Week 16 N.F.L. Matchups

 

Browns (4-10) at Jets (6-8)

1 p.m. Sunday Line: Jets by 3

At this point in the season, Cleveland players are usually planning the menus for their Super Bowl parties. But the first-year coach Rob Chudzinski has the Browns playing hard, despite their losing eight of their past nine games. Unfortunately, what the team has in heart, it lacks in talent at the skill positions. After a midseason flurry of wins, the Browns have settled into a familiar pattern of lose-practice-lose. The Jets are not exactly drunk with skilled players either, but they are just drunk enough.

Pick: Jets

 

Dolphins (8-6) at Bills (5-9)

1 p.m. Sunday Line: Dolphins by 3

Miami will attempt to build on the momentum from its emotional 24-20 win over New England, which kept alive the Dolphins’ scant hopes of winning the A.F.C. East. Buffalo will be playing without quarterback E J Manuel (sprained knee), but his backup Thad Lewis beat the Dolphins in Miami in Week 7. Buffalo is fourth in the league in rushing, with a 138.2 yards per game, and would like nothing more than to play the spoiler. Small comfort, sure, but the Bills will take it.

Pick: Bills

 

Patriots (10-4) at Ravens (8-6)

4:25 p.m. Sunday Line: Ravens by 3

New England can clinch its division and Baltimore also controls its playoff destiny. But Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has a sprained knee ligament, which will limit his limited mobility. On Monday night, they were the beneficiaries of Detroit’s offensive miscues: three interceptions and an inability to use the All-Pro wide receiver Calvin Johnson to his fullest. They will get no such cooperation from the Patriots, who are likely angry about not putting Miami away last Sunday when they had the chance. Crippling the Ravens’ playoff chances isn’t the same thing, but it will have to do.

Pick: Patriots