There are two weeks left in the NFL season, and we have some great matchups this weekend!
Geoff Schwartz’s best bets for Week 16 of the NFL season
Retired NFL lineman Geoff Schwartz is back with his best bets for Week 16.
Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
Baltimore Ravens (team total under 19.5) @ Los Angeles Chargers
I’ve told y’all continually I don’t believe in the Ravens offense with Lamar Jackson. They have now played the five worst run defenses in a row. This weekend, that ends with their trip to Los Angeles on Saturday night. The Chargers defense is ninth in rushing yards per game and 13th in yards per rush. Football Outsiders ranks them 18th in rush defense, using their DVOA stat.
I think the Chargers will be able to score on the Ravens, and that will force Lamar Jackson to throw the ball, which wouldn’t be great for Baltimore. Besides the Chargers’ pass rush, they have a good secondary. They rank ninth in pass defense, according to Football Outsiders.
Kansas City Chiefs @ Seattle Seahawks (+2.5)
I’m shocked the Seahawks are getting points in this game.
Since Russell Wilson became the Seahawks starting quarterback, his team is 42-12 at home! Yes, only 12 losses, most of those losses are in their own division, the NFC West. He’s only lost once to an AFC team, the Chargers this season. With Wilson, the Seahawks are 13-2 all-time in primetime games at home as well. Seattle lost last weekend in San Francisco. It was an embarrassing loss, and Seattle needs to win this weekend to lock up the fifth seed. They don’t want to head to Chicago for wild card weekend.
Look, the Chiefs also need to win to have the top seed in the AFC, and I get that. But the matchup isn’t great here either. Seattle loves to run the football, and the Chiefs can’t stop the run. Often, we’ve seen teams try to run against the Chiefs only to abandon it when they get behind. Seattle won’t have those issues.
By kickoff time, it will have been a month since New Orleans played at home. This is a game where the Saints are going to go off, just a gut feeling. They know everyone has been knocking their offense lately as they’ve only scored 13, 28 and 12 in their three road games. In their last four home games, the Saints have scored 43, 45, 48 and 31. They’ll score at will this game. On the flip side, they have an outstanding defense which leads the NFL in scoring over the last month. They often get overlooked because of their offense.
