There are just two weeks left in the NFL’s regular season as the playoff races are heating up. As we take a look at the best bets on the board for the NFL week 16 games, remember that there are three games on Saturday in addition to the usual Thursday, Sunday and Monday games.
Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots
Date: Saturday, December 21st
The Buffalo Bills have never beaten the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in a game where Tom Brady plays all four quarters (the Bills are 0-15) but they should have a shot here.
The Bills are probably not as good as their 10-5 record might indicate – they’ve beaten up on a lot of cream puffs – but on the other hand, the Patriots look quite shaky these days.
On the surface, it might seem like the Pats offense got back on track last week with a 34-13 win over the Cincinnati Bengals but that’s far from the case. The Patriots totaled just 291 yards while Tom Brady had a season-low 128 passing yards.
Brady has now passed for 190 yards or less in three of his last four games and hasn’t posted a passer rating over 100 since Week 5. This unit just isn’t operating very well right now.
As for the Bills, we know what type of team they are. They’re gritty, they’re scrappy and they fight for wins. They’re solid on defense and they won’t be intimidated here.
Remember, the Bills lost to the Patriots earlier in the year but that was a close 16-10 result where a cheap shot knocked out Bills quarterback Josh Allen late in the game.
The Patriots had just 11 first downs in the game with just 224 yards. The Bills had four turnovers and a punt that was blocked and returned for a touchdown, and they still only lost by six.
I’m expecting a close NFL week 16 game here, so I’ll take the NJ sportsbook points with the Bills. They should be competitive in this spot.
Pick: Bills +6
Kansas City Chiefs at Chicago Bears – NFL week 16
Date: Sunday, December 22nd
The Chicago Bears put forth a valiant effort in Green Bay last week but came up just short. Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky continued with the sloppy turnovers and while he’s been racking up the yards of late – he has two 300-yard passing games in his last four – he’s still causing too many turnovers.
He had two interceptions last week and has six in his last four games.
On Sunday, the Bears will host the Kansas City Chiefs and I like the Chiefs in this spot. They have some momentum going as they’ve won four in a row.
Last week, Patrick Mahomes had his best game since early November as he finished the day with 340 passing yards, a pair of touchdowns and a pick.
However, what’s really helped key this turnaround for the Chiefs has been their defense, which has quietly been performing at an elite level since the team’s bye week. The Chiefs have given up a total of 45 points in their last four games.
I think the Chiefs and the under are both good plays here as we should see a lower-scoring affair here. However, I like the Chiefs as I simply don’t trust the Bears to do enough offensively to cover this spread.
Pick: Chiefs -5
Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles
Date: Sunday, December 22nd
The Cowboys and Eagles have both underachieved by epic proportions this season. The Eagles entered the season as one of the Super Bowl favorites while the Cowboys were in the conversation too.
But the NFL week 16 standings tells us another story.
However, both are merely 7-7 at this point and while one of them will make the playoffs, both are expected to get bounced quickly.
Before we get there, though, one of these teams has to win in Week 16 and win the NFC East. The Cowboys have been a disaster for much of the season as head coach Jason Garrett looks like he’s squarely on the hot seat.
However, his team is probably playing better right now. The Cowboys are coming off an encouraging 44-21 win over the Los Angeles Rams last week where they got their running game going. They churned out 263 yards on the ground, en route to the big win.
As for the Eagles, they’ve won two in a row but both wins were by the narrowest of margins. They needed overtime to edge the New York Giants in Week 14 and then needed a last-second touchdown to get ahead of the Washington Redskins in Week 16. Prior to that, the Eagles had lost to the Miami Dolphins.
I’m willing to lay a field goal here with the Cowboys as I simply think they’re a bit more together than the Eagles are. Philadelphia seems to have some serious problems beneath the surface.
Pick: Cowboys -2.5
Other Things To Watch This Week
No. 20 Boise State vs Washington – Bowl season gets underway this week and while a number of the early games aren’t great, the Boise State-Washington game presents intrigue. Washington head coach Chris Petersen, who is Boise State’s former head coach, is leaving Washington, so this will be his final game with the team.
Atlanta Hawks at New York Knicks – Break out the champagne: the Knicks have won two of their last three games. They might be able to win a third on Tuesday as they host the six-win Atlanta Hawks. The Knicks won just four times in their first 24 games, so three wins in four contests would be huge.
No. 1 Kansas at No. 18 Villanova – Two college basketball power programs will clash on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center. Villanova is 8-2 but has lost it’s only two games against ranked opponents, so Saturday’s contest will serve as a big test to see if they can measure up this time.
See you same time next week when we start off the week with our Best Bets Of The Week!
