NFL Predictions Week 17: Picks for Every Game

It is always a sad time when the NFL regular season comes to a close, but there are some really good games this weekend to ease the pain. There are still quite a few playoff berths on the line, and only the Packers have clinched their seed.

The game of the week is Sunday night between the Cowboys and Giants. The winner of that wins the NFC East. The loser watches the playoffs from home.

Click through to see a prediction for every Week 17 game.

Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers

This game is a rematch of the Thanksgiving day game that did not live up to the hype. It is hard to say what the game will be like this time. The Lions are still playing for a seed because they currently have a one-game lead on the Falcons, but if they lose and the Falcons win in Week 17, the Falcons would get the No. 5 seed because they beat the Lions earlier this year.

What will probably happen is the Packers will play their healthy starters for a half. That will give Detroit an advantage because they will leave their guys in long enough to get command of the game because they really do not want to open the playoffs in New Orleans against the Saints.

Lions 35 Packers 27

San Francisco 49ers vs. St. Louis Rams

The 49ers still have a lot to play for in this game. They need to finish the season 13-3 to assure that they get the No. 2 seed. That will give them a bye and a home game.

Of course, that really does not matter in this game because the Rams are terrible. St. Louis has been gashed by the run this season. Look for Frank Gore to have a big first half and watch the second half from the sidelines because the game will be safely in hand.

The Rams still have a shot at the No. 1 pick if they lose this game and the Colts beat the Jaguars.

49ers 24 Rams 10

New York Jets vs. Miami Dolphins

The Jets can still get a wild card spot in the AFC playoffs, but they need a lot of help. They would have to have the beat the Dolphins and have the Bengals, Titans and Raiders all lose.

These two teams have already played each other once this season. The Jets won that matchup, 24-6. Miami is a much improved team since that first meeting, and New York has taken a step backwards.

You can expect New York to give everything they have in this one because if they lose, their season is over, but it is not a good matchup for them. Their strength on offense is running the ball, but the Dolphins are excellent against the run.

Dolphins 17 Jets 14

Chicago Bears vs. Minnesota Vikings

This will be one of the least watched games of the weekend. Neither of these teams have any playoff hopes, and both teams are missing their star running back.

The good news for the Bears is that Josh McCown looked better last week than Caleb Hanie ever has. So maybe McCown can play well enough to beat a bad Vikings team that will be without the services of Adrian Peterson.

Minnesota has plenty of other issues to deal with as well. They need to give Christian Ponder the start because he is the guy that they have invested their future in, but Joe Webb has outplayed him.

Vikings 17 Bears 10

Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots

The Patriots have the AFC East and a bye locked up, but they need a win to guarantee home field advantage throughout the playoffs. New England would also like to avenge their 34-31 loss to Buffalo earlier this season.

The Bills have been a trainwreck in the second half of the season, but they rallied to hammer the Broncos last week.

They will not have as much luck in this one. There is no way they are going to be able to slow down Tom Brady and the Pats passing attack considering they are 15th in the league against the pass.

Buffalo will be able to move the ball against the New England defense, but will not be able to make enough plays to win the game.

Patriots 34 Bills 24

Carolina Panthers vs. New Orleans Saints

This game should be entertaining. The Saints still have a lot to play for even with the fact that they have locked up the NFC South. They still have an outside shot at getting a bye if they win and the 49ers lose.

Drew Brees is having one of the best single seasons ever by a quarterback. He has already set the record for passing yards in a season. Brees will have no trouble piling up yards against the Panthers who are giving up 236 passing yards per game.

On the other side, you have Cam Newton. He has set plenty of records of his own and will be the offensive rookie of the year in a landslide. Newton will have some throwing lanes against the New Orleans secondary that gives up 268 yards per game.

Saints 31 Panthers 24

Washington Redskins vs. Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles made a late-season charge to give themselves a shot at an NFC East title before a Giants win last week eliminated them.

They should not have any trouble with Redskins in this one. The Washington defense is bad against the run, and Philadelphia is excellent at running the football. Look for LeSean McCoy to put an exclamation point on what has been an excellent season in this one.

Eagles 31 Redskins 17

Indianapolis Colts vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

This game will be a big one for Maurice Jones-Drew. He always plays well against the Colts, and they are even worse than normal against the run this season.

The Colts have a lot to not play for in this game. A loss here gives them the No. 1 pick in the draft.  A win here could mean they do not get that pick if the Rams lose to the 49ers (which they will).

It would probably benefit Jacksonville long term to lose this game so the Colts will not have Andrew Luck to torture them for the next decade.

Jaguars 17 Colts 13

Tennessee Titans vs. Houston Texans

This is another game where one team has a lot more to play for than the other. The Texans are locked in as the No. 3 seed in the AFC playoffs. They are more concerned about keeping the few remaining healthy players they have healthy than winning this game.

The Titans still have an outside shot at a playoff berth, but they need to win here and get a lot of help. They will be looking to get some revenge for the beatdown the Texans put on them in Nashville earlier this season.

Tennessee can win this game if they get the Matt Hasselbeck from last week and not the Matt Hasselbeck of the previous month.

Titans 23 Texans 20

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Atlanta Falcons

Raheem Morris is on the hot seat. A win in this game might be good enough to save his job, but an embarrassing loss might be enough to push ownership over the edge to fire him.

The latter is more probable than the former. The Falcons are coming off an ugly loss to the Saints on Monday Night Football. They are also still playing for a seed. A win here would give them the No. 5 seed and avoid a second trip to New Orleans in three weeks. That should not be much of a problem.

Falcons 35 Buccaneers 17

Baltimore Ravens vs. Cincinnati Bengals

This is one of very few week 17 games that means something to both teams. The Ravens need a win here to lock up the AFC North and a No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs. The Bengals are in the playoffs if they win this game. They need a lot of help to get in if they lose.

Baltimore won the first matchup between these two. They had the advantage of only having to defend A.J. Green for a few drives because he got injured on a touchdown catch.

This is going to be the second best game of the weekend and will come down to whoever makes a play in the fourth quarter.  

Ravens 20 Bengals 17

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cleveland Browns

The Browns are terrible. They started off the season hot, but they really floundered when they got to the meat of their schedule.

Pittsburgh still has a shot at getting a first-round bye if they win and the Ravens lose, so there is still plenty left for them to play for. They might be without Ben Roethlisberger for the second straight week because of his ankle injury, but they will not need him in this one. Charlie Batch is plenty competent enough to beat the Browns.

Steelers 24 Browns 10

Kansas City Chiefs vs. Denver Broncos

The Broncos have lost their last two games and are in danger of not making the playoffs. They can put those fears to rest with a win at home against the Chiefs.

Kansas City has nothing to play for. They rallied and played well in the first week under Romeo Crennel, but lost to the Raiders. They will be up for this one, though, because nothing would make them happier than knocking their rivals out of the playoffs.

This is a game that has Tebow Magic written all over it. The Chiefs are not very good, so the Denver defense will keep the game close enough for Tebow to lead a late drive for a win.

Broncos 13 Chiefs 10

San Diego Chargers vs. Oakland Raiders

The Chargers saw their faint playoff hopes fade away last week with a loss to the Lions. Now, they are relegated to playing the spoiler for the Raiders. Oakland can still get in the playoffs if they win and get some help.

The Raiders won a close one when these two teams met earlier this season. Carson Palmer, Michael Bush and Denarius Moore all had big games in that one. You can expect another big game from Bush in this one because the Chargers are not very good against the run. They give up 123.5 yards per game on the ground.

Oakland is even worse than that against the run. They give up 135 yards per game on the ground. Look for Ryan Matthews to have a big game here in route to the Chargers getting some payback for the earlier loss.

Chargers 27 Raiders 24

Seattle Seahawks vs. Arizona Cardinals

This game had the chance to be a really important one before both teams lost last week. Had they both won, the winner of this game would still have an outside chance at making the playoffs. Now they are both playing their last game of the 2011 seas0on. Both of these teams have played better than most people expected this season.

Marshawn Lynch will be the difference in this one. The Arizona defense is giving up 120.5 yards per game on the ground. Lynch is having a great season and will end it with a bang this week.

Seahawks 20 Cardinals 17

Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants

The whole Sunday schedule leads up to this one on Sunday night. This is the only game that is truly an elimination game, meaning that the team that wins makes the playoffs and the team that loses is eliminated.

You have to give the edge here to the Giants because of Eli Manning. Eli gets more credit than he deserves a lot of times, like the fact that he is on the Pro Bowl team and Matthew Stafford is not, but he has proven to be a good quarterback to have when the game is on the line.

The exact opposite can be said of Tony Romo, and that is why the Giants will win this game. 

There will be a lot of points scored, and the game will be close in the fourth quarter, but a Romo turnover will be the difference.

Giants 34 Cowboys 31