IT’S week 16 which means there are just two more weeks left in the regular season, and then it’s play-off time.

The play-offs will involve 16 of the 32 teams that make up the NFL. There are 16 teams in each conference and there are two conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). In each Conference there are four divisions drawn up geographically — East, West, North and South. Of the 16 teams that make it to the post-season, eight are division winners and eight are Wild

Card teams.

So in a “winner moves on and the loser goes home” scenario we begin the play-offs with the Wild Card weekend that will feature two games in each conference, while the top-two seeds in each conference kick back and enjoy a bye week. Then we move on to the Divisional Play-offs where the top-two seeds in each conference face the winners from the Wild Card round. Then the winners of those games move on to the Conference Championships from which two teams will emerge to face each other in Super Bowl XLVIII.

Now that I have managed to get that out of the way, let’s update the play-off situation as of week 16. Why? Because it will impact your JustBet betting picks over these last couple of weeks.

First of all, let’s look at the teams that have been eliminated. In the AFC they are the Jets, Titans, Bills, Jaguars, Raiders, Browns and the Texans. In the NFC, the Rams, Giants, Vikings, Buccaneers, Falcons and the Redskins are all out. These teams have nothing to lose and will play the contenders as spoilers with malice aforethought. Those teams that are still in the hunt, meaning that they have a chance of making the play-offs are in the AFC, the Dolphins, Chargers and the Steelers and in the NFC, the Cardinals, Packers, Lions and Cowboys.

Let us turn our attention now to the teams that have already made it to the post-season as we speak. Currently in the Wild Card positions in the AFC are the Chiefs and the Ravens. In the NFC, Wild Card teams are the Panthers and the 49ers. The Division Leaders in the AFC are the Broncos, Patriots, Bengals and the Colts — currently the Broncos and Patriots are the top seeds and would have a first round bye if the play-offs were to begin today. Over in the NFC, the play-off-bound teams are the Seahawks, Saints, Eagles and the Bears. The Seahawks and Saints are currently holders of the top-two seeds and of course, they would have a first-round bye into the play-offs.

There are bound to be shake-ups as teams continue to battle for home-field advantage. To give you an example of how tight things are, two AFC West powerhouses — the Broncos and Chiefs — are currently 11-3. However, Denver lead the division having beaten the Chiefs twice this season. Because preference goes to division winners in terms of play-off seeding and home field advantage, if the play-offs began today, Denver would be the top overall seed and would have a first-round bye, while the Chiefs with the same record, would fall to the fifth seed and would have to play a Wild Card play-off game on the road, at Indianapolis, a team with a worst record at 9-5, but a team that is first in

its division.

Some of the results in week 16 just boggle the mind. They didn’t seem to bother Andre Hutchinson who posted a pretty impressive 11-5 record in his week 15 picks against the JustBet point spread, which allowed him to grab the overall lead (115-109) from yours truly — for the moment. Peter Lindo went 7-9, while Andrei Roper broke even at 8-8. Yours truly on the other hand was a paltry 6-10 and for some very good reason, I might add. It was a week when four of the so-called elite quarterbacks got their butts kicked. It all began with Peyton Manning and his Denver Broncos getting upset by Phillip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers 27-20, and in Denver to boot.

The Seattle Seahawks then embarrassed the New York Giants led by the other Manning, Eli, by shutting them out 23-0 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the home field of the Giants. I think it was a dress rehearsal for the Seahawks as Super Bowl XLVIII will be played there in February of next year and the Seahawks will in all probability be there. Then the first of two shockers, the Miami Dolphins’ 24-20 defeat of the New England Patriots who are of course led by the legendary Tom Brady.

Very simply put, Miami outplayed the Patriots in every aspect of the game. Finally, Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys have begun living up to their December tag of “chokers”. The boys from “Big D” somehow managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory as Matt Flynn and the Green Bay Packers rallied from a 26-3 half-time deficit to edge Dallas 37-36. So much for the elite quarterbacks. Needless to say I picked those four losing teams to win, thus my poor showing last week.

You can always count on Monday Night Football to deliver its fair share of excitement and entertainment, and the match-up between the Detroit Lions and the Baltimore Ravens didn’t disappoint. Unless of course, like me, Pete Lindo and Andrei Roper, you had picked the Lions to win at home and cover the 5.5 point JustBet handicap. Instead, because of penalties, dropped passes by the great Lions receiver Calvin Johnson, and the abandonment of the running game, the Lions came up on the short end of the stick. The star of the show was Baltimore’s kicker, Justin Tucker who booted a team record 61-yard field goal in the dying moments of the game to propel the huge NFC South clash, both teams at 10-4 and in search of a top seed; the Chiefs vs the Colts, two more play-off bound teams, but the Chiefs in particular looking to keep the pressure on the Broncos in their division; the Ravens at home to the Patriots with both teams looking to improve on their play-off positioning; the Eagles and Bears in another really crucial NFC clash and on Monday Night Football, the 49ers at home to the Falcons.

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NFL WEEK 16 SCHEDULE& JUSTBET HANDICAPSSunday, Dec 22EXPERTS’ PICKS AGAINST THE SPREADAndre Hutchinson’s Week 16 PicksDOLPHINSSAINTSBENGALS v VIKINGSTEXANS v BRONCOSJAGUARS v TITANSCOL_SBROWNSRAMS v BUCCANEERSREDSKINS v COWBOYSLIONS v GIANTSCARDINALSPATRIOTSSTEELERSRAIDERSBEARSFALCONSBILLS v DOLPHINSPANTHERS v SAINTSv VIKINGS BRONCOSJAGUARS v TITANS v COL_SJETS v BROWNSBUCCANEERSREDSKINS v COWBOYSv GIANTSCARDINALSv PATRIOTSv STEELERSCHARGERS v RAIDERSv BEARSv FALCONSBILLS v DOLPHINSSAINTS v VIKINGSRONCOSTITANS v COL_SBROWNS v BUCCANEERSCOWBOYS v GIANTSSEAHAWKS v CARDINALSPATRIOTSPACKERS v STEELERSRAIDERSEAGLES v BEARS49ERS v FALCONSBILLS v DOLPHINS v SAINTSBENGALS v VIKINGSBRONCOSJAGUARS v TITANSCHIEFS v COL_SBROWNSRAMS v BUCCANEERSCOWBOYS v GIANTSSEAHAWKS v CARDINALSPATRIOTS v STEELERSRAIDERSBEARSFALCONS

(*JustBet Handicaps for each game in

bracket, Under/Over for each game listed)

Sunday, Dec 16

DEN BRONCOS v SD CHARGERS (+10.5), U/O 57.5

BUF BILLS (+ 3.5) v MIA DOLPHINS, U/O 43.5

CAR PANTHERS v NO SAINTS (+ 4.5), U/O 46.5

CIN BENGALS v MIN VIKINGS (+6.5), U/O 48.5

HOU TEXANS (+ 10.5) v DEN BRONCOS, U/O 52.5

JAC JAGUARS (+ 5.5) v TEN TITANS, U/O 44.5

KC CHIEFS v IND COL_S (+ 6.5), U/O 45.5

NY JETS v CLE BROWNS (+ 2.5), U/O 40.5

STL RAMS v TB BUCCANEERS (+ 5.5 ), U/O 42.5

WAS REDSKINS (+ 3.5) v DAL COWBOYS, U/O 53.5

DET LIONS v NY GIANTS (+8.5), U/O 49.5

SEA SEAHAWKS v ARI CARDINALS (+ 10.5), U/O 44.5

BAL RAVENS v NE PATRIOTS (+3.5) , U/O 44.5

GB PACKERS v PIT STEELERS (+2.5), U/O 44.5

SD CHARGERS v OAK RAIDERS (+ 10.5) U/O 49.5

PHI EAGLES v CHI BEARS (+ 4.5) U/O 56.5

Monday, Dec 23

DET LIONS v BAL RAVENS (+5.5), U/O 48.5

BILLS v

PANTHERS v

CHIEFS v

JETS v

SEAHAWKS v

RAVENS v

PACKERS v

CHARGERS v

EAGLES v

49ERS v

Last week’s record: 11-5

Season record: 115-109

Tony Scott’s Week 16 Picks

BENGALS

TEXANS v

CHIEFS

RAMS v

LIONS

SEAHAWKS v

RAVENS

PACKERS

EAGLES

49ERS

Last week’s record: 6-10

Season record: 114-110

Peter Lindo’s Week 16 Picks

PANTHERS v

BENGALS

TEXANS v B

JAGUARS v

CHIEFS

JETS v

RAMS

REDSKINS v

LIONS

RAVENS v

CHARGERS v

Last week’s record: 7-9

Season record: 112-112

Andrei Roper’s Week 16 Picks

PANTHERS

TEXANS v

JETS v

REDSKINS v

LIONS

RAVENS v

PACKERS

CHARGERS v

EAGLES v

49ERS v

Last week’s record: 8-8

Season record: 103-121