Chris J. Nelson's Week 17 NFL Game Predictions

Not a great week last week, especially in the late games. Here's hoping I can pull off a good final week and win my picks league!

Last week's record: 9-7
Season record: 153-87 (63.8 percent)

Falcons over Rams - The Falcons have something to play for and St. Louis is downright awful. Atlanta won't need the refs' help to win this one.

Patriots over Bills - It might not get them to the playoffs, but New England is playing damn good football right now and Buffalo's pretty pathetic.

Chiefs over Bengals - Kansas City has some weapons on offense and gave the Dolphins a hell of a game last week.

Packers over Lions - The Packers have let me down a ton this year, but I still don't expect them to go down in history as the only team to lose to the '08 Lions.

Titans over Colts - Tennessee is likely to sit some guys and I might have picked Indy regardless because I like how they've been playing in the second half of the season.

Vikings over Giants -The Giants have nothing to play for and will probably be sitting some guys, while the Vikings are desperately in need of a win.

Saints over Panthers - Carolina has been playing great football lately, but I have to go with New Orleans at home in the role of spoiler.

Steelers over Browns - Cleveland is on its fourth quarterback of the season in Bruce Gradkowski, and he was signed this month. Despite being an upgrade over Ken Dorsey (man I have bashed him a ton on this site haven't I?), I don't give him a chance in hell against Pittsburgh.

Buccaneers over Raiders - Oakland pulled off an impressive win last week against Houston, but I still don't like them as the visitors in Tampa.

Texans over Bears - Somewhat of an upset pick, I like Houston as the spoilers at home against Chicago.

Dolphins over Jets - The Dolphins have been playing much better football than the Jets lately, and the weather won't be a factor like it was in Miami's tough win in Kansas City. I say the Dolphins finish off the surprise season with the division title.

Cowboys over Eagles - It won't be easy, but I like Dallas to secure the No. 6 seed in the playoffs with a win over a Philadelphia team coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Redskins.

Cardinals over Seahawks - The Cardinals might be division winners, but they've been playing absolutely horribly lately. We'll see if they can build any momentum going into the playoffs.

Redskins over 49ers - It's been a tough second half for the Redskins in 2008, but I think they'll finish the season on a strong note with a win in San Francisco.

Ravens over Jaguars - Baltimore needs a win to ensure they get the wild card spot, and I expect them to do just that against a disappointing Jacksonville team.

Chargers over Broncos - In one of the ugliest division races in recent memory, I like the rolling Chargers to sneak into the playoffs.

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Chris Nelson is a journalism major at Georgia State University. He operates his own Miami Dolphins blog, which can be found here.