10 Things You Need to Know: NFL Regular Season Week 16

Colin Kaepernick led San Francisco to a big win against the
Patriots and now eyes the division crown.
Photo credit to USA Today.

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10.            Broncos will not Consider Resting Manning

Most likely, right about now you’re wondering why this is even worth me having on this list. Of course Denver isn’t going to rest Peyton. They’re still pushing for a first round bye and with New England unlikely to drop another egg against the Jaguars or Dolphins, the Broncos need to win out to get it – New England owns any tie breaker between the two teams.

But who the heck asked John Fox about this in the first place?! We all know the Colts rested Peyton many times, each time a controversial decision that never worked – the team’s Super Bowl win came in a wild-card year in which Peyton did not rest late in the season – so we want to know if Denver would make the same controversial decision. But wait to ask the question until there are circumstances similar to those Indianapolis was in when they rested him, not when the Broncos still have to fight for something over the final two weeks.

9.            Aaron Rodgers Supports Alex Smith

Not only do Rodgers and Smith kind of look alike – seriously, the resemblance is uncanny – but I think Rodgers feels like he shares a connection with Smith, despite them coming from entirely different NFL backgrounds. Rodgers sat patiently behind Brett Favre few a few years while Smith, as a #1 overall draft pick, has been the starter in San Francisco from Day 1.

But both have had to deal with controversy. Smith was often injured and never had any consistency with a coaching staff until Jim Harbaugh came. Rodgers had to deal with Favre’s antics when he unretired the first time. The difference is Rodgers had the support of the entire Green Bay organization. With Colin Kaepernick impressing over his first several starts, Smith doesn’t seam to have support from his team. So I think it’s really cool that Rodgers is stepping up and letting Smith know he’s got his back. Like Rodgers, I think the 49ers need to send Smith somewhere he can start next year. The quarterback with the highest passer rating in the league deserves that.

8.            Playoff Implications: AFC

Houston Texans – A win against Minnesota will lock up home field advantage.

Baltimore Ravens – The Ravens can lock up the AFC North this week with a win over the Giants.

Indianapolis Colts – The playoffs are in reach, and Indy can clinch a spot with a win or a Pittsburgh loss.

Pittsburgh Steelers – In danger of missing the playoff entirely, this week’s matchup against the Bengals is critical…

Cincinnati Bengals – …because the Bengals clinch a spot with a win and the Colts clinch a spot with a win.

7.            Playoff Implications: NFC

Atlanta Falcons – A win clinches home field advantage.

San Francisco 49ers – Beating Seattle will clinch the NFC West and a Green Bay loss would then clinch a first round by for the 49ers.

Seattle Seahawks – Just a win is needed to clinch a playoff birth. There are also no fewer than a half-dozen scenarios where other teams lose or tie that would give Seattle a playoff spot.

Washington Redskins – A win plus loses from the Giants (possible), Chicago (very unlikely), and Minnesota (very likely) would secure a playoff spot for Washington.

New York Giants – A win plus loses from Chicago, Minnesota, Dallas (quite possible) and Washington would secure a playoff spot for the G-Men.

6.            Fantasy Disappointments

Not many leagues continue this late into the season, but mine uses all 17 (this is the last year of that nonsense). There were plenty of fantasy disappointments this week, so I’ll just list a few that stood out to me.

• Demaryius Thomas hasn’t scored fewer than 10 points since his Week 3, 2.5-point outing against Houston, so 3 points against Baltimore (4 catches for 13 yards) had to be rather disappointing.
• Normally I don’t include kickers on this list, but he missed a field goal from inside 40 yards on his only attempt of the day to finish with -2 fantasy points. Shame!
• Josh Freeman has been on fire this entire season, with his only remotely bad game coming early against Dallas. Four interceptions and a fumble lost against New Orleans and suddenly people are questioning him.

5.            Fantasy Surprises

• In Seattle’s second straight 50-burger, Wilson outdid his 9-point fantasy performance against Arizona with a 40-point performance against Buffalo.
• Sam Bradford’s 30-point game against Minnesota came out of nowhere.
• Nothing surprised more than Dennis Pitta in Week 15. 29.5 fantasy points on the strength of 7 catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns.

4.            Games to Watch

Like last week, I’ll be more specific on why these are the biggest games to watch in my predictions post tomorrow.

• Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.)
• New Orleans Saints at Dallas Cowboys (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.)
• Minnesota Vikings at Houston Texans (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.)
• New York Giants at Baltimore Ravens (Sunday, 4:25 p.m.)
• San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks (Sunday, 8:20 p.m.)

3.            Power Rankings

For the sake of space, I will list just the top 6 and the bottom 6 here. You can see the rest on NFL.com.

1. San Francisco 49ers	27. Tennessee Titans
2. Atlanta Falcons	28. Detroit Lions
3. New England Patriots	29. Philadelphia Eagles
4. Houston Texans	30. Oakland Raiders
5. Denver Broncos	31. Jacksonville Jaguars
6. Green Bay Packers	32. Kansas City Chiefs

The 49ers leapfrogged four spots to the #1 position in the Rankings and also garnered the most votes in the Power Poll, which you can view here.

The Bengals and Redskins jumped 4 and 5 spots to the #8 and #9 positions, respectively. Meanwhile, the Ravens and Giants both fell three spots and are out of the top 10.

2.            Atlanta Falcons

Well, Atlanta moved to the #2 spot on the strength of the Patriots’ loss and of the Giants poor game. Don’t get your hopes up on Atlanta. They always play well at home and this is not the first, or second, or even third time the Giants have suffered a December collapse. There are still three or four NFC teams better than the Falcons, in my opinion.

1.            San Francisco 49ers

And of course one of those teams is San Francisco. After a couple terrific starts, Colin Kaepernick struggled against St. Louis and didn’t look great against Miami. But he silenced any critics with an impressive performance against the Patriots in New England, where they almost allowed a 28-point comeback to Tom Brady but managed to score just enough down the stretch to get a 41-34 victory, which really helped their cause heading into Seattle this week. With a game left against Arizona, there isn’t much chance of them losing the division crown, but this week is a major statement game for the 49ers.