Time for the Week 16 picks!
Beatpaths and ITB were both 10-6 this week, a slightly less accurate week for all methods overall. Isaacson-Tarbell was 8-8. I missed on my personal picks, so I’m again even with ITB for the season. The BeatPicks were 7-2, or 57-21 for the season. There are thirteen (!!!) BeatPicks this week, and I am personally picking Tennessee and Pittsburgh.
Once again, the beatpicks are: If there is a beatpath, pick the favored team. Otherwise, pick the team with the best win-loss record. If they’re the same, pick who beatpaths favors in the beatpath rankings. An (x) means you might want to consider overruling in favor of the home team.
| Isaacson-Tarbell | Beatpaths | Isaacson-Tarbell-Beatpaths | |
| Record So Far | 140-84 | 149-75 | 147-77 |
| Last Week | 8-8 | 10-6 | 10-6 |
| San Diego (11-3) at Tennessee (7-7): San Diego is picked by Isaacson-Tarbell because of the better record. San Diego is a unanimous pick and a BeatPick due to having a beatpath to Tennessee. I’m going to personally pick Tennessee. | SD | SD* | SD |
| Baltimore (8-6) at Pittsburgh (7-7): A weirdly big game for two teams with middling records. A lot of playoff implications here. If Baltimore wins, they’re in. If Pittsburgh loses, they’re out. If Pittsburgh wins, it’s quite possible that both teams go to the playoffs. Isaacson-Tarbell picks Baltimore. The teams don’t have a beatpath relationship. Beatpaths ranks Pittsburgh ahead of Baltimore, but the official pick is Baltimore. I’m going to personally pick Pittsburgh. | BAL | PIT | BAL |
| Carolina (6-8) at NY Giants (8-6): This is a unanimous pick for the NY Giants. They’re ranked only three slots apart, and have no beatpath relationship. The Giants need the victory to keep up with Dallas for the playoffs. | NYG | NYG | NYG |
| Tampa Bay (2-12) at New Orleans (13-1): Tampa Bay isn’t ranked last anymore, but it’s still a wide spread of rankings. This is definitely a unanimous pick and a BeatPick. | NO | NO* | NO |
| Jacksonville (7-7) at New England (9-5): Jacksonville needs to win or they are out of the playoffs. New England is a unanimous pick and a BeatPick, but Jacksonville is ranked in the top ten so maybe it will be a tough game. | NE | NE* | NE |
| Houston (7-7) at Miami (7-7): One of these teams is definitely going to be knocked out of the playoffs this week. This one is a unanimous pick and a BeatPick for Miami, however. It seems like Miami’s only shot, however, is for them to win out and New England to lose out – their wildcard scenarios appear even less likely. | MIA | MIA* | MIA |
| Seattle (5-9) at Green Bay (9-5): Seattle is supposed to be my team, but man they are annoying. Their record is better than they are this season. You can’t call them a bad team that has had a couple of encouraging wins, they seem more like a mediocre team that is severely and consistently underplaying. What a mess. Green Bay is a unanimous pick and a BeatPick. | GB | GB* | GB |
| Oakland (5-9) at Cleveland (3-11): Oakland has the same record as Seattle but seems opposite – they’re a lousy team that has had some freakish wins this season. Maybe they’re starting to figure things out in their own very twisted Raiders way. Insist on yourself, I guess… Oakland actually has a long beatpath to Cleveland, so this is a unanimous pick and a BeatPick. | OAK | OAK* | OAK |
| Kansas City (3-11) at Cincinnati (9-5): Kansas City is ranked dead last this week. Cincinnati is ranked first in the AFC North, but only 14th overall, but that’s still far ahead of KC. This is a unanimous pick and a BeatPick for Cincinnati. | CIN | CIN* | CIN |
| Buffalo (5-9) at Atlanta (7-7): Both teams are out of the playoffs – a real shame in Atlanta’s case, currently ranked #4 in the NFC and ranked ahead of both Minnesota (#12) and Arizona (#23), the top teams in their respective divisions. This is a unanimous pick and a BeatPick for Atlanta. | ATL | ATL* | ATL |
| Detroit (2-12) at San Francisco (6-8): A disappointing season for San Francisco, this is a unanimous pick and a BeatPick for San Francisco. | SF | SF* | SF |
| St. Louis (1-13) at Arizona (9-5): A unanimous pick and a BeatPick for Arizona, who has a good record and low ranking due to scheduling quirks. | ARI | ARI* | ARI |
| NY Jets (7-7) at Indianapolis (14-0): Indianapolis is a unanimous pick and a BeatPick. If Indianapolis throws the game, the NY Jets could actually have some reason to hope – they hold a couple of tiebreaker advantages in the wildcard race. If they lose, they’re out of the playoffs. | IND | IND* | IND |
| Denver (8-6) at Philadelphia (10-4): This is a tough game for Denver, but unlike most other teams in the wildcard race, they aren’t necessarily out of the playoffs if they lose. And going by game odds, they’re still pretty likely to make the playoffs – I think the only more likely scenario is Pittsburgh winning out and Baltimore beating Oakland. There is no beatpath relationship here, but Pittsburgh is favored in all three variants. | PHI | PHI | PHI |
| Dallas (9-5) at Washington (4-10): Dallas is a unanimous pick and a BeatPick here, although you never know with the NFC East. | DAL | DAL* | DAL |
| Minnesota (11-3) at Chicago (5-9): I’d say Chicago has a chance to pull off an encouraging win here, but I just can’t trust their line enough. Minnesota is a unanimous pick and a BeatPick. | MIN | MIN* | MIN |