NFL's Week 14 Pick'em: Now or Never for the Atlanta Falcons!

By Derek Lofland

The NFL's season is nearing its end, and Week 14 presents us a few important games for playoffs positioning.

After yet another 11-5 predicting week (It looks like I've subscribed to 11-5), my overall record now stands at 127-64 for a .665 clip.

Atlanta (8-4) at New Orleans (6-6): Atlanta has to win this game if they want to keep pace in the NFC South. While the Saints are on the verge of elimination, they play well at the Superdome, having gone 5-1 there. The Saints just can’t win on the road, where they are 1-5. Atlanta is also a 5-1 team at home, but has managed to go 3-3 on the road.

This is a game that young teams are tripped up in. We see that play out every year. The Saints want to win one for the home crowd and keep the playoffs alive for another week. They come out on fire. Can the Falcons match the intensity? There is NFL football, December Football, and Playoff Football.

Each one cranks up the intensity and the pressure. The Falcons will do well in this situation in the coming years, as their young players learn how to win in this spot. I think they take a step back and lose a game many are going to expect them to win. Brees goes off for another big day and the Saints win a shootout. Winner: New Orleans

Philadelphia (6-5-1) at New York Giants (11-1): The Eagles are on the verge of playoff elimination and can pretty much forget about the playoffs with a loss here. While they came up big against Arizona, I can’t see them having that kind of effort against an offense that just doesn’t make many mistakes.

McNabb plays okay, but doesn’t have the game he had last week. Same for Westbrook. Giants win the game behind a big game from Jacobs and the running game and clinch a playoff spot and probably the division. Winner: New York Giants

Dallas (8-4) at Pittsburgh (9-3): Dallas has played well the last two games, but consider the opposition of San Fran and Seattle. This is a true test. The Steelers don’t win pretty and Big Ben is going to have to avoid interceptions and sacks against a defense that thrives on big plays. I don’t like the fact that Barber is hurt right now.

The Steelers are number one in total defense, against the run, and the pass. If Dallas is going to win, they are going to have to run the ball and keep balance in the offense. This is the very type of game they show a tendency to rely on Tony Romo to win the game while abandoning the running game. If they do that, the Steelers defense will have a big day. Winner: Pittsburgh

Washington (7-5) at Baltimore (8-4): This is a game between two teams that rely on their defenses to win games and their offenses not to make mistakes. As of late, the Ravens offense is coming on. They scored 34 points on the Bengals and 36 points on the Eagles.

If you exclude the wipeout against the Giants, the Ravens are averaging 34.0 points per game since Week Seven. The Redskins haven’t scored 30 points in a single game this season. The only way the Redskins win the game is if they run the ball down the Ravens' throat, similar to what the Giants did. I don’t see that happening. Winner: Baltimore

Tampa Bay (9-3) at Carolina (9-3): Probably the best divisional game we have had to date. Carolina absolutely needs this game. They lost to Tampa Bay already. If they get swept, Tampa Bay has what amounts to a two-game lead with just three games to play.

Furthermore, the loser of this game has Dallas and Atlanta chasing them down for the wild-card spots. Neither team can afford to lose ground.

The Panthers are 6-0 at home this season as opposed to 3-3 on the road. The Bucs are also 6-0 at home and 3-3 on the road. I think Carolina rebounds from their 27-3 loss in Tampa Bay and wins a low scoring game behind their potent ground attack and Steve Smith.

Jeff Garcia is coming off a horrible game, and I don’t expect him to play well on the road against a Panther defense that stops the pass pretty well, although they didn’t show it in Green Bay. Winner: Carolina

Rest of picks ...