Week 15... the Packers are in the hunt and the Seahawks are the best of the runts.

Ha! I almost blew another week! I’m sitting here looking at a foot of snow on the ground in Richmond wondering how the hell this could have happened. In fact I was getting ready to go outside and restock my bird feeders when I remembered there’s football tonight. St. Ides who of course sent these to me on time, also had this to say on Thursday morning…

FYI I'm taking the Colts on Thursday night. I'm not buying the "Well now that we've clinched the division, we're going to rest our starts" charade. They still have Pats envy and will try to duplicate the undefeated regular season. I think.

I would have taken the Colts as well. 2.5 was way too close for the way they’ve been playing. We’ll call that one a draw.

So yeah, there's snow being dumped on the entire east coast it seems, though it hasn't hit us here in NY as of Saturday night at 7:30pm, but it's coming! I'm going to factor that in to several of my picks this week, going on the premise that it's going to be pretty hard to throw and the teams with better running games and/or defense usually win those ugly weather games. Meanwhile, I'm clinging to a slim 2-game lead in my money pool. Every one of these picks counts now.. I took the Colts on Thursday (win), the Saints tonight, and I'm still debating which 3 games to take tomorrow, but I'm leaning towards the Jets, Bills, and Niners. Anyways, on to the real picks..

Dallas (8-5) at New Orleans (13-0) -7.5
I’m taking the Cowboys tonight, as they are clearly the more desperate team. I don’t see them winning but I do see this as a close game. The more bad that happens to that team the better I feel. Odd, huh? It feels like Christmas! Saints 30 Cowboys 28

The Saints burnt me in that Falcons Monday night game, and I've stayed away from picking them since (and they've failed to cover more often than not since then). But I'm going back to them in the Bayou tonight where a ruckus (translation: bombed) crowd will make things tough on Romo and crew. The over/under on shots of Wade Phillips with a totally confused look on his face is at 8.5. And I'm taking the over. Saints 37, Cowboys 20.

Arizona (8-5) at Detroit (2-11) +11.5
This one won’t be close. I think Culpepper is starting for Detroit. Nuff said… Cardinals 34 Lionesses 10

As soon as the Cards look like they're going to roll into the playoffs going strong, they lay an egg against the Niners and fail to clinch the division. They should be able to take care of business in Detroit. Cardinals 27, Lions 13.

New England (8-5) at Buffalo (5-8) +7.5
Patriots on the road in 2009 makes guys like Anonymous whimper and whine. Bills shock the world… Bills 20 Pats 17

I'm not sure that's a huge shock at this point. I'd like to thank Randy Moss for single-handedly knocking me out of my Fantasy Football playoffs last week by giving up. And yes, he gave up. I will now cheer against the Patriots for the remainder of the season, Tom Brady or not. Fuck you, Randy. Fuck you very much. Bills 13, Patriots 9.

Houston (6-7) at St. Louis (1-12) +10.5
I think I might do a post about the worst team in the NFL, and I think that post might begin and end with St. Louis. After all, the Bucs beat the Packers this year… Houston wins and covers. Houston 30 St. Louis 13

Yeah, the Rams are pretty awful. At least they had the sense to cut that lowlife Incognito. Dirtiest player in the league, and can't go a game without a blatant personal foul. Of course, the Bills snatched him up right away. Anyways, Houston dismantled Seattle last week, so they should have their way with their Rams. But they've been inconsistent enough to make me consider taking all those points at home for a moment. Then I remember the Rams have some guy named Null at QB these days. Yes, Null. As in the Rams' chances. Texans 30, Rams 10.

Miami (7-6) at Tennessee (6-7) -3.5
Dad’s Dolphins have really come together as of late, making a run at the AFC East. Of course, so have the Titans. I’m not sure who’s starting for the Titans, but either way I like the Fish to keep the roll going. Dolphins 24 Titans 20

It'll be unfortunate if the Titans little run here towards the playoffs after an abyssmal start is derailed because Vince Young is hurt and won't play. This is basically an elimination game for them. You're not making the playoffs in the AFC at 8-8, no way. I'm going to stick with the Titans riding Chris Johnson (on pace to break 2000 rushing yards and a home run threat every time he touches the ball). Titans 27, Dolphins 23.

Cleveland (2-11) at Kansas City (3-10) -2.5
Rumor has it that Mike Holmgren is interested in the GM position in Cleveland. If he thought Green Bay was a barren waste land, wait until he gets a load of Cleveland. I imagine he’ll live in Shaker Heights , where there are several nice houses, but for the most part Cleveland resembles a city that someone built and then everyone left. At least Green Bay operates as designed: you either (a) work for the Packers, (b) work for the toilet paper company or (c) work for a chain restaurant. Kansas City 27 Cleveland 20

I think Holmgren REALLY wants the Seattle job, but there's word that the layers of management just below owner Paul Allen might not want his ego back in town. If the Seahawks haven't come knocking already, they may not be. Which means Holmgren may go for the dollar signs rather than a more ideal franchise to join. Anyways, don't look now but I read somewhere this week that Brady Quinn has actually looked decent lately. Decent enough to win in KC? Probably not. Chiefs 20, Browns 17.

San Francisco (6-7) at Philadelphia (9-4) -9.5
I’m taking the Niners and the points. Both teams are playing well and have a lot to play for, but the Niners are the more desperate team. Eagles win a close game: Eagles 30 Niners 27

The Rangers were playing the Flyers in Philly this afternoon, and the place was only like a third full because of the weather. It was weird seeing all those empty seats. It was like watching a Devils home game. (In case you haven't heard or don't follow hockey, the Devils built a brand spanking new arena in the heart of lovely Newark, NJ two years ago. And attendance is so bad they can't give tickets away for free. But I digress...) It'll likely be mostly passed through by the time the game starts. I'm torn between thinking Frank Gore has a huge day and the Niners will struggle with the timezone adjustment and the cold. I'm going to call for a low scoring game and therefore take the points. Eagles 16, Niners 10.

Chicago (5-8) at Baltimore (7-6) -10.5
The Bears are bad. Bad bad bad. Baltimore is better, and they are at home. Plus Baltimore’s D won’t let up like the Packers did last week. I’ll lay those points. Ravens 30 Bears 13

Another game with weather issues. Apparently the Bears didn't leave in time to beat the storm and subsequently had several flights delayed. As of right now, they're still waiting for a plane. Which means a really late arrival tonight. I don't trust the Ravens and that's a lot of points for them to give, but considering the logistics of the Bears travels, I'll have a little more confidence in them. Ravens 27, Bears 14.

Atlanta (6-7) at NY Jets (7-6) -4.5
Mark Sanchez is back and the Jets are still in the hunt. I like their chances against Atlanta who technically are still in the hunt but are on the verge of elimination. I’m not sure who gets the start for the Falcons: Ryan or Redmond, and I don’t want to bother my Indian chick friend on this snowy Saturday. Lets go Jets: Jets 20 Falcons 13

Another snow game! Amazingly, as I write this, the snow has started coming down like crazy. The latest weather report has it lasting until around noon tomorrow, giving us 8-12 inches. Which means the field will probably stil be in pretty bad shape by 1pm kickoff tomorrow. I believe Ryan and Turner are still out for the Falcons. A steady diet of Thomas Jones ought to be an easy cover for the Jets. Don't expect Sanchez to be asked to do much besides handoff and not fumble. Jets 18, Falcons 10.

Cincinnati (9-4) at San Diego (10-3) -6.5
Cincinnati got their asses handed to them by the Vikings last week much to Samichlaus’s dismay. This week won’t be any different. San Diego is a good team defending it’s home turf: Chargers 30 Bengals 20

Yep, I had faith in the Bengals last week, and they let me down. Somehow, Carson Palmer isn't even having a very good year despite the Bengals success. He's 18th i the league in passer rating, behind David Garrard, Joe Flacco, Jason Campbell, and Kyle Orton. Meanwhile Phillip Rivers (3rd in QB rating behind only Brees and Favre, in case you were wondering) and his tall physical receivers (including TE Antonio Gates) have been hot hot hot. I'm sticking with the Chargers too. Chargers 31, Bengals 23.

Oakland (4-9) at Denver (8-5) -13.5
I’m happy the Raiders have won 4 games. I don’t hate the Raiders or their fans. They were good to Brett that game after his Pop passed away. However they are not going to win more than 4 now that Grabowski is done for the season. Denver at home is a pretty sure thing even laying two TDs: Denver 37 Raiders 13

Who's starting for the Raiders at QB? Two words: Charlie Frye. Two more words: No chance. Broncos 31, Raiders 13.

Green Bay (9-4) at Pittsburgh (6-7) -1.5
This game went from a pickem’ to the Stealers laying 1.5. Hmmm… My head tells me pick Pittsburgh but my heart says the Packers will win. Tell you what, with Ms. Clairol likely done for the season I’ll take the Packers. They won’t be able to run the ball but who cares? Rodgers will throw all day against the Stealers secondary. Of course, Mike McCarthy could be hell bent on running. In which case you’ll see a lot of Grant off left tackle, Grant off right tackle, take a shot downfield, punt. Hmmm… nahh, McCarthy isn’t that stupid… is he? Packers 24 Stealers 20

You're absolutely right. The Stealers defense looks horrible without Polamalu. Awful. Have I mentioned how awesome Charles Woodson has looked? Incredible. And since I still have the QB Rating numbers up, Aaron Rodgers is 4th in the league right now. Not bad. It worries me slightly that the game is in Pitt and that field has traditionally been an absolute disaster in bad weather. But I'll stick with Green Bay. Packers 23, Stealers 16.

Tampa Bay (1-12) at Seattle (5-8) -6.5
Alrighty then. Here’s Seattle’s chance to give my partner in crime a little Christmas cheer, and not the kind that comes fermented in a bottle. Seattle has to beat Tampa, right? Seriously. Seattle 37 Tampa 13

God, I hope so. They looked pretty bad on both sides of the ball last week in Houston. Josh Freeman got off to a decent start once Tampa Bay put him in at QB. But then he started truly got into the holiday spirit and started giving away interceptions like fruit cake. Merry Christmas! Seriously. 8 picks in his last two games. That's Delhomme-esque. That leads me to believe he's staring down his targets. Hopefully Seattle can make him pay. Seahawks 27, Bucs 10.

Minnesota (11-2) at Carolina (5-8) +8.5
The Cats getting 8.5 at home has me salivating. I don’t think they can beat the Vicodins who all kidding aside are a good team. But if the Cats can get an early lead and maybe force Brett to make one or two bad throws I think this game is close. Let say Vikings 27 Panthers 24

I really dislike the Vikings. If I had to rank my most hated teams it'd go like this: 1) Stealers, 2) Cowboys, 3) Vikings, 4) Rams, 5) Niners. Kind of strange to not have divisional rivals higher, but the Niners and Rams have sucked a lot recently, so a bit of pity dillutes the hatred. I think they cover. Vikings 29, Panthers 20.

NY Giants (7-6) at Washington (4-9) +3.5
Once left for dead the Giants are right back in the mix, while the Redskins are simply playing out the season awaiting the end of the Jim Zorn experiment. In this case the Giants are the more desperate team, and I think they’ll win with ease. Giants 30 Redskins 13

The Giants are playing for their playoff lives. The Skins have been more competivie lately. That point total seems a bit low. Which means Vegas is begging people to take the Giants. I'm not falling for it. Giants 27, Skins 26.