NFL Week 17 - Mac's Picks

NFL Week 17 – Mac’s Picks

Last week: 9-5-2
Overall: 131-103-6

The last week of the NFL regular season is upon us. Went by quickly, didn’t it?

Denver at San Diego Ok, we know that the Broncos are going to sit most of their key players, so this should be a game San Diego wins easily (since they’re so damn good and all). But, why not play Philip Rivers? It’s a golden opportunity for the Chargers to show off the former #1 pick to potential suitors, but it’s not going to happen. Why not? Marty Schottenheimer and the GM (A.J. Smith) don’t get along. Look for Marty to get the heave-ho after the season, and the Chargers to get below market value for Rivers. Pick: Chargers –10 ½

NY Giants at Oakland Kerry Collins has a golden opportunity to put a crimp in the Giants hopes of winning the NFC East. He’d love to get some revenge against his former team, and he’d get it, too, if he didn’t, you know, suck. Pick: Giants –9

Arizona at Indianapolis Losing 3 straight heading into January isn’t what the Colts wanted. We know that they’re resting their banged up players, and nobody could expect the team to be focused on football with what’s happened with Tony Dungy’s son, but the once invincible Colts team suddenly appear vulnerable. Pick: Cardinals +6 ½

Baltimore at Cleveland The fans in Cleveland don’t have many reasons to hate the Ravens now that Art Modell has sold the team. But they can at least take some perverse joy in seeing their former team stick with Brian Billick for another (disappointing) season. Pick: Browns +3

Buffalo at NY Jets Do you think Ty Law and Lawyer Milloy realize that money isn’t as important as one’s legacy, and that they could be playing for a playoff team right now? Me neither…. Pick: Bills –1

Carolina at Atlanta Maybe I’m old school, but when a team invests $130 million dollars in a player, and they expect him to be their leader, he shouldn’t be seen laughing on the field after his team just lost a game that eliminated them from the post-season. Pick: Panthers –4

Cincinnati at Kansas City The playoffs appear out of reach for the Chiefs, who need a miracle to make the playoffs (actually a Lions win, which would qualify as a miracle). With Vermeil probably retiring, dump your Kleenex stock now! Pick: Chiefs -7

Detroit at Pittsburgh At Qwest Field in Seattle, they have a huge display of all the helmets of the high school football teams in Washington state. Today, I heard a Steelers beat-writer on KJR-950AM in Seattle say that the Lions couldn’t beat two-thirds of those teams. You know what? I think he’s right. Pick: Steelers –14

Miami at New England If you’re a Patriots fans, you want your team to take a dive. If your team wins, and the Bengals lose, the Patriots have the #3 seed in the AFC and will play Pittsburgh next weekend. If they lose, they guarantee themselves a date with the Jacksonville Jaguars…in Foxboro…in January. Pick: Dolphins +6

New Orleans at Tampa Bay I hate this game. I have no faith in the Bucs to win by that much, but I also don’t trust the Saints to show up for the season finale. This season can’t end soon enough for them, for obvious reasons. Pick: Saints +13 ½ (and by doing this, I’m already breaking about 3 New Year’s resolutions I’ve made)

Seattle at Green Bay Seattle is resting a lot of players, so there’s not much to talk about with them. Shocking, I know. So what about Brett Favre? Should he retire or should he come back for one season. Look, whether you like the guy or not, physically he can still play the game. Yes, he’s thrown 28 INTs this year, but when your 36-year old QB is the healthiest guy you’ve got, and is your only playmaker, his numbers are going to suffer. Give #4 a healthy Ahman Green, Javon Walker and Bubba Franks, and this becomes a non-issue. The real question is whether or not he wants to come back. I think he does. Pick: Seahawks “B” Team +3 ½

Houston at San Francisco If the Texans lose, the 1st overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft is theirs. If they win, the math gets so confusing, Will Hunting couldn’t figure it out. So given that the Texans should want to lose, and Dom Capers is prominently involved…Pick: Texans –2

Tennessee at Jacksonville It still cracks me up that Jacksonville is going to go 12-4, and nobody will give them a shot to beat the Patriots next week. Pick: Jaguars –3 ½

Chicago at Minnesota Personally, the funniest moment for me was watching Koren Robinson in last week’s game. Fresh off being named to the Pro-Bowl as a KR, and going on the NFL Network to boast about how he’s turned his life around and hopes to one day make the Pro-Bowl as a WR, K-Rob drops a key pass as the Vikings lose a game they needed to win to keep their playoff hopes alive. I almost felt bad for him. Almost. Pick: Bears +3 ½

Washington at Philadelphia At this point, I can’t even name 3 healthy players on the Philadelphia Eagles offense. Pick: Redskins –7

St. Louis at Dallas This game should prove to be meaningless, but wouldn’t it be great to see the Cowboys capable of getting into the playoffs with a win, only to choke? Wouldn’t that just define their season and be an entertaining way to see Parcells bow out of the coaching profession? Would the shock on Jimmy Jones face damage his 43rd face-lift? Pick: Rams +12 ½