NFL 2024 Season - Week 16
Picksfootball
 

Headline Play

Articles published multiple times per week, offering insights and picks on upcoming games.
 
SEASON:

Article Archive

Week 16
Vintage 2018
Penix Debut
Dog Day
Playoff Position
Rest of the Story
Different Sundays
Run Some Tests
Without and With
Week 15
Two Tonight
Playoff Chances
Wild Card Challenge
Best of the Best
Next
Dire Straits
And It's Good
Bloated Lines
Week 14
Running up the Score
Challenge Me
Finding Reasons to Win
Crab Feed
Week Off
Good Enough
Buyers Regret
Pulled the Rug
Week 13
Mile High Hopes
Top and Bottom
Fourth Time the Charm
Bounce Back
Engage Spark
Line Up
Out in the Cold
Thanksgiving Visitors
Good Enough
Motivation on Steroids
Week 12
Second Best
Heavyweight Bout
QB's Ins and Outs
Everybody In
Too Easy
Walk the Plank
Hot to Trot
Try, Try, Try, Try, Try Again
Week 11
Mouse Trap
Must Game
Malfunction
Easy Does It
Old Foes
Falcons Fly into Mile High
Matter of Time
Improv
To the Brink
Week 10
Odd Man Out
Lions come Calling
Rookie versus Veteran
Call to Action
Full Reverse
When 8-0 is 4-4
Game of Contradictions
NFC West Bunch
Early Boarding
Week 9
Not Enough, Too Much
Real or Imposters
Groin Shot
Best Show
Saddle Up
Dull Edges
Telling Actions
Annihilation Formula
Week 8
No and No
Old Glory
Rookie Face Off
Adding it Up
Holding On
Jets Down
Unload and Reload
No Surprise
Career Paths
It Hurts
Week 7
Harbaugh Monday
Kids Camp
Barkley Back
Bird Battle
Mouse Time
Too Many?
Gone Shopping
Not Bad
40 for 3
Week 6
Try New
Night Vision
Trap Door
Looking Up
Wake Up Call
All Good Things
Bad Idea
Unexpected
Fire One
Week 5
Yes & Yes
Old Rivals
Rookie Sensation
So Close
Lunch in Seattle
Wake the Roosters
No Respect
Too Sweet
Turtle Flip
Week 4
Landmine
Bottoms Up
Winners and Losers
Call Me
Short Line
Reality Bites
Like Tonight
Uptick
Challenge Generates Performance
Week 3
Two Times
Reduced Value
Stars Down
The Other 21
Opportunity Knocks
Lots of Questions
Move Along People
Times Up
Week 2
Confidence Game
First and Second Picked QB's
Avoiding the Donut
Do or Die
One for the Road
Likewise
Adjustment Bureau
Down ... Not Out
Week 1
Time Marches On
Cashing the Trade
Start Here
Say What
Quick Up, Quick Down
Brazil Play Date
Top Two Open
Super Bowl Pick
Season Win Totals
Moving on Up
Breakout to Breakdown
Preseason 4
Preseason Wrap
Rookie Playoff Run
Preseason 3
Short Memory
Two In, One Up
Eagles Hunt
Winning Formula
Preseason 2
Quarterback Shuffle
One Two, or Two One
Starters Sit
Remote Control
Money be Damned
Preseason 1
One Season to the Next
Public Shift
Comets in the Night
Offseason
Mahomes Chasing History
All's Well that Ends Well
Ups and Downs
     
 
Rookie versus Veteran
by Dennis Ranahan

The only National Football League outdoor site with rain in the forecast is in Florida today where the Jacksonville Jaguars host the Minnesota Vikings. Conditions at all other outdoor venues call for cloudy or clear skies.

The San Francisco 49ers are coming off their bye week and return a number of their previously sidelined players with injuries to their lineup. Included in this infusion of talent is last year’s most valuable player, runningback Christian McCaffrey. How much action, and how effective he will be while seeing his first action, is yet to be seen. But, on our charts, the Buccaneers banged up defense is a perfect spot for the 49ers to run up the score on their Florida hosts.

In one of the more intriguing games of this season, the upstart Washington Commanders host the Pittsburgh Steelers. Both these teams are leading their respective divisions and are major surprises this year. Both came in with quarterback questions, and so far, both teams have answered those questions with solid if not spectacular performances by their signal callers.

In Washington, Jayden Daniels is rewriting history not only for rookie quarterbacks, but for any quarterback at any stage of their careers. In Pittsburgh, the Steelers opened the season with the man that won the starting job, Russell Wilson, sidelined with an injury and replaced by another new athlete to the Steelers roster, Justin Fields.

The one-time Chicago Bears first-round pick led the Steelers to four wins in six starts before Wilson was healthy and returned to the starting lineup in a home game against the New York Jets. In a battle between two veteran quarterbacks, Wilson outdueled Aaron Rodgers to win his first start, and followed that up two weeks ago with a more convincing effort and victory over the New York Giants.

Following their bye week, the Steelers are now at full strength and ready to challenge the rocket ship known as the Washington Commanders.

Yes, it is a most interesting game, one in which the veteran Wilson is a slight underdog to the rookie.

As for the public today, their favorite play for the tenth week of action is the high scoring Detroit Lions (-3½) who visit the Houston Texans in the primetime Sunday night telecast. The next two most bet-on games by the public are the Minnesota Vikings (-7) over the Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons (-3½) over the New Orleans Saints.

The Qoxhi three money rated plays are now posted on this site, and if a Bullet Play develops in the final hour leading up to the day’s first kickoff that game will be added to the list of recommendations by 9:45 a.m. Pacific Time.