Brutal. After a decent start, Andy has had a brutal stretch of weeks that culminated in an 0-4 week 15. The losses knocked out all of his profit except a meager $50.

After a brutal start, Tony keeps meandering his way back toward even. His 2-2 week 15 was highlighted by $2,500 hits on Green Bay and New England.

Here are the standings:

Last week Last week $ Overall Overall $ Bankroll
Andy 0-4 -$3,900 23-35-2 +$50 $10,050
Tony 2-2 +$943 24-35-1 -$2,508 $7,492

Here are our picks for this week:

Andy: What a mess. But it’s all a mythical bankroll, and Daddy’s got some pretend Christmas presents to buy. So here goes nothing:

$2,500 – Green Bay (-7, even) vs Minnesota – It’s not that the Vikings have quit. There have been only two games all season where it looked like they failed to show up. It’s just that they have nothing left to score with. The loss of Harrison Smith has really hurt the defense, too, so it’s going to be hard to stop a hot Aaron Rodgers. The Packers can name their score in this one.

$1,500 – San Diego (-6, -110) at Cleveland – I’m probably jinxing the Browns’ efforts to go 0-16 here, but I think the Chargers are going to show up here in order to avoid the embarrassment of being THE team that allows the Browns to go 1-15.

$1,000 – Indianapolis at Oakland: Under 53 (-110) – This is mostly a gut feeling. There will be significant offense in this game, but Derek Carr and Andrew Luck are beat up. I’m thinking they’ll be just enough off to keep the number under by just a bit.

$450 – Tampa Bay (+135 money line) at New Orleans – I don’t see this as an upset. The Saints are obviously good at home, but the Bucs have been on a tear during which they’ve beaten a number of teams better than New Orleans. They rebound from a loss to Dallas and keep the playoff hopes alive.

Tony: Two weeks left, and a shot to not only maybe get back to even, but maybe even pass Andy in the process. Let’s see how I can mess this one up.

$2,000 – Atlanta (-2.5, -110) vs Carolina – If you’d asked me about this game heading into the season, I would have put Carolina at about a 10 point favorite at home. As is, I think the Panthers have about shut it down for the season.

$1,000 – Chicago (+3, +110) vs Washington – Is it just me, or is Chicago finally playing inspired football?  Well, as inspired as they can be, given their lack of talent? Washington seems to have acquiesced the division and wildcard race, while Chicago seems to have (shockingly) possibly found a QB in Matt Barkely…at least for a year or two. I’d go with them on the moneyline, but I’ve got another pick there with slightly better payout, and I can get a +110 with the three points at one online sports book.

$2,000 – Indianapolis at Oakland: Under 53 (-110) – Unless the Raiders can finally put Carr back under center this week, he hasn’t been the same since he hurt his finger. And the Colts…well, this isn’t the Vikings, and it isn’t in a dome.

$1,000 – San Francisco (+170 moneyline) vs Los Angeles – Some weeks, I have to manufacture an upset pick to get a decent payout–and I usually miss. But this week, I actually picked San Francisco to win (I think), given the turmoil in Los Angeles. Seriously, how long before the rumors of the Rams packing up to leave LA start again? I heard that St. Louis still wants a team…