NFL Picks 2015: Week 15

We’re at the three-quarter pole of the season. The playoff races are starting to clear up, though our picks remain inconsistent, at best.

Andy and Tony tied at 11 last week with everyone else falling a game or so behind. Tony is running away with the season-long tally, however. Barring a complete collapse he’ll be hard to catch at this point.

Here’s where we stand:

I keep waiting for the barnburner week of division games with playoff implications. This season’s schedule has had a lot of weird, dud games throughout. That mostly continues, even this late in the season. Here’s what we think is going to happen:

Game of the Week: Carolina at NY Giants – Don’t get me wrong – I don’t think this is a great game on paper. But if you’d told me heading into the season that the Panthers would be this deep into the season with a chance to go undefeated, I’d have been stunned. And this appears to be the toughest game remaining on the schedule, as Carolina closes with Atlanta and Tampa Bay. So in a week where there again seems to be a void of highly anticipated games, I’ll check out the pursuit for perfection. Arizona at Philadelphia and Denver at Pittsburgh also merit mention.

Game of the Weak: Detroit at New Orleans – Poor, poor Monday Night Football, the red-headed step-sibling of Sunday Night Football and, even, Thursday Night Football. The 4-9, ridiculously disappointing Lions were resurging for awhile, but have again lost a couple in a row. The Saints, at 5-10, have one of the most non-existent defenses in the history of the game. The best thing to hope for here as best as I can tell is a fantasy football explosion of points. Otherwise this is a poster-child for the Who Gives A Crap Bowl.