NFL Picks, 2012 Season, Week 16

The NFL Rookie of the Year discussions to this point have primarily centered on RGIII and Andrew Luck. Those two certainly have shown that they’ll be forces opposing defenses will have to reckon with for years to come. In a traditional season, however, the work Russell Wilson has done in bringing the Seattle Seahawks to prominence this season would be in the mix as well.

Wilson, Marshawn Lynch and a hard-hitting defense have combined to put Seattle squarely in the playoff mix. With a pair of 50-point showings the last two weeks, the team is peaking at the right time, too.

Keith Myers, editor and lead writer for 12^th Man Rising, acknowledges that injuries and suspensions make this week’s divisional tilt with the 49ers a challenge.

“The Seahawks likely go into this week’s game against San Francisco with their fifth and sixth string cornerbacks again playing very large rolls for the defense,” he says. “That’s not a recipe for success once the playoffs begin. Throw in significant injuries to two starting defensive linemen and there’s some concern when the opponents are better than the Cardinals and Bills.”

Still, he adds that this team is better than most people think and that it is going to be a tough out once the playoffs begin.

“The way the Seahawks’ offense is clicking right now, if they can get healthy on defense before the playoffs start, then there’s no team they can’t beat,” Myers says. “They may not win three straight road games to get to the Super bowl, but they’ll go into every game with a real chance of winning.”

This team has shown improvements throughout the last two seasons. With the steady play at quarterback both teams are getting from their youngsters, I think the 49ers and Seahawks are primed to create a rivalry for supremacy in the NFC West, not just this year, but for years to come.

Myers joined us as this week’s guest game picker. Last week’s guest blogger, Kim Constantinesco, not only has the best name of anyone who has ever participated in this segment. The senior editor for Predominantly Orange stuck with my brother pick for pick in week 15. Despite some close games decided in the last seconds, Constantinesco and Tony finished the week 9-7.

This allowed Andy to pick up a game in the standings, as the blind squirrel I’ve had doing my picks the last couple weeks found the nut 10 times. Tony’s got a three game lead over me and, due to a couple rough weeks in the middle of the season, the celebrity guest game picking bloggers are currently six back of the leader with two weeks to play.

So, as we head into the home stretch, here are our picks for week 16.

Game of the week: Given where we’re at in the season and the league’s emphasis on divisional matchups at the end of the schedule, I’m a little surprised there aren’t more options this week. There are a couple good games. But there are also a few clunkers I’d have little interest in for anything other than fantasy football purposes. I’ll give the Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh game honorable mention for this week, but I think our guest blogger for the week would agree on what the true gold standard game of the week is: San Francisco @ Seattle.

Game of the weak: As mentioned, we’re a tad disappointed in this slate of games. The drama doesn’t feel all that high right now, even with just two weeks left in the season. I think there are a couple of games that stand out as dogs for the week, however. There’s our runner up, which features Oakland and Carolina teams with a combined record of 9-19. And then there’s our winner for Game of the Weak: The Which Coach Gets Fired First Bowl between Norv Turner and Rex Ryan. Yes, San Diego @ NY Jets is our pick.

To see our laughably bad “best bets” segment for week 16, click here.