Staff Picks: Backing the Vikings, Bucs and Jaguars

DDD won the week at 11-5 to pull into second place, eight games behind Pianow, who more or less has this contest sewn up. Stopa and I are tied for fourth with Erickson two games back in last place.

We have three consensus picks this week, the Vikings, Bucs and Jaguars. And both DDD and I have the Texans as our best bets.

Happy Holidays.

	Erickson	Pianowski	Liss	Stopa	Del Don
Texans -5.5 at Colts	Colts	Texans	Texans	Texans	Texans
Dolphins +10 at Patriots	Patriots	Dolphins	Dolphins	Dolphins	Patriots
Browns +13.5 at Ravens	Ravens	Ravens	Browns	Ravens	Browns
Cardinals +4 at Bengals	Cardinals	Bengals	Cardinals	Cardinals	Cardinals
Vikings +6.5 at Redskins	Vikings	Vikings	Vikings	Vikings	Vikings
Broncos -1.5 at Bills	Bills	Broncos	Broncos	Broncos	Broncos
Rams +16 at Steelers	Rams	Steelers	Rams	Rams	Steelers
Giants +2.5 at Jets	Giants	Jets	Jets	Giants	Giants
Buccaneers +8.5 at Panthers	Buccaneers	Buccaneers	Buccaneers	Buccaneers	Buccaneers
Jaguars +8 at Titans	Jaguars	Jaguars	Jaguars	Jaguars	Jaguars
Raiders +.5 at Chiefs	Chiefs	Chiefs	Chiefs	Raiders	Raiders
Chargers +1.5 at Lions	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers	Lions
Eagles +1 at Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys	Eagles	Cowboys
49ers -2 at Seahawks	Seahawks	49ers	Seahawks	49ers	Seahawks
Bears +13.5 at Packers	Bears	Bears	Bears	Bears	Packers
Falcons +7 at Saints	Saints	Falcons	Saints	Falcons	Saints
Best Bet	Ravens	Chiefs	Texans	Broncos	Texans
Last Week's Record	9-7	9-7	8-8	8-8	11-5
2011 Record	108-111-5	120-99-5	110-109-5	110-109-5	112-107-5
Best Bet Record	7-8	7-7-1	10-5	10-5	6-8-1
Consensus Pick Record	26-22-1
2010 Record	129-122-5	134-117-5	126-125-5	136-115-5	134-117-5
2009 Record	123-130-3	132-121-3	131-122-3	130-123-3	126-127-3
2008 Record	132-114-10	128-118-10	124-122-10	125-121-10	130-116-10
2007 Record	127-120	118-129	127-120	N/A	130-117
2006 Record	118-129	N/A	139-108	N/A	N/A
2005 Record	121-126	N/A	127-120	N/A	N/A
2004 Record	124-124	N/A	130-118	N/A	N/A
2003 Record	121-126	118-129	124-123	N/A	N/A
2002 Record	113-136	123-126	141-108	N/A	N/A
2001 Record	124-113	117-120	118-119	N/A	N/A
2000 Record	123-117	134-106	141-99	N/A	N/A

Consensus Picks

This week we have three consensus picks: the Vikings, Buccaneers and Jaguars. We went 2-0 on consensus picks in Week 15 to go 26-22-1 on the year. We went 32-21-1 on consensus picks in 2010.

Comments:

Writer	Comment
Erickson	There are a lot of teams on this slate I generally like as dogs but not as favorites - Bengals, Redskins, Jets (and Giants for that matter) and Broncos among them... The Jags pick is made on the notion that the Titans seem insistent on self-weighting by starting Matt Hasselbeck instead of Jake Locker.
Pianowski	Kyle Orton makes the Kansas City offense respectable, and Carson Palmer is good for a few mistakes every week, especially with Tamba Hali breathing down his neck. Arrowhead is still a factor when the Chiefs are relevant, and all of a sudden, they are. Happy and safe holidays, everyone.
Liss	Tough slate - like the Texans, Dolphins, Bucs, Seahawks and Saints
Stopa	I really like the Texans and Broncos this week. The Colts got their victory to avoid 0-16, so they'll revert to apathy and suckitude. Plus, the Texans should bounce back after a bad loss. As for the Broncos, let me count the reasons I'd bet my own money on them this week: (i) giving less than a FG to a Bills team that's lost seven straight, five of which weren't competitive; (ii) Denver is run-oriented, and the Bills just let Reggie Bush have the best game of his career; (iii) only the Bucs and Vikings are worse on defense than the Bills right now; and (iv) Broncos bounce back in a must-win game after a loss... The number-crunching sharps (per Liss in ECO) are pounding the Dolphins, and I've been in the Dolphins corner much of the past several weeks, so I'll keep riding it... Rams getting that many points against an injured Roethlisberger doesn't make sense... If there was ever a time to buy ugly on the Bucs, particularly with the Panthers coming off a win, this is it. ... I don't think the Jets are a playoff team. I'm not sure the Giants are, either, but I trust the Giants offense to rebound more than I trust anything on the Jersey side... Seattle at home and selling the Niners high might be the sharp play, but I think the Seattle dream ends this week - not enough physicality on offense. ... Somewhere along the line in 2011, the Cardinals got better on defense and nobody realized... I far prefer the Redskins as a dog, not a TD favorite.
Del Don	The loss of DC Wade Phillips on the sideline proved drastic last week, but this seems like a good time to buy Houston low and sell Indy high.

The players:

•Jeff Erickson: RotoWire Senior editor, 2001, 2008 Staff Picks Champ. Writes the Value Meter. Covers and roots for the Bengals.

•Scott Pianowski: Fantasy expert for Yahoo! Sports, and also contributes to Rotowire.com. 2009 Staff Picks Champ. Roots for the Patriots.

•Chris Liss: RotoWire Managing Editor, 2000, 2002, 2006 Staff Picks Champ, 2003, 2004 co-champ. Writes East Coast Offense, Beating the Book and Surviving the Week in addition to Staff Picks. Covers and roots for the Giants.

•Mark Stopa: Staff Writer, 2010 Staff Picks Champ, Writes Working the Wire. Roots for the Bills.

•Dalton Del Don: RotoWire Senior Staff Writer. 2007 Staff Picks Champ. Writes the Game Capsules and the Barometer. Covers the Eagles and roots for the 49ers.