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The season thus far has been a wild, unpredictable, mostly offensive thrill ride. Although that has made the predictions a lot more challenging, it’s been a blast trying to figure it all out. For the penultimate time this year, here’s our fearless football forecast, for entertainment purposes only. (Game lines courtesy of Bovada.) MORE NFL PREDICTIONS:Week 16 NFL picks straight up Week 16 NFL picks against the spread (All times ET)...

So best wishes for a peaceful offseason to the Raiders, Texans and Dolphins in the AFC, and to the Cowboys, Packers, Lions and Giants in the NFC. That’s two division champs that not only did not repeat, but didn’t even make the final cut. That’s also two entire 2016 wild-card matchups wiped out: the Texans’ win over the Raiders, and the Packers’ elimination of the Giants … as well as one unforgettable divisional round game, the last-second Packers takedown of the top-seeded Cowboys....

Russian forces continue to besiege major cities like Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol and have made advances but have not secured the decisive victory Putin had likely been expecting and most of the country remains under Ukrainian control. Britain’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that Russia forces were reluctant to engage in infantry operations and were instead relying on air and artillery bombardments. Kyiv has said that more than 16,000 Russian troops have been killed, including half a dozen generals....

Nelson has done a 180 on the topic. “That Bill Nelson, the current head of NASA and a former astronaut, has woken up to the true nature of China’s threat in space is extremely telling, because as a U.S. senator, he spent decades promoting joint space missions with China’s space agency,” Brandon Weichert, author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, tells me. It took Americans a little time, but now they can see China’s goals in space....

Jose Mourinho’s side go into their Champions League Group H clash having failed to win any of their last three matches, and with only four wins from nine games in all competitions this season. That form has left Mourinho under intense pressure but when asked about influential voices in the dressing room, Matic told reporters that it is on the field where United need inspirational figures. “I don’t think you can resolve something with talking,” he said....

I was born into an Air Force officer’s home and grew up with the roar of jets taking off and landing all day and night. When I went off to college in Virginia, the quiet seemed strange, and I felt homesick for the air base. After I graduated, I moved to Portland, Ore., to be with my family while my father was away on a training mission in Vietnam. Within a year I had fallen in love with Randy, a pacifist and conscientious objector to the war, and married into a family that could trace its Quaker heritage back generations....

RELATED: Final Fantasy: Most Cathartic Moments In The Games Characters like Sephiroth and Kefka are often regarded as the best villains in the series due to their compelling motivations and the great power they possess. That said, Final Fantasyalso features villains who possess neither. A physically powerful villain can still be considered weak depending on how they are written, but the weakest villains in the series usually lack an interesting goal as well as the power required to achieve it....

If you were unhappy to be married in the dream, you might not be ready to rush into a new relationship. Don’t forget being single is a great opportunity to get to know yourself better. If dreaming of marrying your partner leaves you feeling scared and anxious rather than happy, you may be doubting your relationship’s strength. If an element of your partnership has been bothering you, don’t be afraid to let your partner know....

Northern Illinois (-3, 63) at Ball State With a 3-1 conference record, the Northern Illinois Huskies are in the thick of the MAC Western Division race, and still have an opportunity to take on both Toledo and Western Michigan, the two teams ahead of them in the standings. But first they’ll need to handle the 3-5 Ball State Cardinals. NIU opened as a 1-point favorite at The Wynn, but have been bet up to a 3-point favorite ....

That also affects the 2017-18 college football bowl schedule, which features 40 games between FBS teams and culminates with the championship game on Jan. 8 in Atlanta. This year’s semifinals will be played on Jan. 1 for the first time since 2014 at the Rose and Sugar bowls. Sporting News is ready for Week 12. Georgia and Notre Dame are out. Miami and Wisconsin are in. We have Alabama and Wisconsin in the Sugar Bowl and Oklahoma and Miami in the Rose Bowl Game....

Of course, we start by talking about the Chiefs-Rams Big 12 Game of the Week on Monday night and lament the fact we didn’t have any players in the game. After celebrating the fact the Chiefs and Rams are finally on bye this week, we look back at our mistakes from last week (Carson Wentz and John Brown, looking at you). Then we get “Excited” and search for this week’s top-trending players, including Lamar Jackson, Gus Edwards, Kerryon Johnson, Doug Martin, and Rob Gronkowski....

Ultimately, it’s going to come down to how much you trust teams like the Broncos (vs. Patriots), Seahawks (vs. Steelers), Rams (at Bengals) and Panthers (at Cowboys). And if you don’t trust them, then are you willing to rely on the Ravens (at Browns), Raiders (at Titans), Chargers (at Jaguars) or Saints (at Texans)? Put it this way, those with the Bengals (vs. Rams) and the Cardinals (at 49ers) are kings this week....

Though many RBs are getting healthier, there are some key injuries to watch. Notably, D’Andre Swift is dealing with a concussion that kept him out in Week 11. He’s set to play on Thanksgiving Day at 12:30 p.m. ET, so he’ll need to be watched closely in the coming days. He’ll be an RB1 if active in a great matchup, but if he’s out, Adrian Peterson and Kerryon Johnson – the more likely of the two to catch passes – will carry more value as RB2/flex options....

We still trust Jackson and Watson, at least enough to rank them in our top 10, as both have shown the ability to produce regardless of opponent. Watson is a little more worrisome than Jackson, as he was shut down two weeks ago by Baltimore and will face a stiffer test on Sunday night against the Patriots. Like Jackson, he might have to utilize his legs more to find value, but we know he can do that, so it’s tough to bench him in what could be a make-or-break week for many....

MORE FANTASY FOOTBALL: ‘Most Hated’ list | Week 14 starts/sits | Craziest fantasy performances SUNDAY Games starting at 1 p.m. ET Steelers at Bengals TV coverage: CBS DirecTV Sunday Ticket channel: 705 Weather concerns: None Texans at Jaguars TV coverage: CBS DirecTV Sunday Ticket channel: 706 Weather concerns: None Ravens at Dolphins TV coverage: CBS DirecTV Sunday Ticket channel: 707 Weather concerns: None Jets at Vikings TV coverage: CBS DirecTV Sunday Ticket channel: 708 Weather concerns: Temperatures in the 30s, winds gusting up to 13 mph, 38-percent chance of snow Fantasy effect: Neither team has a strong passing game, so don’t expect many gameplan changes because of the weather....

Finding good value plays is usually more important for cash games, as you often don’t need to overthink rostering values in GPPs if diversify your lineup in other areas. Check out the RotoQL Trending Players Tool to quickly identify the top values are each week. ​WEEK 15 DFS CASH LINEUPS: Yahoo | FanDuel | DraftKings Please remember that this article should be just one stop on weekly daily fantasy football research journey....

The one exception is the Broncos, fantasy’s top defense in just about every format, who have to travel to Pittsburgh to take on one of the league’s best offenses. We’re still trusting Denver as a top-five defense, but we wouldn’t blame you for looking elsewhere. Let’s check out the full fantasy D/ST rankings to spot some sleeper matchups and help you make those tough start/sit lineup decisions. MORE: Week 15 fantasy football rankings:Quarterbacks | Running backs | Wide receivers | Tight ends | Kickers...

Alex Smith, QB, Chiefs. Smith had one of the least impressive five-touchdown performances you’ll ever see. He completed 17 of 20 passes for 287 yards with the five TDs and no interceptions. In a way, I guess that efficiency is pretty impressive. According to the AP’s Josh Dubow, Smith’s TD passes traveled a combined 13 yards downfield, with three coming on simple screen passes to … Jamaal Charles, RB, Chiefs....