NFL Week 15 Picks - Late Games
NFL Week 15 Late Games
All times Eastern
4:05 pm Cleveland Browns (-2 1/2, 46 1/2) at Arizona Cardinals - After week seven, the Cardinals were 3-3-1, and looking like a potential wild card. Since then, they've lost six straight. Kyler Murray and the Cards will have to wait until next season to prove their lasting value. Though they've been close in some games, the Arizona defense has fallen out, allowing 31, 28, 30, 36, 34, and 23 points over their six-game losing streak. That's not getting it done.
Despite Cleveland's struggles, the 6-7 Browns still have an outside chance at a wild card slot, though they'd need Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Houston, or Oakland to implode. The Browns are just 2-4 on the road, but this is a place they can win.
Coin Flip: Arizona
Prediction: Browns 24 Cardinals 17
Coin Flip: Jacksonville
Prediction: Raiders 23 Jaguars 10
There's nothing special about Minnesota. They're the 7th-highest scoring team in the league (26.1) and also 7th in points allowed (19.2). San Diego comes back home after a successful trip to Jacksonville yielded a 45-10 victory. There's also not much special about the 5-8 Chargers, but they've beaten teams (Green Bay, Chicago) that Minnesota has lost to and must play again. Trouble.
Coin Flip: Minnesota
Prediction: Chargers 24 Vikings 21
The 49ers must keep winning, as they play the Rams next week and at Seattle to end the regular season.
Coin Flip: Atlanta
Prediction: 49ers 34 Falcons 17
In other words, they're about as good as their record indicates. Dallas is a 6-7 team with no path to the playoffs and a coach (Jason Garrett, 9th full season) who should have been let go after their 4-12 fiasco in 2015. America's team hasn't been to a conference championship since 1995. The Rams smothered Seattle last week, 28-12, and are solid on both sides of the ball.
Coin Flip: Los Angeles Rams
Prediction: Rams 30 Cowboys 16
While the Steelers are thinking wild card (Baltimore already has secured the AFC North title), the Bills may have more in mind, upending the Patriots in the AFC East, and they can do so by winning out. They have a shutdown defense that should contain the Steelers and enough offense to get through on the road.
Of the eight teams the Steelers have defeated this season, only one presently has a winning record: the LA Rams. Same goes for Buffalo: Nine wins, only Tennessee has a winning record today.
Coin Flip: Pittsburgh
Prediction: Bills 23 Steelers 13
8:15 pm Indianapolis Colts at New Orleans Saints (-8 1/2, 45 1/2) - Tampa Bay stuck a fork in the Colts last week when James Winston hit Breshad Perriman with a 12-yard TD pass with just under four minutes to play in last week's 38-35 win. The Bucs had trailed most of the game, but kept plugging against the vulnerable Indy defense. They'll have more issues when Drew Brees and company take the field. It's the Colts' second straight road game and they've lost three in a row, dropping them to 6-7 and on the fringe of playoff hopefuls.
The Saints lost an epic, 48-46, home game to the 49ers, but they'll likely fare better against Indianapolis, which does not have quite the offense as do the 49ers. New Orleans has a much better defense than Tampa Bay, though you would not have guessed it watching the 'Niners slice through it.
Coin Flip: New Orleans
Prediction: Saints 30 Colts 20
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Week 15 Early Games
4:05 pm Jacksonville Jaguars at Oakland Raiders (-6, 45 1/2) - Really ugly game here. The Raiders looked horrible in the second half in their 42-21 home loss to Tennessee last week, but, amazingly, Jacksonville was even worse, losing at home, 45-10, to the Chargers. Now, the Jaguars have to travel coast-to-coast in hopes of ending a five-game losing streak. The Raiders have lost three in a row. If Oakland can muster up some defense against the 28th-ranked offense (17.7 ppg), they should win going away.
4:05 pm Minnesota Vikings (-2 1/2, 45 1/2) at Los Angeles Chargers - This is a very dangerous set-up for the Vikings. After losing at Seattle, 37-30, they engineered a relatively easy 20-7 win against the Lions. Next week they host the Packers, and then host Chicago in the regular season finale. Their path to the playoffs is pretty clear, but, they have to win this game. Absolutely. That's because losses to the Packers and Bears - which could happen - might knock them out of a wild card, their spot likely going to the Rams.
4:25 pm Atlanta Falcons at San Francisco 49ers (-11, 46 1/2) - The Falcons have had some solid efforts of late, but there's little to no chance of them putting up much of a fight at San Francisco. The 49ers established their bona fides last week by knocking off the Saints, 48-46, in New Orleans, and, while an emotional letdown is to be expected after such a monumental effort, the 'Niners are more likely to just keep rolling along, since they hold first place in the NFC West and the #1 seed for the playoffs. Seattle dropped off a game thanks to the Rams beating them on Sunday night but remain right on the 49ers tail, just a game back.
4:25 pm Los Angeles Rams at Dallas Cowboys (-2, 48) - This is the second-worst line of the week (#1 goes to the Eagles-Redskins game) because the Cowboys should be underdogs, despite having home field. Dallas has last three straight, four of its last five and hasn't beaten a team with a winning record this season.
8:20 pm Buffalo Bills at Pittsburgh Steelers (-1 1/2, 37) - A strong candidate for coach of the year, Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin has produced a near-miracle, tasing the Steelers from a 1-4 start to their present 8-5 mark. This game is huge for both teams. The 9-4 Bills have a leg up, but meet New England next week before closing out at home against the Jets.
Monday, December 16
IdleGuy.com April/May 2024, Vol. 1 #4