Week 16 Panel Picks: 49ers Favored in Huge Christmas Duel, Dolphins Expected to Conquer NFC Elite
On December 6th, 1981, the 49ers beat the Bengals 21-3 in week 14. Why am I bringing up a game that was played over 42 years ago, you may ask? hat Niners vs Bengals showdown was the last time the AFC and NFC leaders faced off in December. Well, this Monday, we will get another one of those historic games when the Ravens travel to the Bay to take on the seemingly invincible 49ers. This game isn’t the only clash of the titans in week 16. Miami and Dallas will meet in the Demolish-bad-teams-but-lose-to-good-ones Bowl. Someone will get one of their biggest wins of the season in Miami and restore confidence in their respective fanbase. Check out the standings below, and our week 16 picks to see who we picked in those games.
Primetime Games
Early Window
Late Window
Most alike picks: Three duos of Webb/Rahul, Webb/Theo, and Rahul/Theo all picked the same result in 14 of 16 games.
Least alike picks: Good news for Rahul and I—we both picked eight games differently from Josh.
Most upsets picked: Ray picked seven upsets this week.
Fewest upsets picked: Rahul, Theo, and I only picked two upsets.
Most picks with majority: Surprise, surprise! Theo was in the majority for 15 out of 16 games. Next year, I think we should bet against the spread.
Most picks against majority: Josh picked against the majority five times.
What Stands Out?
Even against the 11-3 Ravens, Josh likes the 49ers at home enough to lock them. I don’t blame him either. They score 30 points on a bad day, and genuinely might be the greatest offense in NFL history.
People still aren’t sold on the Joe Flacco story in Cleveland. Even with Case Keenum starting for the Texans, the Browns were still out-picked 4-3. You’d think that their suffocating defense would be enough to win over the panel, but apparently not.
Like Vegas, the panel likes the Dolphins against Dallas. The Bills set a blueprint by rushing for 266 against the Cowboys last week, and the speedy yet crafty duo of Raheem Mostert and Devon Achane has the tools to replicate it. Miami is 4th in the league in rushing yards per game and Mostert is tied with Christian McCaffrey with a league-leading 20 touchdowns.
Since Theo is allergic to picking upsets (otherwise known as having fun), George is the underdog in every one of the four games that he and Theo picked differently. Earlier this week, he told me that this is the week he thinks he needs to make a big leap of faith into upset-land since Theo has been gaining on him, and it shows.
Josh is officially going all or nothing mode. He’s the lone wolf in the Titans, Giants, and Falcons games in an effort to catch Rahul. He even told me yesterday that he wants access to Rahul’s locks so he can lock the opponent of whichever team Rahul picks. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Playoff Picture
Let’s pretend our majority pick in each matchup won this weekend. Here would be the playoff matchups on Wild Card Weekend if that were the case.
AFC
(1) Baltimore Ravens vs BYE | With Miami’s losing an in-conference game to the Titans in week 14, Baltimore would still hold the tiebreaker for the one-seed with a loss vs San Francisco.
(2) Miami Dolphins vs (7) Indianapolis Colts | This would be the only wild card matchup to feature two top-8 offenses.
(3) Kansas City Chiefs vs (6) Cincinnati Bengals | The Chiefs have allowed fewer PPG than any team Jake Browning has faced this season.
(4) Jacksonville Jaguars vs (5) Cleveland Browns | Joe Flacco has more career yards against the Jaguars than any non-AFC North team besides the Dolphins.
NFC
(1) San Francisco 49ers vs BYE | With a win on Monday night, the 49ers would only need one more win to clinch a first round bye.
(2) Philadelphia Eagles vs (7) Seattle Seahawks | The Seahawks have won eight straight games against the Eagles.
(3) Detroit Lions vs (6) Los Angeles Rams | This would be the second meeting between Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff since being traded for one another.
(4) Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs (5) Dallas Cowboys | The Cowboys dominated the Buccaneers 31-14 in the wild card round last year.
We already had a game on Thursday night. We’ve got two more on Saturday afternoon and Saturday night. Normal deal on Sunday, and three island games on Monday. That’s nine different time slots to watch football as opposed to the usual five. Week 16 should be fun.