Week 16 NFL Betting – Schedule & Marquee Matchups

Week 16 NFL Betting Marquee Matchups:

Giants @ Packers

The rematch of the 2007 NFC Championship Game could very well punch a lot of tickets in the NFC playoff chase. The smart money suggests that the Packers will very likely reach the postseason. If Brett Favre gets injured, the Pack Attack would likely supplant the Minnesota Vikings as the best team in the NFC North. At any rate, Green Bay will probably be in very good shape when this game kicks off. It’s the Giants who own the question marks. New York failed to make the playoffs last year, and the dominating defensive front which carried Big Blue to the world championship of pro football a few seasons ago is no longer intact. Michael Strahan has retired. Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck have been slowed by injuries. This team can’t count on a pass rush anymore, but it’s exactly what it will need to regain form in 2010. If the Giants want to beat back the Pack in week 16, they’ll definitely need to get in the face of Green Bay gunslinger Aaron Rodgers. If the Giants can’t do the deed, there’s no way they can keep up with the Packers in a track meet at Lambeau. That’s just not a winning proposition for coach Tom Coughlin’s crew.

Chargers @ Bengals

Last season, these two clubs staged a riveting late-December battle in San Diego, with the Chargers edging the Bengals on a 52-yard Nate Kaeding field goal with just three seconds left. If San Diego and Cincinnati can stage another December dandy half as good as their 2009 tilt, fans will be mightily entertained. The fact that the Chargers are traveling to Ohio will recall memories of the most famous game ever played between these franchises, the so-called “Freezer Bowl” game on January 10, 1982. One week after San Diego’s players survived heat exhaustion and rampant muscle cramps in the steamy environs of Miami, the Bolts had to endure the minus-59-degree wind chill of Cincinnati in the AFC Championship Game. The Bengals felt comfortable in the frigid conditions, using a simple combination of short passing and ball security to score a 27-7 win and notch the first Super Bowl appearance in team history. One shouldn’t expect the temperatures to be that bad in 2010, but just the same, the squad from San Diego will need to handle the ball well against Cincinnati’s physical defense.

Saints @ Falcons

There are simply very few breaks or breathers in New Orleans’ 2010 schedule. One week after going to Baltimore to take on the Ravens – a team with Super Bowl potential – the Saints, as defending champions, will travel to Atlanta in a game that could well decide the champion of the NFC South. The Falcons have a very legitimate shot at taking down the Saints, if only for the fact that their schedule isn’t nearly as daunting. Atlanta, by finishing in the middle of the NFC last year, won’t be playing the roster of division champions that will take on the Saints in 2010. If Atlanta can merely stay even with New Orleans through the first 15 weeks of the season, this week 16 game will indeed determine who wins a division title and, quite likely, makes off with a first-round bye in the NFC postseason.