The NFL Blog: 2012 Week 16 Betting Lines

Last Week: Vs. Spread: (7-9); Straight Up: (9-7)

Season: Vs. Spread: (110-108-6); Straight Up: (143-80-1)

Week 15 Review: Sigh. There are just 2 weeks left in the regular season. For some reason I still find myself shocked that I could actually end up under .500 for the year ATS. It seemed like I was comfortably ahead all year but with only 2 weeks left in the regular season I am just 2 games above .500. By next week I could easily be under. 

On the other hand, as I stated last week, I’m due for a good week. All I need is one good week to right the ship. I’ve now been under .500 ATS in 3 straight weeks. 

That just has to change at some point. I thought it would change last week, as I was 6-3 ATS through the early games on Sunday. But I went just 1-6 the rest of the way to end up 7-9. 

Week 16 Preview: This is the second to last week of the regular season and the schedule is just plain weird. For starters, this is the first week of the season that does not contain at least one game before the start of the weekend. There is no Thursday night game this week. Instead, we have our first Saturday night game of the year. 

In the past, Saturday games began earlier and were always a sign that both winter and the NFL playoffs were fast approaching. Traditionally there would be 2 Saturday games but in recent years the number has changed to 1 game. This year there is only 1 Saturday game. In fact, this week’s Falcons-Lions game will be the only regular season game played on a Saturday. 

Saturday night’s game is really the final “Monday Night Football” game of the year, as the MNF crew will broadcast the game on ESPN and for the first time all year will not call a game on Monday. In the interest of fairness, for the past few years the league has not held a Monday night game in week 17. This season, with Christmas Eve coming on the Monday of week 16, there will not be a Monday night game in the final 2 weeks of the regular season. 

This week, 15 of the 16 NFL games will take place on Sunday. Following one of the few weeks of the season when the NFL schedule was sufficiently spread out, the league will cram a preposterous 11 games into the 1:00 PM slot on Sunday. The final Sunday night game of the regular season should be a good one, as the Niners take on the Seahawks in Seattle. And yes, you read that correctly. For the first time I can remember, there will not be a night game on the final Sunday of the regular season. I’m not sure what the thinking was here but presumably it’s another attempt to make things as even as possible for teams who have to play the following week. 

Now that I think about it, I may be giving the league too much credit for trying to make things fair. Last year for example, in week 16 there was a Thursday game, a Saturday game, a Sunday night game, and a Monday night game. In week 17 there was a Sunday night game. So maybe it has more to do with the dates on the calendar and the bowl schedule; I don’t know. But for whatever reason, the final 2 weeks of this season will have an unfamiliar schedule. 

You might be wondering why in the world I would spend all of this time talking about the times of the games.  All I can say is that during the time I’ve been a sports fan (22 years of so), few things in sports have been as constant and stable as the NFL schedule. Sure there have been changes here and there, but compared with sports in general the NFL schedule has remained fairly unchanged. So I notice the changes when they do come. 

As for my picks this week, all I can do is hope I have good luck. I really feel like I’m flipping a coin at this point.

 

Saturday Night’s Game

Atlanta (-3.5) @ Detroit

Pick: Falcons cover

Sunday’s Early Games

Tennessee (+13) @ Green Bay

Pick: Packers cover

Oakland (+9.5) @ Carolina

Pick: Panthers cover

Buffalo (+4) @ Miami

Pick: Dolphins cover

Cincinnati (+4) @ Pittsburgh

Pick: Steelers win but Bengals beat the spread

New England (-14) @ Jacksonville

Pick: Patriots cover

Indianapolis (-6.5) @ Kansas City

Pick: Colts cover

New Orleans (+1) @ Cowboys

Pick: Saints pull off the upset

Washington (-5.5) @ Philadelphia

Pick: Skins cover

St. Louis (+3) @ Tampa Bay

Pick: Rams pull off the upset

Minnesota (+9.5) @ Houston

Pick: Texans win but Vikings beat the spread

San Diego (+1) @ New York Jets 

Pick: Chargers pull off the upset

Sunday’s Late Games

Cleveland (+13) @ Denver

Pick: Broncos cover

Chicago (-5.5) @ Arizona

Pick: Bears cover

New York Giants (-1) @ Baltimore

Pick: Giants cover

Sunday Night’s Game

San Francisco (PK) @ Seattle 

Pick: Seahawks win