NFL Week 16 picks and rooting interests for Seahawks

After this weekend the Seattle Seahawks will have played on Sunday, Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. The NFL is weird. Then again, Geno Smith is in the Pro Bowl and the Minnesota Vikings came back from 33-0, so, we already knew that.

According to DraftKings Sportsbook the Seahawks are 10-point underdogs on the road, the biggest mark of the season. At the moment, it probably feels generous, but don’t rush to judgment just yet.

For playoff purposes, Seattle fans also want the Vikings and rest of the NFC West to win, which is a bit unusual. Let’s break it down.

New York Giants at Minnesota Vikings - Saturday at 10:00 AM

Minnesota is a 4-point favorite at home, and they never make things easy. Last week goes into the record books, but they’ve had bizarre games all year. After beating the first place Buffalo Bills by three, they lost by 37 to the second place Dallas Cowboys. Can’t ever rule them out though, and they score a bunch. 25.1 has them eighth in the NFL, one spot behind the...Seahawks.

New York has struggled mightily since they first went up against Seattle. They still hardly have anyone to catch the ball, while rotating Saquon Barkley and Daniel Jones in the run game. In the end, they can beat mid-level teams but won’t score enough to keep up with 4th-quarter Justin Jefferson.

The pick: Minnesota to win and cover.

Washington Commanders at San Francisco 49ers - Saturday at 1:05 PM

The 49ers continue their long-standing of tradition of literally not caring about the quarterback position. At the moment, the combination of elite defensive line and offensive playmakers puts them in the driver’s seat of every game, as they’ve won seven in a row.

The Commanders and their weird tie are one of the teams in front of Seattle. They don’t know what to do with the Giants, but they’ve played well lately. Chase Young will make his season debut this week, which would be a huge boost for Washington. That alone would keep the game far more interesting against an inexperienced quarterback, but the rest of the roster is still too strong.

Pick: 49ers to win, and cover, as they’ve won by seven or more five straight games.

Denver Broncos at Los Angeles Rams - Merry Christmas at 1:30 PM PT

Just for fun, the NFL midday special features the two worst offenses this season.

This game has no impact on the Seahawks playoff chances whatsoever, but means a great deal to that draft pick. Since the Arizona Cardinals went and became as bad as we thought they were - but did it against the Broncos - that battle for a top-three pick became a big mess. The four-win column is crowded, and the Rams aren’t getting any better.

The two former Seahawks, currently still playing, and most likely to make the Hall of Fame (that’s confusing) face off, and hopefully Bobby Wagner has one last rise-to-the-occasion moment like he did against Seattle the first time.

The pick: Unfortunately I’d lean towards Denver, as the Baker Mayfield for President campaign seems already over. The Over/Under is 36.5, which is comically bad, but not even the lowest one this week (Saints and Browns). If they do win, let’s say Rams can cover, because the Broncos already have three games decided by one point this season.

Seattle Seahawks at Kansas City Chiefs - Saturday at 10:00 AM

First, some context. Saturday is supposed to be a high of 11 degrees. DraftKings has the O/U set at 49.5, so even in the tundra they’re expecting a bunch of scores. Kansas City wins most their games, sure, but the last five have been won by: six, six, loss by three, 16 over the Rams, three.

Those opponents were the Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, and Houston Texans, by the way.

A ten-point spot lands right in between those who think the Chiefs will score 50, and those who think Geno Smith is looking to do something stupid like go out and win.

Turnovers have kept Kansas City from immortality this season. They’re quite bad at them, actually, and opponents have scored on seven of the last nine turnovers, speaking to poor defensive recovery as well. Patrick Mahomes still does his three interception thing sometimes, and while I personally wouldn’t touch this game with any kind of real money, Seattle doesn’t get beat by double digits very often.

The pick: Kansas City to win, Seattle to cover, Pete Carroll to look very cold, DK Metcalf to drop something Geno threw way too hard, and at least one bad joke made by the announcers about “icing the kicker.”