NFL 2025 Season - Week 16
Picksfootball
 

Headline Play

Articles published multiple times per week, offering insights and picks on upcoming games.
 
SEASON:

Article Archive

Week 16
Two for Two
Unlocked
With the Book
Medicine Cabinet
Last Call
Week 15
Home Heat
Different Objectives
Top Underdogs
Who Know What
Wrong is Right
Need and Focus
Pair of Strugglers
Friends and Foes
Sour Bite
Week 14
Time Spent
Weather Factor
With Insurance
Like Locusts
Mischievous Grin
As Good as it Gets
On a Roll
Head Hunting
Week 13
Left the Station
By Design
Looking Ahead
Here It Comes
Offense versus Defense
In Your Dreams
Oh for Three
Thanksgiving Trifecta
Just Visiting
Week 12
First in Sight
Pair of Leaders
Bears on Top
Same Old, Same Old
Exposure Reduced
History Lesson
Juggling Act
Bounce Back Big
Fade to Black
Week 11
Highs and Lows
Finally They Meet
Battle for First Place
Mission From God
Business as Usual
Under Play
Unfinished Business
Second Half Sprint
Hope for the Future
Week 10
Pack Tonight
Two Sides
NFC West War
Points Count
White Flag
Blind Spot
Seems Easy
Call Waiting
Return Meeting
Week 9
Defense Still Matters
Good Again
Returning Quarterbacks
Not So Bad
Blowouts Rule
Dolphins Dipping
Score This
Missing Score
Week 8
Expectations Leveled
Grudge Match
NFL and Gambling World Cry Foul
High Seas
Race to Five
Struggling Playoff Teams
Argue This
DeMeco Team Due
Week 7
Weighing Wins
Addition by Subtraction
Sharp or Not
Spark the Fuse
Hocus Pocus
Boarding the Jets
Cushion Crunch
Hot Meet Stout
Pedestal Perch
Week 6
Tightening Races
Arrowhead or Hammer
Missing Signal Callers
Little Boys
Special Circumstances
Then and Now
Old Versus New
Dolphins to Titans
Week 5
More to Know
Dominance in Streaks
Two Back is Hot
Spike Side
41 is Up
Bounce Back
Deal with the Devil
Cool Your Jets
Sleep Walking
Week 4
Backup to Win
Cold and Hot
Not So Obvious
Early Start
Yes We Can
New Clues
Up is Down
Dooms Night
Dead Center
Week 3
That's Entertainment
Road Trip
Perfect and Imperfect
About Time
Better Bet
Quarterback Resurgence
Cruise Control
Look of a Champion
Sitting Duck
Week 2
No Respect
QB Rivalry
Inches Short
Kidding Aside
Coaching Advantage
Turf Toe Spike
Prime Opener
Solo Act
Early Returns
Week 1
NFC North Battle
Everybody is Right
Assumptions
Happy Ending
QB Swap
Beginning of the End
Too Easy
Road Cowboys
Choose Wisely
Schedule It
Season Win Totals
Super Bowl Pick
Credit Collision
Burn in Hell
Before Relevance
No Repeats
Home and Auto
So Close
Preseason 3
Cheshire Cat Grin
Reverse Records
Clear Choice
Moving Parts
Not Ready for Prime Time
Preseason 2
Success and Failure
Jury Out
Real Competition
Quarterback Rich
Worst to First
Time to Reload
Sweet Spot
Preseason Magic
Preseason 1
Two Up, Two Down
Book Bet
Gone Fishing
Smart Rats
Early Value
Streaky
Hall of Fame
Two Good Ones
Ups and Downs
Offseason
Cause and Effect
Looking Forward
Purdy Value
Business for Profits
     
 
Game Day
by Dennis Ranahan

It is Sunday, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

How do I know that?

Because this feature, the gameday headline play, only appears on this site during that time. For the 26 weeks during a National Football League season this article will offer some intriguing insights into the day’s upcoming action.

It will include weather and injury situations that might affect play and wagering patterns that do often dictate point spread results. We’ll let you know where the money is and what are the three favorite plays made on that week’s game by the public. We are most times against the public action?

Why?

Does that mean we think the public are not smart?

No.

Just the opposite. In fact, the public bettors are a heat seeking missile for finding the teams that appear to have the most dramatic edges over their opponents. Only thing is, finding those teams that seem in the best position to win is also fertile ground for motivational letdowns.

The players on the teams are in the same conversation that assumes they are in for a challenging or easy opponent. The best motivator in sports is a healthy fear of your opponent, whereas when a game appears clearly in one team’s favor is the most likely spot for a less spirited week of preparation and a likely dull performance on Sunday.

That is why a team like the Indianapolis Colts, a squad that had more problems last year than a naked beekeeper, can come up with a surprise regular season win over the eventual Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs. And yes, the Colts plus the points over the Chiefs in Week Three, was the third of our season opening six straight top pick of the week winners to open the 2022 season. By season end, the Colts had fired their coach and finished the year with only four wins, one of them over the Chiefs in third week action, 20-17.

We spend the entire year focussed on the NFL and that work leads to early season success. In fact, over the past four seasons our weekly top picks are 15-0-1 over the first four weeks of an NFL campaign.

The 26 weeks of off-season work is one reason we can trust our judgment, and recommend you do too, when the National Football League season is in play.