Here Are Our 2015 Week 17 NFL Picks Against the Spread 

It took until Week 16 for me to have an absolutely disgusting week of picking games. It happens to the best of us. The downside of Week 17 is that it’s the last regular season week. The positive is that I have a chance to redeem myself and end on a high note. Oh and then there’s the whole playoffs where the stakes increase and the loser between J.Camm and I gets kicked in the balls by a moose unless we can convince another NFL team to let Chip Kelly oversee their player personnel.

Locks of the Week:

Detroit PK over CHICAGO
We’ve got four locks this week because I need to make up for last week. We’ll start with Detroit, whose offense has come a long way. Jim Bob Cooter, I still can’t believe that’s what he goes by, has turned around Detroit’s offense in the second half of the season. Detroit is now sitting 16th in Football Outsiders offensive rankings despite being 28th after Week 10. That’s quite the improvement, but it’s no surprise when you consider the tools at Matthew Stafford’s disposal. Chicago’s 25th ranked defense will only continue to make Detroit look good.

J.Camm’s Pick: Detroit

Oakland +7 over KANSAS CITY
The Raiders had a hiccup in Weeks 9 and 10 of the season when it came to stopping the run, but they’ve buckled down since then. KC’s offensive power comes from their #1 ranked rushing offense (according to FO), so Oakland should be able to contain that like they did in Week 13. Oakland lost that game because Derek Carr threw three interceptions. He’s become more prone to mistakes in the second half of the season, but has shown he can keep himself composed at times. Depending on the results earlier in the day, the Chiefs may rest their players in the second half if they see Denver running away against San Diego. That’s a nice cherry on this sundae.

J.Camm’s Pick: Oakland

CAROLINA -11 over Tampa Bay
It’s time for Carolina to wake up and get ready for the playoffs. Their loss last week means they need to win this game in order to insure home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Bucs have been sleepwalking for the last month as their pass defense gets ripped to shreds. Look for Carolina to stop Tampa Bay’s rushing offense and force Famous Jameis into a couple mistakes. We just need to keep Tampa Bay away from that garbage time score they got last week.

J.Camm’s Pick: Carolina

Minnesota +3 over GREEN BAY
The Packers best win since Week 3 is against… Minnesota. Other than that Green Bay hasn’t beaten anyone who’s currently in the playoffs and have gotten blown out by Arizona, Carolina, and Denver. Minnesota at least hung with Arizona despite getting blown out by Seattle. The thing is Minnesota’s been banged up defensively during the recent stretch and now their players are back healthy. Green Bay doesn’t have the same benefit of health and at a certain point we need to stop expecting their offense to get things together.

J.Camm’s Pick: Green Bay

Trap Games of the Week:

N.Y. Jets -3 over BUFFALO
Last weekend was exciting for Jets fans. Fireman Ed went home after the game and had his way with himself to the Spanish language broadcast of the game-winning touchdown. The Jets are clearly the better team here. They have the 12th ranked offense and 5th ranked defense compared to Buffalo’s 29th ranked defense. But this is the Jets were talking about. Few fan bases watch their team steal defeat from the jaws of victory like Jets fans do. It would crush them if Rex Ryan of all people stopped the Jets from making the playoffs. It helps that the Jets remember losing to Buffalo earlier in the season, but can they get out of their own way? I can’t wait to see.

J.Camm’s Pick: Jets

Rest of the Picks:

New Orleans +4 over ATLANTA
There’s no reason to overreact on Atlanta’s win over Carolina last week. They wanted payback after Carolina gloated during the Week 14 win. They felt embarrassed and they got their payback. This is a major letdown spot against New Orleans as Atlanta knows their season is over.

J.Camm’s Pick:New Orleans

Tennessee +6.5 over INDIANAPOLIS
It’s pretty sad that Indianapolis kept pushing Matt Hasselbeck back onto the field despite his myriad of injuries. The guy had to eat out of a straw! The dude is old. Leave him be! Either Josh Freeman or Ryan Lindley look to start at quarterback this week. Both of them were picked up off the street before this week! Ok I’ll stop using exclamation points for Elaine Benes’ sake, but I’m not sure how you can lay that many points in good conscience with those QB options.

J.Camm’s Pick: Tennessee

Baltimore +10 over CINCINNATI
The Bengals offense just isn’t the same with A.J. McCarron under center and you’d expect that. I do wonder if Baltimore brings it after last week’s major upset over Pittsburgh, but I think beating Cincinnati will get them motivated as well.

J.Camm’s Pick: Baltimore

CLEVELAND +10 over Pittsburgh
So Johnny Football has a “concussion.” Or maybe it’s a hangover? Either way It’s mildly suspicious as we head into the final week of the regular season. We just need to hope Austin Davis can do what he did last time he filled in to keep things interesting. The Steelers are putting up 8.3 more points per game at home as opposed to on the road, so there’s a possibility they don’t completely run away in this one. They were supposed to run away last weekend and look what happened. That was also on the road.

J.Camm’s Pick: Pittsburgh

DALLAS -3.5 over WASHINGTON
Who really knows what will happen in this game. Washington has nothing to play for and definitely doesn’t want to see its players get injured. Dallas was cooked a long time ago, but they should have a chance on Washington’s B-Team.

J.Camm’s Pick: Washington

New England -10 over MIAMI
Speaking of cooked, the Dolphins are fully cooked. They’ve lost three in a row, five of six, and seven of nine. At least we know their team needs the draft pick to improve the talent on the roster. It came out that they did all these things to stop the Pats from cheating when the two teams played in Foxboro. Miami lost 36-7, so I guess that didn’t work or matter. New England has everything to play for here with home-field advantage at stake, which is very important given their injuries. Julian Edelman is back so that will help Mr. Brady get the Dolphins to the golf course.

J.Camm’s Pick: Miami
NEW YORK -3 over Philadelphia
It’ll be interesting to see how the Eagles players respond after the firing of Chip Kelly, but I don’t think this group of players hated him as much as the ones who’ve left. As was pointed out on Twitter by Manish Meta of the New York Daily News (@MMehtaNYDN), Chip Kelly cut D-Jackson, traded McCoy, didn’t re-sign Maclin & gave up a 2nd-rd pick for Bradford. That type of ineptitude is historic.” On the flip side, Odell Beckham Jr. is back on the field and ready to light up Philadelphia’s secondary.

J.Camm’s Pick: New York
Jacksonville +7 over HOUSTON
QBs are always a little rusty when they come into the lineup after a few weeks off. Jacksonville’s pass defense is 31st in the league according to FO. What’s going to give in this matchup as Brian Hoyer makes his Week 17 return to get ready for the playoffs? I’ll go with the former, but could understand if the latter happens.

J.Camm’s Pick: Houston

DENVER -10 over San Diego
The Broncos won by two touchdowns the last two times these teams played. This is just what Denver needs as it’s gone through back-to-back tough games. They certainly don’t need Peyton Manning back. As we saw last week, Denver can win if the defense plays well and the Broncos receivers don’t screw Mr. Brock. San Diego’s defense is a sieve and Brock should have no problem securing a first round bye.

J.Camm’s Pick: San Diego

Seattle +7 over ARIZONA
Arizona’s defense came after Green Bay last week, especially in the second half as Aaron Rodgers didn’t have time to do anything. Will it be the same this week since Seattle sports one of the worst pass-blocking lines in the league? Russell Wilson is at least a little more mobile and we shouldn’t get too down on the Seahawks after last week. The game was in bad weather and St. Louis has a mental edge with Seattle after beating them a few times recently. Seven points is too many.

J.Camm’s Pick: Seattle

St. Louis -3 over SAN FRANCISCO
Jeff Fisher loves being 8-8. That is all.

J.Camm’s Pick: St. Louis

Last Week: 5-11
Season: 117-116-7
Locks: 28-23 

JCamm: 121-112-7 (Nail-in-the-coffin time, Bitch. Nail-in-the-motherfuckin’-coffin time. Finish strong.)