Oh wow, the 2015 NFL regular season is in its penultimate week. It’s always tricky to pick games this time of year, especially since close to half the league has essentially nothing left to play for. Thankfully, NFL experts are on hand to look through the noise and make some highly educated picks. Here are all the Week 16 picks from some of those esteemed experts to help you out for the second-to-last week of the regular season.
Meanwhile, check out our own complete Week 16 picks here.
[sc:Football ]
Experts Picks for 2015 NFL Week 16
CBS Sports
GAMES
Dave Richard
Will Brinson
Pete Prisco
SD (+5.5) at OAK
OAK
OAK
OAK
WSH (+3.5) at PHI
WSH
PHI
WSH
PIT (-10.5) at BAL
PIT
PIT
PIT
CAR (-7.5) at ATL
ATL
ATL
CAR
SF (+7.5) at DET
DET
SF
DET
CHI (+3.5) at TB
TB
CHI
TB
DAL (+6.5) at BUF
BUF
DAL
BUF
CLE (+12.5) at KC
CLE
KC
KC
NE (-3.5) at NYJ
NYJ
NYJ
NE
JAX (+3.5) at NO
JAX
NO
JAX
GB (+4.5) at AZ
AZ
GB
GB
STL (+13.5) at SEA
STL
SEA
STL
NYG (+6.5) at MIN
MIN
MIN
NYG
CIN (+3.5) at DEN
DEN
CIN
DEN
[sc:NFL240banner ]CBS Sports’ Dave Richard, Will Brinson and Pete Prisco have been pretty successful with their picks against the spread, with all three at least 10 games above .500 on the season.
Richard, who is 125-99-0 on the season, has gone with a trio of significant underdogs to cover. Those three are the Falcons, Browns and Rams. He wasn’t alone with his picks of the Falcons and Rams, as one of the two other experts also picked the double-digit underdog to cover.
The Falcons will have the benefit of homefield advantage against the still undefeated Panthers, who have given up at least 35 points in their last two road games. The Browns and Rams, though, will have to deal with two of the hottest teams ATS in the NFL. The Chiefs have gone 7-1 ATS during their eight-game win streak, while the Seahawks have gone 5-0 ATS in their five-game run.
Bleacher Report
GAMES
Mike Norris
Andrew Gould
Chris Rolling
SD vs OAK
OAK, 28-24
OAK, 28-24
OAK, 27-20
WSH vs PHI
WSH, 27-17
WSH, 27-24
WSH, 28-20
NE vs NYJ
NE, 21-20
NE, 27-21
NE, 24-20
HOU vs TEN
HOU, 26-16
HOU, 16-13
HOU, 14-10
CLE vs KC
KC, 28-10
KC, 30-13
KC, 35-14
IND vs MIA
MIA, 16-13
IND, 20-17
MIA, 33-20
SF vs DET
DET, 34-17
DET, 27-17
DET, 17-10
DAL vs BUF
BUF, 21-13
BUF, 20-13
BUF, 23-17
CHI vs TB
TB, 30-20
TB, 24-23
TB, 30-24
CAR vs ATL
CAR, 34-20
CAR, 31-20
CAR, 34-20
PIT vs BAL
PIT, 31-13
PIT, 35-17
PIT, 36-10
JAX vs NO
NO, 35-34
JAX, 34-31
JAX, 28-27
STL vs SEA
SEA, 27-14
SEA, 24-13
SEA, 27-7
GB vs AZ
AZ, 37-27
AZ, 31-26
AZ, 28-20
NYG vs MIN
MIN, 20-14
MIN, 27-20
MIN, 23-20
CIN vs DEN
CIN, 24-20
DEN, 23-17
DEN, 24-21
Bleacher Report’s army of featured columnists churned out their picks with corresponding scores for Week 16, and here’s what they came up with. All three are in agreement that the Panthers will not only go 15-0, but will also cover the 7.5-point spread at Atlanta. They are similarly confident the Steelers will comfortably cover a 10.5-point spread on the road at Baltimore, while the Chiefs will do the same as 12.5-point home faves against Cleveland.
All three also see the Jaguars vs. Saints to go down to the wire and come down a single score. Andrew Gould and Chris Rolling both have the Jags pulling off the close win on the road, and their predictions could be proven right with the news that Drew Brees has a torn plantar fascia and is a doubt to play.
WhatIfSports
GAMES
RESULT
CLE vs KC
KC, 26-17
SEA vs STL
SEA, 25-19
NYG vs MIN
MIN, 28-22
SF vs DET
DET, 25-20
CIN vs DEN
DEN, 21-18
GB vs AZ
AZ, 25-22
SD vs OAK
OAK, 28-26
DAL vs BUF
BUF, 24-21
JAX vs NO
NO, 27-26
CHI vs TB
TB, 25-24
IND vs MIA
IND, 25-22
WSH vs PHI
WSH, 25-23
NE vs NYJ
NE, 22-18
HOU vs TEN
HOU, 21-17
CAR vs ATL
CAR, 28-16
PIT vs BAL
PIT, 32-20
As they do every week, WhatIfSports simulated all 16 games for Week 16 a total of 501 times, and here are the results from all those simulations. Much like the other NFL experts, it sees both Carolina and Pittsburgh covering quite easily on the road. It also agrees that the Jags-Saints matchup will be a very close game, with the Saints prevailing by a single point.
However, it sees the Seahawks vs. Rams division matchup as a much closer contest than the 13.5-point spread would lead you to believe. It also sees the Colts – beat-up 40-year old quarterback and all – to beat the Dolphins on the road.
