NFL Week 16: Colts vs. Cowboys; Seahawks vs. Cardinals

Two weeks remain of the regular season and all divisions are still up for grabs in the NFC. The big games to watch this Sunday are Indianapolis at Dallas and Seattle at Arizona.

I haven’t studied the Colts closely. I saw bits and pieces of their come from behind victory against the Browns in Cleveland, and, prior to that, I witnessed televisually the first two quarters of the Sunday night Jonas Gray demolition of their run defense. And needless to say I am not impressed by the Colts. T.Y. Hilton is a dynamite wide receiver and Luck is a strong quarterback. But now in year three of their Pagano-rejuvenation the Colts strike me as a team in decline.

The big question about Sunday’s game in Dallas is less about the Colts and more about the Cowboys. It seems incredible to me that Jerry Jones (let’s not fool ourselves, Jason Garrett decides nothing of critical importance in Big D) would play DeMarco Murray the same week of his hand surgery. But that is what is being reported today. No doubt, the game is important. But why risk further injury to your #1 player? I think Lance Dunbar and Joseph Randle are good enough, along with Romo passing to Jason Witten and Dez Bryant, to easily beat the Colts. It has to be a ruse by the Cowboys.

I will be cheering for the Colts though. I dislike Dallas immensely, as I believe most Americans do (except for Chris Christie and others who have been unselfed from a very young age). The appellation “America’s Team” is a tagline meant to aggravate the masses.

The Sunday night game is the marquee match-up of NFL Week 16. The current Vegas line has Seattle by 7.5 to 9 points over Arizona. If Seattle wins, the Seahawks will qualify for the playoffs. Seattle will have to win one more time next week against the Rams to secure a shot at home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

I asked a lot of different people here in the Seattle area what team was going to win. Everyone said Seattle. This makes me a little skittish. Such unanimity often portends a fall. Bruce Arians is a wily competitor. The offensive line for Seattle has been atrocious. Yet, even assuming the Cardinals defense somehow generates a few turnovers, I don’t see Ryan Lindley beating the red-hot Seahawks D.

Let’s go Seahawks! Onward to victory!

NFL Week 16: Go with the Home Teams in the Big Match-Ups

I have to apologize for the generally low quality of my NFL posts. Last year I seemed to have a little bit more mojo working. This year because I sneak them in right before starting work at 9 AM they've been pro forma "picks" of what I deem to be important upcoming games. At least that is what I have been doing for the last couple of months. Prior to that I was providing a rundown of what I thought was the significant action from the prior week.

In any event, apologies, and here comes another rushed set of picks.

There are a lot of big games this Sunday and none is bigger than New Orleans at Carolina with the division on the line. The Saints plastered the Panthers in the Superdome a couple weeks back, exposing the profound weakness in the Carolina offense: Cam Newton has no serious downfield, long-bomb catching receiving threat. With New Orleans on the road the outcome should be reversed. Look for the Panthers offense to dominate the game with its rushing attack. Pick the Panthers.

Other big games include Indianapolis at Kansas City, Arizona at Seattle, Chicago at Philadelphia and New England at Baltimore. I'm going with the home team in each of these match-ups.

The Seahawks pass rush seems a little speedier on home turf. Carson Palmer's immobility will hurt the Cardinals; that, and Rashard Mendenhall is not the type of young, speedy tailback that usually hurts the Seahawks. Assuming there is not some sort of first-ever catastrophic meltdown by Russell Wilson, I am confident that Seattle wins this game and thereby sews up the division not to mention home field throughout the playoffs.