Week 16 NFL picks from Prisco: 49ers beat Ravens in possible Super Bowl preview; Cowboys and Dolphins will be exciting

Week 16 NFL picks from Prisco: 49ers beat Ravens in possible Super Bowl preview; Cowboys and Dolphins will be exciting

I’m not getting coal for Christmas this year, even though some people think I’m The Grinch. It’s nice to be seven games over.500 ATS as we head into the Christmas weekend.

Now that Christmas is over, I got my first gift this past weekend when my picks went 12-4 straight up and 9-5-1 against the spread. My record for straight-up picks is 136-88 and my record for ATS is 110-103-11.

Let’s keep it going with a good Week 16. This Christmas, I only want good feelings. Giving me another week filled with good picks would constitute another nice gift for me, and hopefully for you too.

In the past, it looked like NFL playoff games were over near the end. In 2023, that is not at all the case. The wild card spots across both conferences are pretty open.

The only teams that can still make it out of the tiebreakers for the last two places in the AFC and NFC are the Browns and the Cowboys.

At this point, only the Chiefs in the AFC West, the Lions at the NFC North, and the 49ers in the NFC West feel like they have a lock on their division.

Over the Christmas holiday, there will be a lot of games that should help both conferences get back on track.

The Saints and Rams play each other on “Thursday Night Football” to start the week. Both teams are 7-7 in the NFC.

On Saturday, the Bengals and Steelers play each other in a game among AFC North teams that are going in different ways.

The Browns and Texans played in a game on Sunday that showed how important the early window is for AFC wild-card hopefuls.

The Cowboys vs. Dolphins game in the late afternoon looks like it will be the best of the day, with two teams that are likely to win the Super Bowl going up against each other.

After some games on Christmas that could end in landslides, the day concludes with a game between two more teams that could make the Super Bowl: the Ravens and the 49ers in San Francisco.

For each game, the model’s predicted spread and a team’s chance of winning are shown. We’ve also added new chances for the Super Bowl and the playoffs at the bottom.

The odds for each game don’t depend on what bookies say, but on how the model thinks the game will go.

Finally, we’ll check out Caesars Sportsbook’s chances against those from the model to see how they think about this week’s games.

Both teams need to win this game to make the playoffs. The Rams are one of the league’s biggest surprises.

A lot of young players are doing great work on both sides. Road games have been tough for the Saints, but I think the team’s defense will sustain them in this one. It’s close, but the Rams get it.

This game is pretty much like a playoff game, since the team that loses will be out of the tournament.

With Jake Browning at quarterback, the Bengals have won three straight games, but it’s tough to play a division enemy on the road.

This year, the Steelers’ offense hasn’t been very good, so they’re going to start Mason Rudolph at center. The defense will win it, not him.

The Bills have won their last two games against top teams. Their next game is against the Chargers, who have a caretaker coach and a quarterback’s second start.

This is another game where the Buffalo attack will play really well, like it has the last few weeks. As the game goes on, Josh Allen will make more passes than the seven he did last week.

These two teams are still alive, but it feels like they are going in different ways. Heinicke will start at quarterback for the Falcons in this game.

The Colts haven’t been playing well lately, but I think the Falcons will get past Heinicke in this game.

Titans quarterback Will Levis hurt his hip last week in the loss to the Texans, so we’ll have to keep an eye on him. Still, I believe the Titans can win this game with Levis or Ryan Tannehill at quarterback.

The Titans will find a way to take this game, even with Geno Smith back. Seattle is coming up in just one week.

Last week, Bryce Young led the Panthers to a late-game win. That will be important in the future.

As bad as the defense was last week, the Packers won’t lose this one. They’ve lost two in a row. What do the Packers do? They take it while the defense hits Joe Barry hard.