Week 16 NFL Picks: Predictions on Vegas' Midweek Betting Odds and Lines

More than half of the teams in the NFL are still in playoff contention with two weeks remaining in the regular season, which sets up a thrilling conclusion with plenty of scenarios.

Wild-card spots, first-round byes and home-field advantage are all on the line heading into Week 16, and showdowns between the Indianapolis Colts and the Dallas Cowboys, the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals, the Denver Broncos and the Cincinnati Bengals, and the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints will go a long way toward determining the playoff picture.

With that in mind, here is a look at some predictions against the spread for every Week 16 game. Point spreads are courtesy of Odds Shark as of Tuesday at 12 p.m. ET.

Date	Matchup	Point Spread	Prediction ATS
Thursday, Dec. 18	Tennessee Titans at Jacksonville Jaguars	JAX -3	Jaguars
Saturday, Dec. 20	Philadelphia Eagles at Washington	PHI -9	Eagles
Saturday, Dec. 20	San Diego Chargers at San Francisco 49ers	SF -2.5	Chargers
Sunday, Dec. 21	Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears	DET -4.5	Lions
Sunday, Dec. 21	Minnesota Vikings at Miami Dolphins	MIA -7	Dolphins
Sunday, Dec. 21	Baltimore Ravens at Houston Texans	BAL -3.5	Ravens
Sunday, Dec. 21	Cleveland Browns at Carolina Panthers	CAR -3.5	Panthers
Sunday, Dec. 21	Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints	NO -6.5	Saints
Sunday, Dec. 21	Green Bay Packers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	GB -11.5	Packers
Sunday, Dec. 21	Kansas City Chiefs at Pittsburgh Steelers	PIT -3	Steelers
Sunday, Dec. 21	New England Patriots at New York Jets	NE -11.5	Patriots
Sunday, Dec. 21	New York Giants at St. Louis Rams	STL -5	Rams
Sunday, Dec. 21	Buffalo Bills at Oakland Raiders	BUF -7	Bills
Sunday, Dec. 21	Indianapolis Colts at Dallas Cowboys	DAL -2.5	Colts
Sunday, Dec. 21	Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals	SEA -9	Seahawks
Monday, Dec. 22	Denver Broncos at Cincinnati Bengals	DEN -3.5	Broncos

Matchup to Watch: Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints

In the strange world that is the NFC South, the New Orleans Saints can clinch the division title or be completely eliminated from playoff consideration depending on the result of their Sunday clash with the Atlanta Falcons.

If the Saints win against Atlanta and the Carolina Panthers lose in Week 16, Drew Brees and Co. will clinch the division. However, if the Falcons beat the Saints and Carolina beats Cleveland on Sunday, New Orleans will be eliminated and the winner of the Week 17 game between Atlanta and Carolina will take the division.

Saints cornerback Keenan Lewis seems ready for the important showdown, via Nick Underhill of TheAdvocate.com: "Hopefully we come in this week and get to the details and try to figure out what Atlanta’s gonna try to beat us with. We can’t let Matt Ryan come out and throw for 500 yards this week. We’re definitely gonna give them their funeral."

While New Orleans may be confident after two wins in its last three games, its one glaring weakness is its defense. Ryan beat the Saints with 448 passing yards and three touchdowns in Week 1 and should find success again against New Orleans' 26th-ranked pass defense and 29th-ranked rush defense.

Marc Serota/Associated Press

Although the Saints won their Monday night game against the free-falling Chicago Bears, they are not far removed from a 41-10 beatdown at the hands of the Carolina Panthers in Week 14. The Saints have also lost four in a row at home and gave up at least 27 points in each of those games. 

The defense has been rather vulnerable on the fast turf in New Orleans, and Atlanta’s top option appears ready to go after missing Week 15 with injury, via the team's Twitter:

Ryan, Julio Jones and Roddy White have the Falcons at No. 5 in the league in passing yards per game, and they will once again put up some serious points against a defense they already torched for 37 points.

The problem for Atlanta, though, is that the Saints get to play offense as well.

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

New Orleans is much more balanced than Atlanta, and it brings the No. 9 rushing attack and the No. 3 passing attack to the table.

Anytime the Saints take the field, Drew Brees, Jimmy Graham, Kenny Stills and Marques Colston come to mind, and for good reason. Few NFL teams feature passing attacks as explosive as that of New Orleans, and it should have a field day against Atlanta's secondary, which is last in the league in terms of passing yards allowed per game.

However, Mark Ingram and the Saints' underrated rushing attack will make the difference in this one. Atlanta is 20th in the league against the run and won't be able to slow Ingram down, which will force the Falcons to commit more defenders to the box. That, in turn, will open up the field for the Saints against an already overmatched secondary.

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

What’s more, an established running game from New Orleans will help keep Ryan and the dangerous Atlanta offense (and the Saints defense) on the sidelines.

There will be plenty of points in this game, but New Orleans will control the tempo with its commitment to the run and then connect on a couple of big plays over the top in the second half. The Saints are going to win the NFC South, and Sunday’s game is the next step. 

Prediction: Saints 38, Falcons 27

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