Only two more weeks of the NFL season and some of you are more worried about your fantasy football championships than the jockeying for playoff position in the NFL this weekend, mostly on Saturday. Thankfully, some fraud teams will be out of the playoff picture after this weekend and we don’t have to worry about whether they will be this year’s (insert any playoff team from any sport that got hot and made a big playoff run in years past here).

The featured games this week are Giants at Jets, Eagles at Cowboys, and Falcons at Saints.

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NFL Week 16 2011 Picks

Straight Up

MATCHUP	Vegas Vinny	BostonMac	RJ	Burton	Actual
Texans @ Colts	Texans	Texans	Texans	Texans
Bucs @ Panthers	Panthers	Panthers	Panthers	Panthers
Browns @ Ravens	Ravens	Ravens	Ravens	Ravens
Cards @ Bengals	Cards	Cards	Bengals	Cards
Broncos @ Bills	Bills	Broncos	Broncos	Broncos
Rams @ Steelers	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers
Dolphins @ Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots
Vikings @ Redskins	Redskins	Redskins	Redskins	Redskins
Jaguars @ Titans	Titans	Jaguars	Titans	Titans
Giants @ Jets	Jets	Jets	Giants	Giants
Raiders @ Chiefs	Chiefs	Raiders	Raiders	Chiefs
Chargers @ Lions	Lions	Lions	Chargers	Chargers
Eagles @ Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys	Eagles
Niners @ Seahawks	Niners	Niners	Niners	Niners
Bears @ Packers	Packers	Packers	Packers	Packers
Falcons @ Saints	Saints	Saints	Saints	Falcons
Prev Week	9-7	7-9	9-7	9-7
Overall	152-72	141-83	142-82	139-85

Against the Spread

MATCHUP	Vegas Vinny	BostonMac	RJ	Burton	Actual
Texans @ Colts (+5.5)	Texans	Texans	Texans	Texans
Bucs @ Panthers (-7.5)	Panthers	Panthers	Panthers	Panthers
Browns @ Ravens (-13)	Browns	Ravens	Browns	Ravens
Cards @ Bengals (-4)	Cards	Cards	Cards	Cards
Broncos @ Bills (+1)	Bills	Broncos	Broncos	Broncos
Rams @ Steelers (-16)	Rams	Rams	Rams	Rams
Dolphins @ Patriots (-9.5)	Dolphins	Patriots	Dolphins	Dolphins
Vikings @ Redskins (-6.5)	Redskins	Redskins	Redskins	Redskins
Jaguars @ Titans (-7)	Titans	Jaguars	Titans	Titans
Giants @ Jets (-2.5)	Jets	Jets	Giants	Giants
Raiders @ Chiefs (0)	Chiefs	Raiders	Raiders	Chiefs
Chargers @ Lions (-1.5)	Lions	Lions	Chargers	Chargers
Eagles @ Cowboys (-2)	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys	Eagles
Niners @ Seahawks (+1.5)	Niners	Niners	Niners	Niners
Bears @ Packers (-13)	Packers	Packers	Bears	Bears
Falcons @ Saints (-7.5)	Saints	Falcons	Falcons	Falcons
Prev Week	10-5-1	6-9-1	7-8-1	7-8-1
Overall	116-103	112-107	110-109	118-101

Locks of the Week

Vegas Vinny: (6-9, Balance=$830) Last year, on the last day of the season, the Chicago Bears had already clinched the NFC North and their playoff seeding. Their division rivals, the Packers, had to win to get a spot in the playoffs. With nothing to play for, do you think the Bears sat their regulars for the game or even the second half? No chance. They played to win and knock out the Pack. As they should.

It’s payback time. With the Bears hanging onto their playoff hopes by a thread named Josh McCown (who might as well be Cade McNown), the Packers will be looking to do some damage and give their fans a Christmas gift of knocking out their hated rivals. The Bears have averaged 9 ppg in their last three. Can the Packers score 22 points? Absolutely. They might put up 44 after last week’s debacle just to get the taste of losing out of their mouths. I’ll put $220 to win $200 on the Packers (-13)

BostonMac: (10-5, Balance=$1,865)Sure, anyone who watched the first quarter of last week’s Patriots-Broncos game (and judging by the ratings, it was a large slice of the American public) thought Denver was going to pull the upset. Tebow and the Denver offense was cutting through the Pats defense like Kurtz through the jungle. While visions of upset city danced in Broncos fans’ heads, New England’s defensive coaches were busy making adjustments to stop Denver’s offense and next thing you know the game is a blowout. Let’s face it. The Buffalo Bills aren’t the New England Patriots. After a strong start, the Bills are floundering. They made a bit of a comeback last week against Miami, but in reality they are getting their golf clubs ready for yet another playoff-less offseason in Western New York. Translation: jump back on the Broncos bandwagon this week. With both Burton and Vin putting up a good-sized bet this week, I’m going to play it close to the vest and roll with $55 to win $50 on DENVER (-1) and look to take home the whole kitty in Week 17.

RJ: (3-10, Balance =$5.50)

Burton: (9-6, Balance =$2,165) Every now and then, one team proves itself the team to lock against week-in-week-out. Six years ago, I made a killing in college football hammering a Tennessee team that no one believed was as bad as it really was, locking against the Vols three weeks in a row & winning each time.

This year, it’s the Tampa Bay Bucs. I’ve been saying for some time Tampa is the worst team in the NFL and at this point on par with the 2008 Detroit Lions. This week on the show, Vin admitted that I may be right at least about the first part of my proclamation. R.J. countered that the Bucs had merely quit.

And R.J. is right, at least in part: the Bucs have quit. But that doesn’t preclude them from being the worst team anyway. Had they not quit, they still wouldn’t be better than anyone left on their schedule. They’d certainly not be better than a Carolina team that is a few pieces on defense away from contending in the NFC South next season.

Tampa would have a shot to stay within a touchdown if it were merely the worst team in the NFL. It would have a shot to stay within a touchdown if it had merely quit. But when the worst team in the NFL quits, all bets are off onto how bad it can really be and all bets are on the opposition. I’m going $330 to win $300 on Carolina giving 7.5 points. Never has a 5-9 team been such an easy wager.