittsburgh-steelers-vs-tennessee-titans","tag-prediction","tag-predictions","tag-quick-plays","tag-san-diego-chargers-vs-tampa-bay-bucs","tag-selections","tag-sportsbook-handicappers","tag-sportsbookcom","tag-week-16","tag-week-16-nfl-picks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6093"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6093\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102622,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6093\/revisions\/102622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}