NFL Week 16 Picks: Matchups Guide, Advice and Early Score Predictions

It's crunch time in the NFL season, as just two games remain before the playoffs. The quest for Super Bowl 50 is still alive for 18 teams vying for 12 postseason spots.

Perhaps the "biggest" game of the weekend is between two teams with a combined 13-15 record. Washington (7-7) leads the Philadelphia Eagles (6-8) by just one game for the NFC East title, and the two will battle it out Saturday. An Eagles loss will knock them out of the playoffs and leave only the 6-8 Giants with a chance to catch Washington.

While that may be the "Mediocre Bowl," there are some other games where teams are fighting for their playoff lives. Let's take a look at all 16 matchups with predictions and analysis of a few important games.

Thursday, Dec. 24
Saturday, Dec. 26
Sunday, Dec. 27
Monday, Dec. 28
Time (ET)	Away	Home	Projection
8:25 p.m.	San Diego Chargers	Oakland Raiders	Oakland, 28-24
Time (ET)	Away	Home	Projection
8:25 p.m.	Washington	Philadelphia	Washington, 27-17
Time (ET)	Away	Home	Projection
1 p.m.	New England Patriots	New York Jets	New England, 21-20
1 p.m.	Houston Texans	Tennessee Titans	Houston, 26-16
1 p.m.	Cleveland Browns	Kansas City Chiefs	Kansas City, 28-10
1 p.m.	Indianapolis Colts	Miami Dolphins	Miami, 16-13
1 p.m.	San Francisco 49ers	Detroit Lions	Detroit, 34-17
1 p.m.	Dallas Cowboys	Buffalo Bills	Buffalo, 21-13
1 p.m.	Chicago Bears	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Tampa Bay, 30-20
1 p.m.	Carolina Panthers	Atlanta Falcons	Carolina, 34-20
1 p.m.	Pittsburgh Steelers	Baltimore Ravens	Pittsburgh, 31-13
4:05 p.m.	Jacksonville Jaguars	New Orleans Saints	New Orleans, 35-34
4:25 p.m.	St. Louis Rams	Seattle Seahawks	Seattle, 27-14
4:25 p.m.	Green Bay Packers	Arizona Cardinals	Arizona, 37-27
8:30 p.m.	New York Giants	Minnesota Vikings	Minnesota, 20-14
Time (ET)	Away	Home	Projection
8:30 p.m.	Cincinnati Bengals	Denver Broncos	Cincinnati, 24-20

Patriots in Jets' Path to the Playoffs

The New York Jets have lost nine of their last 10 regular-season games to the New England Patriots, and now their playoff hopes rest on beating their toughest division rival.

New England has won two games in a row after losing its first two in successive weeks, and the Jets are hot, having won four in a row. Despite being tied with the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers at 9-5, the Jets are on the outside looking in when it comes to the wild-card race.

Despite needing a late field goal to beat the 4-10 Dallas Cowboys in Week 15, Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick likes the fight in his team, per ESPN.com.

"Kind of had tough sledding for a while," Fitzpatrick said. "There's going to be adversity throughout the game, and I thought that was a great sign for us to show that the belief is always there. This is a winning football team."

The Patriots clinched a playoff bye for the sixth straight season despite dealing with multiple injuries to offensive starters. This could be one of quarterback Tom Brady's best performances given what he has had to work with on the field, per Andrew Siciliano of the Red Zone Channel:

Brady and Co. are at their best when there is something to fight for, and they are within grasp of the No. 1 AFC playoff seed. They'll find a way to win on the road and severely hurt the Jets' playoff chances.

Prediction: New England wins, 21-20.

Atlanta Trying to Make Playoffs, Carolina Going for History

The Carolina Panthers are beating everyone in their path and making history in the process, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Cam Newton has been so good the past month (18 touchdowns, one interception) that if not for the Seattle Seahawks' Russell Wilson (19 touchdowns, zero interceptions) playing out of his mind, he would be having one of the greatest five-game stretches in modern history for a quarterback, per ESPN Stats & Info:

The Atlanta Falcons, on the other hand, have become an afterthought despite starting the season 5-0. A road win against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 15 salvaged any hope of a wild-card berth, but they have a tough test in Week 16 if they want to remain in the hunt already behind two games.

Carolina embarrassed Atlanta, 38-0, in Week 14, and the loss did not go over well with Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, per ESPN.com: "It was about as badly as we can play," he said. "That's frustrating."

The Falcons have the talent to compete, but Carolina is on a mission to become just the second team to finish the regular season 16-0, and they aren't going to be stopped by a Falcons team allowing 24.4 points per game the last five weeks.

Newton will dab his way to another victory, shown here by the NFL, as the Falcons are left wondering what could have been.

Prediction: Carolina wins, 34-20. 

Denver in Jeopardy of Blowing Big Division Lead

Just two short weeks ago, the Denver Broncos had a three-game AFC West lead on the Kansas City Chiefs with just four to play.

Fast-forward to Week 16, and the lead has been cut to one with Denver dropping two games and the Chiefs winning two.

Eight straight victories after a 1-5 start have the Chiefs fired up and believing they can catch Denver, as shown in this video from Kansas City's Twitter account:

The Broncos have been without injured starting quarterback Peyton Manning the past five weeks and are coming off a crushing, 34-27 loss to the Steelers in which they did not score a second-half point.

Manning's backup, Brock Osweiler, who has started the past five games, said they have plenty to work on after the loss, per ESPN.com: "You play 60 minutes, not 30 minutes. That is something we will work on and we will fix."

They might just do that, but if the Broncos slip up even once in the next two weeks against the Cincinnati Bengals or San Diego Chargers, the division could belong to Kansas City. The Chiefs have the Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders at home the next two weeks after scoring 30-plus points in four of the past five games. 

Denver is catching a break against the Bengals, as they are playing without starting quarterback Andy Dalton, but backup AJ McCarron led Cincinnati to a 24-14 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Week 15.

The Broncos control their own destiny in terms of the division and need to take care of business in order to host a playoff game at home. If not, Kansas City will gladly take their place atop the division, which would be its first AFC West championship since 2010.