Top Pick

1. Denver Broncos (-7.5) vs. Arz – Both teams are coming off a bye but it looks like the Cardinals will have to go with QB Drew Stanton again. That’ll be tough facing an improved Broncos D. Look for Peyton and Co. to fire on all cylinders and cover the point spread.

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2. Pittsburgh Steelers (-6) vs. Jax – The Jaguars will face an embarrassed team on Sunday. Look for Pittsburgh to add to the Jags’ woes and throttle them by double digits.

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+11) vs NO – The Saints will likely win, but something is missing from this year’s team. They’re not nearly as good on defense, and the offense isn’t scoring at will like it has in the past. The Bucs will keep this one close.

4. Kansas City Chiefs (+5.5) vs. SF – See money line bet.

Rounding Things Out

New York Giants (-4) vs. Atl – The Falcons are banged up along the OL and have a poor defense. The Giants are much improved in recent weeks and will win this by a TD.

Baltimore Ravens (+3.5) vs. Ind – The Colts D is the biggest worry for this team. The Ravens are a slightly more well rounded team and will cover the point spread. They may win.

Cincinnati Bengals (EVEN) vs. NE – Bill Belichick is masterful at putting bad losses behind him but he’s not a magician who can wave a magic wand and cure his team’s OL woes. They’re real and the entire offense will continue to suffer as a result. It’ll keep the D on the field longer than it wants to be as well. Look for the Bengals, who are the more complete team, to win in New England.

Money Line Bet

Kansas City Chiefs (+205) vs. SF – There is something not right about these 49ers on offense and rumors persist of locker room discontent. While the latter is just a rumor, the poor play on offense is not. The Chiefs match up well and look for Alex Smith and Co. to get the better of his old team on Sunday.

Top Pick

1. Atlanta Falcons vs. Oak – The Falcons are flying high at 5-0 but their recent wins have been close to the end. The Raiders are coming off a bye week in which they hope to have corrected a number of issues they had to start the season, but even if they have, it’ll only be enough to keep this game close throughout.

The Falcons are very good at home and won’t lose to the Raiders in Week 6.

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2. New England Patriots vs. Sea – Yes, the Seahawks are tough at home. And yes, they have a very good defense, but no, they’re not going to beat New England here. Bill Belichick will have a defensive scheme that will confuse and force QB Russell Wilson into mistakes, while offensively, Tom Brady and the Pats have too much firepower for the Seahawks to slow down for four quarters.

Expect a 14-7 to 17-7 outcome.

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. KC – The Chiefs come in banged up and playing lousy football, and will have QB Brady Quinn behind center when they travel to Tampa. The Bucs are coming off a bye week and Schiano’s squad will cover the point spread and win this by at least a TD.

And to help you make the right decision to earn that pot of gold, here’s Pro Football 101′s lock of the week for Week 16: the New England Patriots.

The Pats are in a do-or-die situation—a three-way tie atop the AFC East, and from here on out, it’s a must-win situation.

Offensively, we see New England attacking through the air. The Cardinals like to bring their safety’s closer to the box and this leads to opportunities in the passing game. Adrian Peterson burned Arizona on the ground last Sunday but the real story of the day was Tarvaris Jackson’s four TDs.

So look for Cassel to continue to target Welker and Moss and they should be able to put up between 20-30 points in this one.

Defensively, Bill Belichick is notorious for confusing top-shelf NFL QBs with complicated defensive schemes. If you’ll recall, he’s the mastermind behind two of the greatest defensive called games in Super Bowl history: The Giants vs. Bills in ’91 and the Patriots vs. Warner’s Rams in ’02.

He’ll continue that trend on Sunday in what could be porous weather conditions in New England.

This football game should end somewhere in the neighborhood of 27-14 Pats or 30-17.

Teams used

Week 15 – Indianapolis Colts

Week 14 – Tennessee Titans

Week 13 -Baltimore Ravens

Week 12 – Denver Broncos

Week 11–Miami Dolphins

Week 10–Arizona Cardinals

Week 9–Chicago Bears

Week 8–New York Jets

Week 7–Houston Texans

Week 6–Philadelphia Eagles

Week 5–Carolina Panthers

Week 4–Buffalo Bills

This brings up the question; just what can we expect from the New England Patriots, aka the NFL Evil Empire, in 2008? My answer: between 7 and 10 wins. And I only say 10 because on paper the Patriots had the easiest schedule coming into the season. But to get there, it will take Belichick’s best coaching job since 2001.

This team just doesn’t put fear into anyone like last season. In 2007, they buried people; Belickick and Co. were hell bent on proving all of the doubters wrong who said that “Spygate” was responsible for the organization’s three championships. Brady set the touchdown record with 50 TD passes; Moss set the touchdown record for a receiver with 23; the team set the record for most points ever with 589; the defense was ranked 4th in the league and they were widely recognized as the “Greatest Team of All-Time” up until 10 pm EST, on February 3rd. The team’s invincibility disappeared when Eli Manning’s fade pass sailed into Plaxico Burress’ hands in the corner of the end zone to give the New York Giants a 17-14 victory in Super Bowl 42.

All attempts at another run in 2008 were obliterated the minute Tom Brady went down with a season ending knee injury in week one. Coaching in football is huge; it plays a much larger role in the outcome of games/seasons than any of the other major professional sports, but even with all of Belichick’s brilliance, primarily on the defensive side of the ball, I don’t see him working any magic in ’08. I wouldn’t however take Miami’s performance Sunday, or should I say, Ronnie Brown’s (5 TDs), as a sign of things to come. Teams prepare all week based on game film, players’ tendencies, etc. and I think this was just a situation of seeing something for the first time in a game (Brown lining up at QB) and not making the necessary adjustments. That side of the ball will be fine.

As for the offense, I can’t say the same thing. Brady was Superman. If you blitzed him, 9 times out of 10 he’d make you pay; if you dropped guys into coverage, he’d find the open man. With him, you picked your poison, and more likely than not were on the receiving end of a loss. With Matt Cassel, who in week 2 vs. the Jets made his first official start since 1999, when he was in high school, it’s whole different story. Defenses can pretty much impose their will on him. I’m not implying that he can’t/won’t improve, but there’s so many things he hasn’t seen in live situations that it will take time to develop a comfort level within the offense and with his receivers. By not respecting the pass, defenses can focus on stopping the run, and New England surprisingly doesn’t have that strong of a running game even though their stable of backs consist of Laurence Maroney, Sammy Morris and Lamont Jordan.

Back to my original question of what can we expect from the Patriots in 2008. I say you need to pop in your 2001 Patriots’ tape and hit the stop button after week 17; the days of 17-13 and 20-17 are back, although now they’re very likely to be on the shorter end of the stick, which is a place they haven’t been for a long, long time.