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NFL Picks Week 15: Random Numbers Pick Vikings Over Bears At TCF Bank Stadium

The random number generators SB Nation Chicago uses to pick NFL games had a pretty good Week 14. How will they do in Week 15?

Following the embarrassment of a Week 13 in which the random number generator picked only four of 16 NFL games correctly -- remember, all the numbers and teams are selected randomly by the random number generators at random.org -- we have randomly redeemed ourselves with one of the best weeks since we began these picks in Week 8. The random numbers went 10-6 in Week 14, making the overall record 49-55 and giving it a chance, with three weeks to go, to finish with a winning record.

Last week, I had to break one tie -- the random numbers picked the Rams and Saints to tie; the next number picked chose the Saints to win, which was correct. One of the missed picks was the Bears game. The random number generator whiffed badly on that one, picking the Bears to score 36 more points than they actually did. However, these three came close to actual scores, even though one of them didn't pick the winner:

Prediction: Colts 36, Titans 33 Actual: Colts 30, Titans 28
Prediction: Raiders 40, Jaguars 39 Actual: Raiders 38, Jaguars 31
Prediction: Packers 7, Lions 6 Actual: Lions 7, Packers 3

Emboldened by the success of Week 14, here are the picks for Week 15. Since, for the rest of the season, there's a Thursday night game each week, we'll be posting these picks on Wednesdays (and note, this week's Thursday pick is almost certainly wrong). As a reminder, here's how it works: I use random.org's list generator and its true random number generator to sort the teams playing in a random order, then generate random numbers to match with each team name as a score prediction. I have adjusted the number range to be 0-49. 49 is the highest number of points scored by anyone this year except for 59 now scored twice; by the Raiders a few weeks ago and the Eagles against the Redskins. Putting the range up to 59 would probably result in too many 50+ scores, so I'm limiting it to 49, seven touchdowns.

This week's caveat: last week I had to throw out only one unusual or impossible football score. This week there were several two's and four's. I'm not sure what that means. Also, the random number generator again thinks this will be a high-scoring week, with eleven teams scoring over 40 points and five others over 30. And, I had to break a tie again -- the random number generators picked the 49ers and Chargers to tie; the next picks chose the 49ers.

Remember too, we're not picking point spreads, just wins and losses; the random number generator thinks the Vikings will beat the Bears in their outdoor game on Monday night. After the Bears' poor performance against the Patriots in the cold, it may have a point.

49ers 21
Chargers 14

Chiefs 24
Rams 45

Cardinals 24
Panthers 47

Eagles 21
Giants 49

Lions 21
Buccaneers 19

Browns 14
Bengals 13

Bills 33
Dolphins 41

Redskins 45
Cowboys 16

Jaguars 26
Colts 33

Saints 49
Ravens 3

Texans 37
Titans 27

Falcons 24
Seahawks 21

Jets 32
Steelers 23

Broncos 44
Raiders 6

Packers 34
Patriots 42

Bears 7
Vikings 42

As usual, some of these look pretty good, some... not so much (no, I don't really think the Saints will win by 46 points, and the Panthers could beat the Cardinals, but probably won't). As always, this is just for fun; SB Nation Chicago is not responsible for any real money you might lose from any legal wagers on these games.