Well guys, we made it. After watching 16 weeks of football, we're now heading into the final week of the regular season, and I have to say, it's been a great year: We've laughed together, we've cried together and now, we might watch Blaine Gabbert get to the playoffs together, which would truly be a Christmas miracle. 

Now, do I think Gabbert and the Titans will beat the Colts on Sunday? I can't you tell you that until we get to the picks, which we should probably do right now. However, before we get to the fun stuff, here's your weekly reminder that you can check out the picks from every CBSSports.com NFL Expert by clicking here.

The reason you should click over and check out the other experts this week is because it's the final week of the regular season and if you don't do it now, you'll regret it for the rest of the year. Sure, there's technically only a couple days left in the year, but you don't want to take regret like that into 2019. Believe me, I know a lot about regret, I picked Taylor Heinicke and the Panthers to win on Sunday. 

Speaking of 2019, if your New Year's resolution is to listen to more podcasts featuring me, you can click here and subscribe to the Pick Six Podcast. I team up with Will Brinson, Ryan Wilson and Sean Wagner-McGough every week for an NFL recap show that you can download each and every Monday morning during the season. In our Week 16 recap, you can hear my take on the Ravens-Chargers game, which this guy apparently hated. 

I have a feeling that guy isn't really going to like my take on the Browns-Ravens game, either. 

Alright that's enough stalling, let's get to the picks, and just to warn you, we have a slightly different setup this week. 

Stream all of Sunday's games on fuboTV, try it for free, and stream the CBS games on CBS All Access.  

Playoff implications for both teams

Indianapolis (9-6) at Tennessee (9-6), 8:20 p.m. ET (NBC): I never thought I'd be this excited for a game potentially involving Blaine Gabbert, but here we are. In the only winner-take-all game of Week 17, the Colts and Titans are playing in Nashville with a spot in the postseason on the line. 

The big problem for the Titans in this game is that they might not have their starting quarterback on Sunday. Marcus Mariota was injured against the Redskins in Week 16 and didn't return to the game, which means there's a good chance the Titans will be rolling with Gabbert in this de facto playoff game. As for the Colts, they have a quarterback who gives fiery halftime speeches. Advantage Colts. 

Also, I feel like it's worth mentioning that Andrew Luck has also never lost to Tennessee (10-0 in his career against the Titans). Let me just repeat myself to make sure I'm not missing anything here: The Titans will be going with Gabbert or a banged up Mariota while the Colts have a quarterback who has made a living out of destroying the Titans. I'm not going to overthink this one, I'm taking the destroyer.  

The pick: Colts 23-16 over Titans

Chicago (11-4) at Minnesota (8-6-1), 4:25 p.m. ET (Fox): I'll be honest, I have no idea what to make of this game. For the Vikings, it's pretty simple: If they win, they get in the playoffs. However, for the Bears, it's slightly more complicated. If they win, they'd have a shot at getting a first-round bye, but that would only happen if the Rams lose to the 49ers, and based on some math I just did in my head, I'd say the Bears have about a 5 percent chance of earning that bye, and I think Matt Nagy knows that. 

If I'm Nagy, I rest every banged-up player on my roster this week and then spend every hour of practice between now and Sunday game-planning for the wild-card game, which means you'd basically get two weeks of preparation for the wild-card game. The twist here is that this plan would work because the Bears would know exactly who they're playing in the wild-card round. If the Bears lose this week because they're resting players, their wild-card game would be a REMATCH AGAINST THE VIKINGS. Time is a flat circle. 

On the other hand, if the Bears win on Sunday, that would open the door for the Eagles to get to the playoffs, which would mean a first-round game against Philadelphia, and let me just say that would be a disaster waiting to happen for the Bears. I mean, have you seen what's going on in Philly? They're wearing ski masks, I'm pretty sure martial law is in effect and I think Nick Foles has been elected king of the city. If the Eagles make it to the playoffs, they're not losing to anyone. 

Not to mention, Doug Pederson knows Nagy inside and out due to the fact that they spent seven seasons as assistants on the same coaching staff (four in Philly, three in Kansas City). Pederson will know what Nagy's doing before Nagy knows what he's doing. As a matter of fact, now that I'm thinking about it more, if I'm the Bears I definitely want to lose this game, which sounds crazy, but sometimes crazy things work out perfectly. Just look at the plot of "Juwanna Mann." Fantastic movie. 

The upside this week for the Bears here is that the Vikings will probably be using every offensive trick they have to win this game, which means they won't have any tricks left for the playoffs. On the other hand, the Bears can run the ball 40 times and go with a vanilla game plan that shows the Vikings nothing, then destroy them in the wild-card round.  

The pick: Vikings 20-17 over Bears

Only playoff implications for one team

Cincinnati (6-9) at Pittsburgh (8-6-1), 4:25 p.m. ET (CBS): Believe it or not, the Steelers actually have two routes to the playoffs this week. The easy route, which isn't actually easy, would involve them beating the Bengals AND the Browns beating the Ravens. The Steelers could also end up in the playoffs if they win on Sunday AND the Colts-Titans game ends in a tie. 

Now, I'm not good at math, but I have to say, the odds don't really seem to be in Pittsburgh's favor here. However, that doesn't mean they can't pull this off. The odds also said that a movie about a stealthy warrior from southern California would never work, but that didn't stop "Beverly Hills Ninja" from being made. Also, no one thought Trent Dilfer would win more Super Bowl rings than Jim Kelly and Dan Marino combined, but that happened. And let's not forget, the odds also say that one man can't deliver toys to every child in the world over the course of one night, but Santa did that very thing this week, so let's not pretend like the Steelers getting to the postseason is impossible.

I think that i'm trying to say here is that the Steelers are going to roll the Bengals, so the only question is: Will the Browns upset the Ravens?

The pick: Steelers 31-17 over Bengals

Cleveland (7-7-1) at Baltimore (9-6), 4:25 p.m. ET (CBS): For the second year in a row, all the Ravens have to do to get into the playoffs is win their final game of the season, and let's just say everyone in Baltimore will be hoping this week's game goes better than last year's. 

Sorry I made you watch that Ravens fans, you didn't deserve that. 

A lot has changed since the last time these two teams met back in Week 5, which now seems like it was five years ago. In that game, which the Browns won 12-9, Hue Jackson was still the coach in Cleveland and Joe Flacco was the Ravens quarterback. Twelve weeks later, Jackson is now long gone (and has been replaced with a competent coach) and the Ravens have reverse-engineered their offense so that it now runs like a tank built with Ferrari parts. 

Both teams will be coming into the game hot with Lamar Jackson and Baker Mayfield both going 5-1 over their past six games. I almost feel like the winning quarterback in this game should get a second Heisman trophy. 

The one thing I like about the Browns is that interim coach Gregg Williams is someone who has been devising defensive gameplans his entire life and he'll probably spend every minute this week trying to figure out how to stop a Ravens rushing offense that no one in the NFL has been able to figure out how to stop. THIS IS THE BROWNS' PLAYOFF GAME. 

I'm surprised the Browns know what a playoff game is, but I get what Williams is trying to do. Williams is so amped up for this game that I'm pretty sure he would play on Sunday if he were allowed to. 

As for the pick, we're now living in a bizarro world where Steelers fans will be cheering for the Browns this week and in this bizarro world, I think the Browns pull off the upset. 

The pick: Browns 23-20 over Ravens

Other picks for games that only have playoff implications for one team

Patriots 27-20 over Jets
Texans 22-16 over Jaguars
Chiefs 41-27 over Raiders
Chargers 27-23 over Broncos
Rams 30-20 over 49ers
Seahawks 24-13 over Cardinals
Eagles 26-16 over Redskins

One team could be resting their starters

Carolina (6-9) at New Orleans (13-2), 1 p.m. ET (Fox): The Saints have already clinched the top seed in the NFC and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, which means they literally have nothing to play for in this game, so I fully expect them to rest every single one of their starters. As a matter of fact, if Sean Payton ends up recruiting 11 fans to play defense for New Orleans, I won't be surprised at all. Sure, that would probably break every rule in the collective bargaining agreement, but when you're 13-2 on the season, you can do whatever you want. 

The most fascinating part of this game is that there's a good chance we're going to see Teddy Bridgewater make his first start since suffering that horrific knee injury back in August 2016. I love a good underdog story, which is one of the reasons why I watch "Dodgeball" every week. I mean, how can you not root for the Average Joes in that movie. In a pick that basically epitomizes the Panthers' entire season, I'm taking Bridgewater and the Saints' backups to beat Carolina. And if the Saints starters do end up playing, then they'll win by even more than I'm predicting below. 

The pick: Saints backups 19-16 over Panthers 

Other pick where starters could be resting

Giants 24-17 over Cowboys (Cowboys are locked into the No. 4 seed in the NFC no matter what happens in this game)

Week 17 picks with zero playoff implications

Bills 20-17 over Dolphins
Packers 20-13 over Lions
Buccaneers 30-27 over Falcons

Last Week 

Best pick: Last week, I predicted the Eagles would pick up a dramatic win over the Texans and then the Eagles went out and won a dramatic game over the Texans. Now, did I know that Nick Foles was going to single-handedly lead the Eagles to a win by throwing for a franchise-record 471 yards? Of course I did, and I'm pretty sure Chris Long also knew, because that's the only way to explain why he built a shrine to Foles just days before the game. 

If you're thinking about becoming a Nick Foles fan, that's basically the starter kit. Long's shrine includes five prayer candles, six normal candles, Foles' book and a picture of Foles while he was playing for the Rams. I once built a shrine to Jean-Claude Van Damme, but Long's shrine is way better. If Foles wins another Super Bowl for the Eagles, everyone in Philadelphia should probably go ahead and build a shrine to him. Heck, I think the Patriots are also going to build one. 

In two years, there will be more homes with Foles shrines than homes with basic cable. 

Worst pick: After Carolina decided to bench Cam Newton last week and start Taylor Heinicke instead, I could have changed my pick from the Panthers to the Falcons, but I decided to ride the Heinicke train, and let me just tell you, that train went straight off a cliff. 

Heinicke threw so many interceptions against the Falcons that Panthers fans basically gave up after the second pick and just decided to go home. 

I have decided that my New Year's resolution is going to be to never pick the Panthers to win in any game that Taylor Heinicke starts. Of course, that actually has nothing to do with Heinicke and more to do with the fact that no one can possibly survive behind the Panthers' offensive line. Cam Newton got beat up this season, Heinicke got injured on Sunday and I'm starting to feel like the safest move for the Panthers might just be to snap the ball on every play directly to Christian McCaffrey. 

Finally, if you guys have ever wondered which teams I'm actually good at picking, this is the part where I tell you. Through 16 weeks, my 10 best teams are: Seahawks (14-1), Rams (12-3), Chiefs (12-3), Browns (11-3-1). Bears (11-4), 49ers (11-4), Bills (11-4), Bengals (11-4), Chargers (11-4) and Giants (11-4). 

As for the rest of the NFL, I'm somewhere between 6-9 and 10-5 picking the 22 teams not listed above. 

Alright, that's it for 2018, see you guys in 2019 with everyone's favorite thing: PLAYOFF PICKS. 

Picks record

Straight up in Week 16: 12-4
SU overall: 156-82-2
Against the spread in Week 16: 9-6-1
ATS overall: 113-120-7
Exact score predictions: 2

You can find John Breech on Facebook or Twitter and if he's not doing one of those things, he's probably out shopping for a Blaine Gabbert jersey to wear around Nashville in case the Titans win.