NFL Pro Football 2008 Week 15 Picks early games

NFL Pro Football 2008 Week 15 Picks

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Fearless Rick's NFL Week 15 Picks - Early Games

Rick Gagliano | December 11-15

All times Eastern - Click here for late Sunday and Monday night games.

THU, DEC 11

New Orleans at Chicago (-3, 45) 8:15 PM - Both the Bears and Saints are coming off wins last week and both teams are at 7-6, clinging to playoff hopes. The winner of this game will still be alive, the loser is probably going to be facing January at home. Despite concerns about weather (it's usually cold on Thursday nights in December in Chicago), the Saints look to be the better team here. They didn't have the advantage of playing the Lions twice, or the Rams (3 wins for the Bears). New Orleans is only 1-5 on the road, but the Bears are just 3-6 against teams with winning records, as are the Saints. If stats are to be believed, Drew Brees should have a field day against the Bears' secondary, ranked 27th against the pass. Unless it's windy and/or snowing, the Saints should be able to simply outscore the Bears.

Prediction: Saints 31 Bears 24

SUN, DEC 14

Washington (-7, 36 1/2) at Cincinnati 1:00 PM - Washington's loss on sunday night in Baltimore put a real crimp in their post-season plans. At 7-6, they are part of a logjam of teams - including Chicago, New Orleans, Philadelphia and Atlanta - currently out of the playoff picture. If the season ended today (it won't) the Cowboys and Buccaneers would be the wild cards, so it is imperative for the Redskins to win all of their remaining games (Philly and at San Fran following this) to even have a shot. This seems to be the easiest part of that equation, even though the Redskins have dropped four of their last five outings.

The Bengals have what amounts to one of the worst teams in NFL history. Carson Palmer - who probably won't play in this game or any this season (Why? What's to gain?) - is supposedly available, and even if he does start, he'll be plenty rusty and facing the 7th best pass defense unit in the league. If Washington finds a way to lose this game, their season is over, but it seems to be a little early for that. Washington will remain in the playoff picture for another week, at least.

Prediction: Redskins 23 Bengals 10

Tampa Bay at Atlanta (-3, 44 1/2) 1:00 PM - This season has been one of pleasant surprise for Atlanta, but it's now crunch time, and their foe is currently a qualifier for the first wild card spot in the NFC. Depending on what a lot of other teams do, the Falcons could lose here and still remain very much alive in the playoff hunt.

However, the Falcons have a very good shot at winning this game especially since the Bucs allowed 299 yards rushing in their 38-23 loss at Carolina Monday night. Not only were the Bucs steamrolled by the Panthers, this is their second straight road game, and they have one less day to prepare. Besides, Atlanta is the 2nd-ranked rushing offense in the league (146.7 ypg), and they have a solid pass offense in young Matt Ryan and a plethora of targets. Looks like Tampa Bay will need to do some serious regrouping after this one.

Prediction: Falcons 28 Buccaneers 20

Tennessee (-3, 44 1/2) at Houston 1:00 PM - I wondered why this line was so short, and then realized that the Titans had already clinched their division with an 11-1 record by beating up on poor Cleveland last week, 28-9, handily covering the spread as well. They, along with the Arizona Cardinals and NY Giants are officially in the playoffs as division winners. So, it's party time down in Nashville, right?

Not so fast. The Titans need one more win before they can relax. At least one more, because the Pittsburgh Steelers are 10-3 and home field is still in play. Should the Titans lose all three of their remaining games, not only would it be one of the worst collapses in the history of the league, but Pittsburgh could wind up at 13-3, with home field advantage throughout the playoffs. And, since the Titans host the Steelers next week and close out the season at Indy, there seems to be no way coach Jeff Fisher is going to let any of his players relax. Not this week, nor next, nor in week 17, unless everything is sewn up.

While Houston has won three straight and are playing some of the best football in the league right now, the Titans are still 11-1 and actually one of the best teams in the league, if the THE best. This one turns out to be a gimme after all.

Prediction: Titans 33 Texans 21

Detroit at Indianapolis (-17 1/2, 44 1/2) 1:00 PM - If this isn't a walkover for the Colts - winners of their last six - than I don't know what to call it. At 9-4, Indy is tied with the Ravens for the two wild card slots in the AFC, but the Jets, Patriots and Dolphins are all 8-5, and though only two of those could qualify as wild cards, it makes continuing to win the only actual process to get the Colts to the playoffs.

As poorly as Detroit has played all season, they actually covered the spread (10 points) against Minnesota last week in their 20-16 home loss. This is a little bit different. Even though the game will be indoors, the Lions will be facing Peyton Manning, not Tarvaris Jackson at QB, the game isn't against a divisional foe and this one is on the road. Buh-bye Lions after the 1st quarter.

Prediction: Colts 41 Lions 17

San Diego (-5 1/2, 45 1/2) at Kansas City 1:00 PM - All hail the Chiefs! They are now my favorite team, having covered the spread in 5 of their last 7 contests, even though they only won one of them (20-13 at Oakland). Now, they host the under-performers of the year in the guide of the San Diego Chargers, a team that has all the talent and skill a team could ever desire, but has managed to lose 8 of their 13 games, making them 5-8 and three games behind the AFC west leader, Denver.

Believe it or not, the Chargers could still win the division, but Denver has to lose all three of their remaining games, including the season finale at home against the Chargers, and San Diego must win here and at Tampa Bay next week to even consider the possibility. That said, it was just over a month ago that the Chiefs went for a two-point conversion at the end of the game at San Diego, failed, and lost 20-19. Since these are divisional opponents, the Chiefs are at home and San Diego is on the ropes, the Chiefs must win and end all the speculation. Throw the stats out, even though the Chargers are 7 points better on both offense and defense. This one is all about pride, revenge and the coaching futures of both Norv Turner and Herm Edwards.

Prediction: Chiefs 26 Chargers 24

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Green Bay (-1 1/2, 45) at Jacksonville 1:00 PM - Amazingly, this game has turned, in just a few weeks time, from a battle of potential playoff contenders to the Ugly Bowl. There's little interest in this game except for fantasy players, and since I have to make a choice and the Jags are at home and underdogs, I'll go with them. At least they'll have somebody cheering for them.

Prediction: Jaguars 20 Packers 17

Buffalo at NY Jets (-7, 41) 1:00 PM - If there's one team that more resembled Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde this season, it's got to be the Bills. After a 5-1 start, Buffalo's gone 1-6 since, included in there a sloppy 26-17 loss at Orchard Park to these same Jets. Buffalo's problems have been many, but much of the blame has to fall on the offense, which hasn't scored a touchdown since hammering the Chiefs 54-31, three weeks ago. Buffalo has managed only a field goal in each of their games against the 49ers and Dolphins since then. At 6-7, Buffalo's season is over, but they can still have an impact on the division, especially this week.

The Jets may be next up for the award for changing faces, however. Since handing the Titans their only loss of the season two weeks ago, New York has dropped two straight and looked horrible doing so. Can either the 34-17 home loss to Denver or the 24-14 road loss at San Francisco be excused? No, but there are similar threads, notably 357 yards passing by Denver and 275 by the 'Niners. That's 632 yards in two games and that's too much for even Brett Favre to overcome.

The demise of the Jets' secondary is good news for J.P. Losman, who replaced Edwards after half time in the SF game. Losman may get another start, but hasn't been particularly good in either game. Edwards is still nursing a groin pull and his status is unknown. In any case, the Bills may prevail, now that making the playoffs is out of the equation. Misery loves company, so the Bills will bring the Jets to their level.

Prediction: Bills 30 Jets 27

San Francisco at Miami (-6 1/2, 41 1/2) 1:00 PM - Here is one of the more interest match-ups of the week. The Dolphins are the turn-around team of the league, finishing 1-15 last year, but angling for a playoff spot with three weeks remaining. The 49ers were considered by many to be on the verge of general competitiveness at the start of the season, but that optimism quickly dissipated as the 'Niners lost six straight after a 2-1 start. They've now won 3 of their last 4, as interim head coach Mike Singletary has engineered a late-season revival. The 49ers could actually finish at 8-8 if they can gut out wins over the Dolphins, Rams and Redskins down the stretch.

It should be interesting to see how well the San Francisco defense contains Brad Pennington and the rest of Miami's offense, including the "wildcat" formations, which have recently backfired for a handful of teams. This looks like a pretty even game, even though the records are miles apart. The point spread is very generous.

Prediction: 49ers 20 Dolphins 17

Seattle at St. Louis (-2 1/2, 42) 1:00 PM - Apparently, there's some concern about Seattle QB Matt Hasslebeck, who was supposed to start last week and didn't. Update, 12/13: Hasslebeck is out, so Seneca Wallace, who has started most of Seattle's games this season, gets the nod. He's healthy, and was very effective against the Patriots last week, though New England rallied late to win. Seattle already beat the Rams in week 3, 37-13. This one's on the road, and both teams are probably better than they were then, so the result should be similar.

Prediction: Seahawks 24 Rams 17

All times Eastern - Click here for late Sunday and Monday night games

Copyright 2008, 2009, Rick Gagliano, Downtown Magazine. All rights reserved. Downtown Magazine is located in the Uinted States of America and is not affiliated with the National Football League or the NCAA. For more information, contact us here. Use of this site is for entertainment purposes only.

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