There’s no turning back now from bye-free football as the regular season of the NFL turns up the heat en route to the postseason. Teams like the Packers, Chiefs, Steelers and Buccaneers came up huge this past week, but can they keep it up in Week 15?
Let’s find out how these playoff hopefuls and every other team in the league will fare in what should be another slate of intense gridiron action. Oh, and there’s a Saturday game thrown in the week for good measure, too!
NFL News and Previews
- Washington Redskins vs. Kansas City Chiefs Preview - October 2, 2017
- Oakland Raiders vs. Denver Broncos Preview - October 1, 2017
- Carolina Panthers vs. New England Patriots Preview - October 1, 2017
- 2017 NFL Week 4 Picks and Predictions
2016 NFL Week 15 Against the Spread Picks
Thursday, December 15
Los Angeles Rams (+16) vs. Seattle Seahawks (-16) – 8:25 PM ET
They have three-straight wins over their opponents this week, and they’ve even finally gotten rid of the real cancer that is Jeff Fisher, but the Rams are looking like the worst team in football right now. Their defense, the only bright spot for the team most of the year, has given up more than 40 points in two of their past three games.
The Seahawks shouldn’t be bothered that much by their recent failures against Los Angeles, especially after coming off a really bad loss to the Packers on the road. Russell Wilson lost only his second-career game by double digits then – both at the hands of Green Bay, mind you – and his five interceptions can be considered as an anomaly. Wilson should get back on track in Seattle, where he’s a perfect 6-0 this season (3-2-1 ATS).
Writer’s Prediction: The Seahawks solidify their stranglehold of the NFC West after beating the Rams, 25-14, but the Rams cover the huge +16 spread.
Saturday, December 17
Miami Dolphins (-2.5) vs. New York Jets (+2.5) – 8:25 PM ET
Saturday night’s clash looks like a real dud considering that the starting quarterbacks involved in this match will be Matt Moore and Bryce Petty.
Nevertheless, Miami’s still alive for a playoff spot, and Moore’s a veteran than can steer his team’s ship out of trouble as long as he rides running back Jay Ajayi all day. The Jets’ win over the 49ers isn’t convincing anybody, especially with a run defense that just gave up 193 rushing yards to San Francisco’s Carlos Hyde.
Writer’s Prediction: The Dolphins (-2.5) improve to 9-5 after dispatching the Jets, 23-16.
Sunday, December 18
Green Bay Packers (-7) vs. Chicago Bears (+7) – 1:00 PM ET
Although the return of top wideout Alshon Jeffery spices things up for the Bears and their offense, they’ll definitely be outmatched by a Green Bay team that is hot off its best performance of the year.
Not only did Aaron Rodgers dissect Seattle’s stout defense in Week 4 for three touchdowns, the Packers actually played outstanding defense for a change. Green Bay’s D forced a whopping six turnovers against a solid Seahawks offense and should be able to shut down Chicago rookie quarterback Matt Barkley just as well.
Writer’s Prediction: Make that four-straight victories for the Packers (-7), 33-16.
Tennessee Titans (+5) vs. Kansas City Chiefs (-5) – 1:00 PM ET
There’s no doubt how momentous that win over Denver was for the Titans, but 13 points and 253 yards on offense won’t cut it this week in Arrowhead.
Tennessee will face yet another imposing AFC West defense, and this time it will be on the road against the Chiefs, who just shut down a high-octane offense in Oakland last Thursday. Kansas City has a league-best 25 takeaways for the season and we expect the team’s D to fluster the Titans’ Marcus Mariota more than he’s used to on Sunday.
Writer’s Prediction: The Chiefs (-5) stay atop the AFC West standings with a quality home win, 25-19.
Detroit Lions (+4) vs. New York Giants (-4) – 1:00 PM ET
Matthew Stafford has now won an NFL-record eight games with a fourth-quarter comeback, but the Lions are about to run out of luck in New York this week. Stafford has a bummed finger on his throwing hand, and that’s more than enough help that the Giants’s defense needs.
After defeating and limiting the high-flying Cowboys to seven points and 260 yards along with three forced turnovers last Sunday, the G-Men look to have the best pass defense in the league as we speak. The Eli Manning-to-Odell Beckham Jr. connection hasn’t faltered at all yet either.
Writer’s Prediction: The Giants (-4) hang onto a sizeable fourth-quarter lead against the Lions, 27-19.
Cleveland Browns (+10) vs. Buffalo Bills (-10) – 1:00 PM ET
Even with Robert Griffin III back under center since Week 1, the Browns still look as atrocious as ever in their 23-10 loss to Cincinnati in Week 14. Cleveland does stand a chance at makings things interesting this week if they turn to running back Isaiah Crowell more often, who tallied 113 rushing yards against the Bengals.
Well, the Bills just surrendered a whopping 240 yards on the ground to the Steelers this past week, so that’s promising for Crowell. But who are we kidding? Buffalo’s playing for a winning season and for its animated coach, which is more than what winless Cleveland can say at this point.
Writer’s Prediction: The Bills find it hard to get rid of the Browns, but still prevail in the end, 26-20. Cleveland covers +10.
Indianapolis Colts (+4) vs. Minnesota Vikings (-4) – 1:00 PM ET
Both the Colts and the Vikings are on the playoff bubble. While the Colts boast an offense that can get it going, the Vikes have a defense that can easily counter it.
That being said, we’re still counting on Minnesota to complete its sweep of the AFC South this week. The team won all three of its games against Indianapolis’ division rivals this season (SU/ATS), having scored no less than 25 points and having given up no more than 16 points in each of those contests.
Writer’s Prediction: The Vikings stay on pace with Detroit and Green Bay in the division standings with a crucial 25-21 victory, which results to a PUSH against the spread.
Philadelphia Eagles (+6) vs. Baltimore Ravens (-6) – 1:00 PM ET
The Ravens almost staged a huge comeback in New England on Monday night only to fall short. Still, a shouting distance at a postseason berth has Baltimore playing well, which can’t be said the free-falling Eagles, who have now lost four straight.
Carson Wentz’s sizzling start to his NFL career is but a distant memory now, and his two late turnovers in the loss to Washington in Week 14 further shows how far he has fallen. Expect the Ravens’ defense, which has a league-best 15 interceptions this season, to capitalize on Wentz’s clumsiness of late.
Writer’s Prediction: The Ravens (-6) soar past the Eagles, 24-15.
Jacksonville Jaguars (+6) vs. Houston Texans (-6) – 1:00 PM ET
In a match featuring Blake Bortles and Brock Osweiler, only the NFL fans are the true losers of this divisional clash.
Seriously speaking, though, the Texans should have enough mettle to hold off the Jags again. They’ve already beaten their rivals earlier this season in Jacksonville and will head back home fresh off a must-win road game against Indianapolis this past Sunday. Houston is 5-1 at home this year (3-1-1 ATS) and have also won all four of their contests against their rivals from the AFC South (3-0-1 ATS).
Writer’s Prediction: The Texans stay in the mix for the division crown with a narrow 26-23 win, as the Jaguars gladly cover +6.
Pittsburgh Steelers (-3) vs. Cincinnati Bengals (+3) – 1:00 PM ET
While Ben Roethlisberger hasn’t been as explosive in the passing game of late, Pittsburgh has still looked like a true postseason contender with Le’Veon Bell in full attack mode. Bell ran for a franchise-high 236 rushing yards against Buffalo last Sunday, and he should be able to trample over Cincinnati’s leaky run defense that we mentioned earlier.
The possible return of star wide receiver A.J. Green is good news, but the Bengals have simply been of sync for much of this entire season that it probably won’t even matter if he suits up or not this Sunday. This heated rivalry isn’t going to be as tense as previous bouts, especially with the Steelers looking like the better team from top to bottom.
Writer’s Prediction: The Steelers (-3) blitz the Bengals, 33-24.
New Orleans Saints (+2.5) vs. Arizona Cardinals (-2.5) – 4:05 PM ET
The Saints and the Cardinals both have slim chances to make the playoffs, and it’s the former’s recent woes that’s more concerning right now. Drew Brees failed to throw a touchdown pass in back-to-back games for the first time since 2009 and New Orleans’ offense has evaporated all of a sudden.
Don’t get us wrong: Arizona’s Carson Palmer’s been more terrible than Brees on more occasions this year. Then again, four of the Cards’ five wins this season were at home, and you can’t ignore the impact of having David Johnson in the backfield. Johnson has over 1,00 yards rushing and 11 total rushing touchdowns already, and he’ll savor the shot this Sunday to gash a Saints run D that has given up 14 rushing TDs this season.
Writer’s Prediction: The Cardinals (-2.5) survive a wild shootout, 33-30.
San Francisco 49ers (+14) vs. Atlanta Falcons (-14) – 4:05 PM ET
Welp, the 49ers just saw their best chance at a two-win season slip away this past week when they were bested by the lowly Jets.
We can’t express how easy it was to call this upcoming game in Atlanta to work in favor of the home team. The Falcons have the highest-scoring offense in the NFL and will now face the worst defense that the league has to offer. Even with top wide receiver Julio Jones expected to sit out Sunday’s game, Atlanta should still make quick work of the 49ers, hands down.
Writer’s Prediction: The Falcons (-14) thrash the Niners badly, 35-12.
New England Patriots (-3) vs. Denver Broncos (+3) – 4:25 PM ET
Here comes another dreaded trip to Denver for Tom Brady, who has not had great success in Mile High throughout his career. Still, Brady is coming off smashing 400-yard, three-touchdown performance against a mighty Ravens secondary, and that’s got to boost No. 12’s confidence going up against the Broncos’ vaunted D.
In addition, Denver’s offense really struggled to get anything going in Week 14 against the Titans, We expect more of the same sputtering mix of Trevor Siemian’s arm and Devontae Booker’s feet to keep matters only slightly interesting versus New England’s own potent attack.
Writer’s Prediction: The Patriots (-3) with a convincing 29-20 win over a long-time playoff nemesis.
Oakland Raiders (-3) vs. San Diego Chargers (+3) – 4:25 PM ET
Derek Carr felt the wrath of Kansas City’s defense for the second time this year as he finished with a season-low 117 passing yards with no touchdown on 17-of-41 passing this past Thursday. Luckily for him, the Raiders don’t play the Chiefs every week and the Chargers are up next.
San Diego’s a tempting pick here to capitalize on a downtrodden Oakland team, but Philip Rivers’ erratic nature is the one red flag we’re avoiding here. Rivers has as many touchdowns as interceptions (10) over the last four games wherein the Chargers went 1-3.
Rivers is the reason late in games why San Diego loses, and he’ll probably be the difference maker on the losing end of another shootout against the Raiders. Five turnovers and sacks taken from Week 14 will grow heavy on the veteran play-caller this Sunday, that’s for sure.
Writer’s Prediction: The Raiders (-3) escape with a thrilling 34-30 win.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+7) vs. Dallas Cowboys (-7) – 8:30 PM ET
There’s no better time than now for the Buccaneers to pull off their biggest upset of the season versus the mighty Cowboys. They have a five-game winning streak for the first time since their Super-Bowl winning season in 2012 and will face Dallas off a brutal defeat, and their defense has held opponents to an average of less than 13 points per game during that span.
However, the Cowboys will return to the Lone Star State, where they won five straight (4-1 ATS). They simply forgot to use the best running back in the NFL this season in Ezekiel Elliott late in last week’s loss to Giants, wherein he had just five carries in the team’s last 20 offensive plays. Quarterback Dak Prescott relatively plays better on home turf too (eight TDs to just one pick), so Tampa Bay could definitely be in for a reality check against an angry Dallas squad.
Writer’s Prediction: Make that 12 wins and counting for the Cowboys (-7), 27-17.
Monday, December 19
Carolina Panthers (+6.5) vs. Washington Redskins (-6.5) – 8:30 PM ET
Carolina’s defense played with a lot of heart by nabbing five takeaways in the win over the Chargers, and that’s despite not having stud linebacker Luke Kuechly in the front seven at that. Cam Newton, though, has still looked nothing like the MVP he was last season. He’s on pace to finish with career-worst numbers in total QB rating (currently at a dismal 58.1) and just about every rushing category.
Kirk Cousins, meanwhile, is having an outstanding campaign for Washington. He’s thrown for over 4,000 yards and has 23 TDs already, and has the Redskins right in the thick of the playoff hunt. The Panthers are 1-5 on the road this season (1-3-1 ATS), and will witness firsthand how much efficient Cousins is at throwing the ball this season compared to Cam.
Writer’s Prediction: The Redskins (-6.5) keep their postseason dreams alive, 31-23.
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