NFL Week 14 Odds and Predictions: Best Picks Against the Spread
Here’s a quick look at all Week 14 NFL games, played Sunday unless noted.
Pittsburgh Steelers at Minnesota Vikings, Thursday
Pittsburgh was a home upset winner over Baltimore on Sunday when the Ravens went for two points in the final seconds instead of sending it to OT with a regular PAT conversion. Amid reports that QB Ben Roethlisberger will retire after this season, he played one of his better games of the year. TJ Watt had 3.5 sacks. Minnesota could be without two of its key offensive players in RB Dalvin Cook and WR Adam Thielen as Cook was unable to play in Sunday’s upset loss to winless Detroit and Thielen left injured.
Pick ATS: Pittsburgh
Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns
Cleveland comes out of its bye week in a major offensive funk and perhaps no player in the NFL needed a week off more than battered Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield. Cleveland’s final game before the bye was a 16-10 loss in Baltimore, which was won despite four Lamar Jackson career-high interceptions. Baltimore coach John Harbaugh made the interesting choice to go for two points at the end of the Ravens’ game in Pittsburgh on Sunday, but it failed and the Ravens lost.
Pick ATS: Baltimore
Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans
Tennessee come off its bye week atop the AFC South and all but a lock to win it. Jacksonville was blown out at the LA Rams as expected Sunday. Rookie No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence failed to even reach 150 yards passing. He has been a disappointment so far without question. The Titans routed the Jags 37-19 in Week 5. Jacksonville native Derrick Henry rushed for 130 yards and three scores to lead the Titans and he absolutely owns his hometown team career, but Henry is now out for the season.
Pick ATS: Jacksonville
Las Vegas Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City won its fifth straight game Sunday night, 22-9 over Denver. The Chiefs struggled on offence but forced three Broncos turnovers, including a pick returned for a touchdown. The KC defence has allowed 17 points or fewer in five straight games. The Raiders lost at home 17-15 to Washington on a field goal in the final minute. Star tight end Darren Waller was out injured. In Week 10, the Chiefs routed the Raiders 41-14 behind 406 yards and five passing TDs from Patrick Mahomes. Kansas City had 29 first downs and 516 yards.
Point spread: Chiefs -9.5
Pick ATS: Las Vegas
New Orleans Saints at New York Jets
The Saints lost their fifth straight game last Thursday, 27-17 vs. Dallas. Taysom Hill got his first start of the season at quarterback and threw four picks, one returned for a score. He also appeared to injure his throwing hand/thumb so monitor that this week. New York lost 33-18 at home to Philadelphia. The only possession on which the Eagles didn’t score was their last. Jets rookie QB Zach Wilson had perhaps his best game with two TD throws and a rushing TD.
Pick ATS: New York
Dallas Cowboys at Washington Football Team
Dallas didn’t play well offensively last Thursday without head coach Mike McCarthy who is in COVID protocols, but the defense was excellent in a 27-17 win in New Orleans. The Cowboys picked off four Saints passes and returned one for a TD. The NFC East race is essentially over if Dallas wins this game. Washington won its fourth in a row Sunday, 17-15 as Las Vegas on a 48-yard field goal with 37 seconds left. This is the first meeting of the season between the rivals. They play again Week 16.
Pick ATS: Washington
Atlanta Falcons at Carolina Panthers
Carolina comes off its bye week with presumably Cam Newton still as the starting QB even though he was historically bad in a 33-10 loss in Week 12 at Miami. Alas, star running back Christian McCaffrey suffered a season-ending injury in that game. That means Canadian rookie Chuba Hubbard takes over again as featured back. Atlanta lost 30-17 at home to Tampa Bay on Sunday. The Panthers won in Atlanta 19-13 on Halloween. Hubbard rushed for 82 yards and a score.
Pick ATS: Carolina (alternate line of -2.5)
Seattle Seahawks at Houston Texans
Seattle kept its very slim wild-card hopes alive for one more week by knocking off the visiting 49ers on Sunday, 30-23 to snap a three-game losing streak and sweep the season series. Russell Wilson had his best game since returning from injury in throwing for 231 yards and two scores and recent signee Adrian Peterson rushed for a TD. Houston was blasted 31-0 at home by the Colts as starting QB Tyrod Taylor was benched for rookie Davis Mills. Not yet clear who starts this week, but at 2-10 the team should see what Mills can do the rest of the way.
Pick ATS: Houston
Detroit Lions at Denver Broncos
There will not be a winless team in the NFL this season as the Lions beat the Vikings on Sunday 29-27 on an 11-yard touchdown pass as time expired even though top running back D’Andre Swift didn’t play. Jared Goff had three TD passes. Now Detroit has to be careful to stop winning in order to get the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Denver lost 22-9 on Sunday night in Kansas City. Teddy Bridgewater was picked off twice, one returned for a touchdown.
Pick ATS: Detroit
New York Giants at Los Angeles Chargers
The Giants were without starting QB Daniel Jones and two top receivers on Sunday and got nothing going in a 20-9 loss at Miami. Backup QB Mike Glennon suffered a concussion in the game so it’s not clear who might start under centre for this one. Few teams are harder to predict than the Chargers as they look great one next and awful the next. They were great Sunday in a 41-22 win in Cincinnati. Justin Herbert had 317 yards and three scores.
Pick ATS: New York if Jones plays
San Francisco 49ers at Cincinnati Bengals
If the Niners don’t make the playoffs, they can blame Seattle as San Francisco was swept in the season series Sunday, 30-23, to see a three-game winning streak end. The Niners were up nine points late in the third quarter. A San Francisco drive ended at the Seattle 3 with under 30 seconds to go. Cincinnati lost 41-22 at home to the Chargers. Bengals RB Joe Mixon scored a TD for the ninth straight game.
Pick ATS: Cincinnati
Buffalo Bills at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
This is the biggest AFC-NFC matchup remaining the regular season and very possibly a preview of Super Bowl 56. Bucs QB Tom Brady absolutely owned Buffalo while he was with New England, but these Bills are way better than probably all of those previous Buffalo clubs. The Bills come off a big Monday night matchup with New England. Tampa Bay won 30-17 at Atlanta on Sunday. Tom Brady threw two TD passes to Rob Gronkowski. They have now for 90 regular-season touchdowns and surpassed Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates (89 touchdowns) for the second-most regular-season touchdowns by a quarterback-receiver pairing in NFL history.
Pick ATS: Tampa Bay (alternate line of -3)
Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers
The Sunday night game. Green Bay comes out of its bye week in total command of the NFC North and battling for the conference’s No. 1 seed. Chicago was beaten 33-22 at home without starting QB Justin Fields (ribs). Not clear if he will be ready for this one. The Packers have owned the Bears for a few decades and go for another sweep as they won in Chicago 24-14 in Week 6. Aaron Rodgers threw for two scores and ran for one.
Pick ATS: Chicago
Los Angeles Rams at Arizona Cardinals, Monday
Arizona would all but clinch the NFC West with a victory because it beat the Rams 37-20 in Week 4 as Kyler Murray threw for two scores and James Conner rushed for two. Murray returned from a three-game injury absence Sunday in an easy win in Chicago. He threw for two scores and rushed for two. The Rams snapped a three-game slide with a 37-7 rout of Jacksonville. Cooper Kupp had eight receptions for 129 yards and one touchdown. He became the fourth player with at least 100 receptions in his team’s first 12 games of a season in NFL history.
Pick ATS: Arizona (alternate line of -2.5)