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Week 16 Lines Expect Broncos, Colts to Continue Stampede Toward Playoffs

It’s Christmas time in the NFL, which means playoff spots are up for grabs. We roll into Week 16 with plenty of postseason sorting out to do, which means there’s something at stake in just about every single game this week.

So, before we get out last-minute Christmas shopping done, let’s check out this week’s lines.

Atlanta (-4.5) at Detroit

The Falcons made a statement last week against the Giants, blowing out the defending Super Bowl champions. So it’s a little surprising they’re only 4.5-point favorites against the Lions, who lost to the putrid Cardinals last week.

Tennessee at Green Bay (-13)

The Packers still have something to play for, hoping they can slide into the second seed and get that coveted first-round bye, so they may throttle the Titans this weekend.

Oakland at Carolina (-9)

These are two teams going in opposite directions, as the Panthers have actually showed some fight down the stretch behind the improved play of Cam Newton.

Buffalo at Miami (-4.5)

LOL.

New England (-14.5) at Jacksonville

The Patriots aren’t too happy about losing last week, and the Jaguars are awful, so you do the math.

Indianapolis (-7) at Kansas City

The Colts are looking to finish strong and get into the playoffs — an incredible turnaround from last year — and the good news Chuck Pagano received may give them even more of a boost heading into this game.

New Orleans at Dallas (-3)

The scoreboard operator is going to be busy in Arlington on Sunday (over/under of 51.5) when these two explosive offenses match up with the Cowboys in position to get closer to a division title.

Washington (-6.5) at Philadelphia

This game may swing on Robert Griffin III‘s availability — it sounds like he’ll go — but Kirk Cousins showed last week he can beat bad teams, and that’s exactly what the Eagles are right now.

Minnesota at Houston (-9)

The Vikings are still in the NFC playoff hunt, and they’ve got the best player in the world, Adrian Peterson, playing at his best right now. That nine points sounds kind of excessive when you look at it that way, doesn’t it?

San Diego at New York Jets (-1.5)

The Laughingstock Bowl features the Chargers and the Jets with the latter turning to Greg McElroy to replace Mark Sanchez at the quarterback position.

Cleveland at Denver (-13)

The Browns have been pretty competitive this season, despite their record, and it will be interesting to see if they can hang at all with the Broncos on Sunday.

New York Giants (-3) at Baltimore

Both of these teams are trending in the wrong direction with the playoffs just around the corner, which means that this is probably the time the Giants decide to turn things around and get into the playoffs and make a run.

Chicago (-6) at Arizona

The Cardinals are still bad, and they’re so bad that the reeling Bears are six-point favorites on the road.

San Francisco (-1) at Seattle

Game of the week, no doubt about it.