Picking NFL Week 16

-But first some Christmas night thoughts:

+On a cold night in Nashville, the Chargers produced an impressive display to top the Titans 42-17 and seize the number 2 seed in the AFC for the playoffs.

Philip Rivers threw for 264 yards and two touchdowns (watch his awesome athleticism on his first touchdown toss) , while LaDanian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles added two more touchdowns apiece on the ground.

Sure, the Titans were missing two of their starting linebackers, Keith Bulluck and David Thornton, but you couldn't help but be impressed with the way the Chargers gashed Tennessee's defense and moved the ball: they scored touchdowns on every one of their trips to the redzone, putting the game out of reach in the third quarter.

On the defensive side of the ball, although they struggled to contain Chris Johnson (they aren't the first and certainly won't be the last to fail in that department), they forced three key turnovers, picking off Vince Young twice and recovering his fumble.

+You look at the Chargers this season, who have now won ten games in a row, and you really wonder if they might be the best team in the NFL right now.

For much of the season, they have been behind the Colts, the Saints and the Vikings in most people's pecking order. Well, in the last three weeks, the Vikings have shown their frailties in losses to the Cardinals and Panthers while the Saints battled to close wins over the Redskins and Falcons before losing to the Cowboys last week.

The Colts haven't lost yet, so they can't be bumped from the top spot by the Chargers, but if the two teams played tomorrow, I'm not sure Indianapolis would be a shoo-in by any means....We could be in for one heck of an AFC championship game come January.

+The fairytale storyline of the year in the NFL is over: the Titans won't be the first team to rebound from a 0-6 start to make the playoffs.

They came close, thanks to Vince Young leading them on a winning touchdown drive in the dying seconds against the Cardinals and Rob Bironas' winning field goal in overtime against the Dolphins last week. But their loss to the Colts in Week 13 that dropped them to 5-7 was really the moment that broke the back of their challenge.

After watching Vince Young's return completely transform the Titans after those first 6 losses and it still not be enough to make the playoffs, I can't imagine it'll be anytime soon that we'll see a team undergo enough of a transformation to break that record.

-How I did last week: 6-10

The craziness of week 15, with the continual lead changes deep in the fourth quarter (that all seemed to go against me by the way) definitely took a few years off my life. No excuses for some of my horrible picks last week however, i.e. Saints and Redskins....

-Record on the Season: 60-44

Buccaneers at Saints: The Saints list of walking wounded is the longest in the NFL (apart from the Colts perhaps), and with the dream of the undefeated season gone, we should see a lot of backups getting playing time against the Bucs. The problem is: their backups are probably still better than the Bucs. Saints.

Broncos at Eagles: Brian Westbrook will return after two concussions against the Broncos. How scary might the Eagles offense be if Westbrook plays like he did when he carried the Eagles in the playoffs last year? One fun thing these two teams have in common: embarrassing losses to the Raiders this season. Eagles.

Bills at Falcons: Not a game that matters much or will be remembered for any length of time. No one can even be sure who will start at quarterback....for either team. Falcons, just cos they're at home.

Texans at Dolphins: The Dolphins and the Texans are two of the host of 7-7 teams in the AFC. Both have a slim shot at the playoffs, both know that one loss and they're done. Another toss-up matchup, but the Dolphins have played better in big games this year. Dolphins.

Panthers at Giants: Where did Matt Moore (60% completion rate, 4 TDs and 1 interception in his three starts since taking over from Jake Delhomme) come from? Where has the Julius Peppers who terrorized Brad Childress into trying to yank Brett Favre been this year? If those two play well again, the Panthers will definitely have a chance, but in the grand scheme of things, the Giants have more to play for. Giants.

Chiefs at Bengals: This is the kind of game the Bengals have played their worst football in all season. However Cincinnati will still want to win one for Chris Henry, and they also have to make sure they stay ahead of the Ravens in the AFC North. Bengals.

Seahawks at Packers: Green Bay lost a heart-breaker in Pittsburgh last week, where their defense, a strength all year, went AWOL. They shouldn't be too worried about Matt Hasselbeck passing for 500 yards (as Roethlisberger did) though. Packers.

Raiders at Browns: Any chance Jerome Harrison rushes for 286 yards in a game ever again in his career? What Harrison and Joshua Cribbs' two returns for touchdown hid was Brady Quinn's pedestrian performance: 10 of 17 for 66 yards and 2 interceptions. The Raiders will try to take away the run and make Quinn beat them through the air, and they'll fancy their chances. Raiders.

Jaguars at Patriots: The Patriots are (probably) going to get to the playoffs by the back door; not what was expected in the year of Tom Brady's return. The Jaguars are a quarterback away from being a very good team. Could be a close one, but again playing at Foxborough gives New England the edge. Patriots.

Ravens at Steelers: Wow, didn't the Steelers winning drive against the Packers last week feel like a Superbowl flashback? Only this time Pittsburgh was fighting to stay alive for the playoffs, not win the whole thing. This one will be close, as it always is when these teams face off. However, in my mind, two things swing the balance in Pittsburgh's favor: the Ravens needed overtime to beat the Steelers at home without Big Ben less than a month ago. With Roethlisberger back and the Heinz field faithful at full voice, Pittsburgh should have too much for Baltimore. Steelers.

Rams at Cardinals: Inconsistency, the Cardinals speak thy name. Thankfully the Rams have been consistent in their awfulness, so Arizona should be fine, no matter which team shows up. Cardinals.

Lions at 49ers: The Niners were outclassed by the Eagles last week, and now they'll get their own chance to outclass someone. The Lions, especially without Matthew Stafford, are terrible. Expect the 49ers defense to take over. 49ers.

Jets at Colts: Chasing history ain't easy at the best of times, but with the number of injuries the Colts have right now...The Jets, another 7-7 team, will want this one bad. But I just can't pick against the steely look on Peyton Manning's face a week ago in Jacksonville. He wants that undefeated season bad, and I know better than to pick against MVP Manning. Colts.

Cowboys at Redskins: The Cowboys scored a huge psychological victory by beating the Saints on Saturday, putting in great performances in all three phases of the game. Two days later, the Redskins laid an egg against the Giants. Last week the two teams look miles apart, and I can't believe one week will be enough for the Redskins to bridge that gap. Cowboys.

Vikings at Bears: The worst time to show weakness in football is December, and Minnesota have lost two of three so far in the business month this season. I wouldn't bet against Brett Favre wanting to play the whole game to right that wrong. Will Brad Childress try to stand up to him again? Vikings.