Week 16 of the NFL season starts tonight with the Los Angeles Rams vs. the Seattle Seahawks. My picks:
- Los Angeles Rams beat Seattle Seahawks
- Philadelphia Eagles beat Washington Commanders
- Chicago Bears beat Green Bay Packers
- Buffalo Bills beat Cleveland Browns
- Los Angeles Chargers beat Dallas Cowboys
- Kansas City Chiefs beat Tennessee Titans
- New Orleans Saints beat New York Jets
- Minnesota Vikings beat New York Giants
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Carolina Panthers
- Miami Dolphins beat Cincinnati Bengals*
- Jacksonville Jaguars beat Denver Broncos*
- Atlanta Falcons beat Arizona Cardinals
- Detroit Lions beat Pittsburgh Steelers
- Houston Texans beat Las Vegas Raiders
- New England Patriots beat Baltimore Ravens
- San Francisco 49ers beat Indianapolis Colts
Yes, I expect the Chiefs to beat the Titans, even with Mahomes and three offensive linemen out with injuries and two key defensive players questionable.
Why?
Most importantly, the Titans are 2-12 so far this season and I don't expect them to suddenly and massively improve.
But the Chiefs also have advantages. Gardner Minshew is a very competent quarterback to step in for Mahomes. The backups for all those other injured Chiefs are going to be highly motivated to show their stuff so that maybe they won't be backups next season. And their opponents for this week have to figure out how to beat a team they haven't seen before -- all their game tape and planning are for the Chiefs of Week 15 and earlier, a team which no longer exists. Andy Reid and his coaching staff are great at improvising to meet new situations. Reid is now working on putting together the 2026 Chiefs, and he gets to test his ideas, which are usually good, in real season play.
But I could be wrong. Maybe, having gone to shit across 15 weeks, the Chiefs will just be shit for the rest of the year. We'll see.
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