While I did pretty well on straight picks, it was a brutal week against the spread as the two biggest favorites couldn’t even win, let alone cover. I should have known it was going to be one of those weeks when the Raiders basically flushed their playoff hopes with a home loss to the Chargers to start the week. Somehow, with all the ATS picks I got wrong, I did better than ever on the over/under.
| Nick Total | ATS Total | O/U | Christen’s Total |
| 10-6 | 4-10-2 | 10-6 | 10-6 |
| Previous Total | Previous Total | Previous | Previous Total |
| 145-62-1 | 114-91-2 | 71-84-5 | 131-78-1 |
| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall |
| 155-68-1 | 118-101-4 | 81-90-5 | 143-84-1 |
This is the time of year when the good teams are supposed to show up and beat the bad teams, but a couple of teams didn’t get the memo. Clearly, the Rams bought into their own hype or didn’t respect the Jets, maybe both. New York dominated the start of the game and Sam Darnold looked, in moments, like the star QB they were looking for when they took him in the first round. Jared Goff, on the other hand, looked awful and the Rams’ hopes of making a serious playoff run went out the window after they got embarrassed at home.
Not to be outdone, the Steelers continued their slide as they dropped their third game in a row. It’s one thing to lose to Washington and Buffalo who are both positioned to be playoff teams but to lose a division game to the two-win Bengals says Pittsburgh isn’t ready for a Super Bowl run either. Ben Roethlisberger looked awful. He was inaccurate all night and the Bengals punished the passes he did complete. Cincy was fired up and played their best game of the season after JuJu Smith-Schuster did his pregame dance on their logo, which led to him stopping the practice moving forward.
While those teams have some soul searching to do, the defending champion Chiefs went into New Orleans and took care of business. Drew Brees returned for the Saints but it wasn’t easy to knock the cobwebs off. All things considered, NO had a better showing in their loss than either the Rams or Steelers, and they did it without Michael Thomas on the field. However, the back-to-back losses took them out of the conversation for the #1 seed in the NFC.
The majority of the good teams heading into the playoffs got the memo. The Packers held off the Panthers in Green Bay. Buffalo steamrolled the Broncos in Denver. Cleveland took care of the Giants. Baltimore smashed the Jags, which handed Jacksonville the #1 pick in the draft. Tennessee beat the Lions on the back of Derrick Henry’s 147-yards but their defense is still suspect. The Colts edged out a close game against the Texans. Seattle survived Washington. And the Bucs came back to win on the road in Atlanta.
In other matchups with big playoff implications, Miami got a big win over the Patriots to stay a step ahead of the Ravens for the #7 seed in the AFC. It was tough going in the first half, but they got things on track. They’ve got the toughest remaining schedule so each W matters. The Cardinals hung on to their #7 seed in the NFC race with a win over the Eagles. Philly has a big offseason decision to make at QB as Jalen Hurts continues to play well. Chicago continues to play well under the reinvigorated Mitch Trubisky as the Bears basically handed the Vikings a season-crushing loss in Minnesota. Last but not least, the Cowboys stayed in the hunt for the final Wild Card spot and NFC East crown with a big rivalry win over the 49ers.
*Edit: Week 16 actually kicks off with a Christmas Day clash and playoff rematch between the Vikings and the Saints.* Thursday games are done for the season, but there are a number of key games to get Week 16 started on Saturday. Tom Brady and the Bucs head to Detroit to take on the Lions in what’s pretty close to a must-win game for Tampa Bay. The Niners head to Arizona with a chance to play spoiler against the Cards. And the Dolphins head to Las Vegas to battle the Raiders in a clash of AFC Wild Card hopefuls.
The Chiefs stay on top, Buffalo solidifies their spot as #2, the Saints fall out of the Top-5, and the Jags officially take over as the worst team in the league. Here’s the rest of the Sheist Power Rankings:
| 1. Chiefs 13-1 (1=) |
| 2. Bills 11-3 (2=) |
| 3. Packers 11-3 (4⬆) |
| 4. Steelers 11-3 (3⬇) |
| 5. Browns 10-4 (6⬆) |
| 6. Titans 10-4 (7⬆) |
| 7. Colts 10-4 (8⬆) |
| 8. Seahawks 10-4 (10⬆) |
| 9. Saints 10-4 (5⬇) |
| 10. Dolphins 9-5 (12⬆) |
| 11. Buccaneers 9-5 (11=) |
| 12. Ravens 9-5 (13⬆) |
| 13. Rams 9-5 (9⬇) |
| 14. Cardinals 8-6 (15⬆) |
| 15. Bears 7-7 (19⬆) |
| 16. Raiders 7-7 (14⬇) |
| 17. Washington 6-8 (16⬇) |
| 18. Vikings 6-8 (17⬇) |
| 19. Patriots 6-8 (18⬇) |
| 20. Broncos 5-9 (21⬆) |
| 21. Cowboys 5-9 (29⬆) |
| 22. Lions 5-9 (23⬆) |
| 23. Chargers 5-9 (28⬆) |
| 24. Giants 5-9 (20⬇) |
| 25. 49ers 5-9 (22⬇) |
| 26. Eagles 4-9-1 (24⬇) |
| 27. Texans 4-10 (25⬇) |
| 28. Falcons 4-10 (26⬇) |
| 29. Panthers 4-10 (27⬇) |
| 30. Bengals 3-10-1 (30=) |
| 31. Jets 1-13 (32⬆) |
| 32. Jaguars 1-13 (31⬇) |