NFL Week 16 expert picks against the spread – Del’s picks

If you took Del’s advice for Week 15, you killed it once again. Del followed up a 9-6-1 showing in Week 14 with an even better week, finishing 11-4-1 in Week 15. And guess what? The top picks went 2-0 once again. I hope you’ve been cashing in on those all season long, because 22-12 smells like money.

Believe it or not, there are only two weeks remaining in the regular season. Picking these games can be difficult, as you have to try to predict if teams that are out of the playoff hunt will show up and give their best effort. Del has done his best to sift through all that for Week 16 so you don’t have to.

While Del is worried that the San Francisco 49ers won’t keep playing hard for Jim Harbaugh now that they are eliminated from playoff contention, he’s even more concerned about Philip Rivers’ injured back. The Chargers quietly added Rivers to the injury report last week, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the injury is “more severe” than the team is letting on. It won’t help that Keenan Allen and Ryan Mathews are both out with injuries. Rivers is banged up and the Chargers are without two of their most important offensive weapons. Del doesn’t see them overcoming that unless the Niners completely pack it in.

Del isn’t quite as worried about Peyton Manning’s thigh injury, even though Manning left practice on Thursday to receive treatment. The Bengals are likely riding high after they kicked the living you-know-what out of Johnny Manziel and the division rival Browns last week. Cincinnati could be in for a letdown. Julius Thomas should be rounding back into form in his second game back from an ankle injury. He practiced in full this week, and we can expect him to reemerge as a reliable weapon for Manning at some point. The Broncos have to win if they want to remain in the hunt for a playoff bye and the No. 1 overall seed. Del thinks Manning and company get it done.