NFL Week 15 Odds Report: Vikings Quarterback Carousel Continues
It is Week 15 of the NFL season already and yet just one team has clinched a playoff spot: San Francisco. The Niners can also become the first division winner as they would capture another NFC West title with a win Sunday at Arizona, and that is very likely. Other teams that can clinch a playoff spot this week: Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit and Philadelphia. Here are three Week 15 games that have seen the odds shift.
Vikings at Bengals (-4.5 to -3)
Welcome to the NFL 2023 as its journeymen Nick Mullens and Jake Browning starting at quarterback for the Vikings and Bengals, respectively. The latter, who has played well, is only in there because Joe Burrow is out for the season. The Vikings are choosing to start Mullens because Joshua Dobbs has been so bad of late – and he was only playing because of the Kirk Cousins season-ending injury. Mullens will be the Vikings’ fourth starting quarterback in the past seven games, and they will be the 29th NFL team since 1950 to endure that frequency of turnover at the position. Minnesota can become the ninth team since then to have four different QBs win a game in a season. Cleveland just did it in Week 14. I believe that the turnover-happy Dobbs was benched (all the way to third string) is what brought this down a bit, but it might go back up with Vikings star wideout Justin Jefferson no sure thing to play – although he claims he will. The 2022 NFL Offensive Player of the Year returned from a long injury absence in last Sunday’s 3-0 win over Las Vegas in which Jefferson injured his chest and left. Running back Alexander Mattison and right tackle Brian O’Neill are also out.
Texans at Titans (-1 to -3)
Feels like a really tough spot for the Titans off a truly miracle win Monday night in Miami and now on a short week, but they will catch a major break in that Houston quarterback CJ Stroud, the sure-fire NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, No. 1 wideout Nico Collins (60 catches, 1,004 yards, six TDs) and Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate Will Anderson are among many Texans players expected to sit. They had lost stellar rookie WR Tank Dell (47 catches, 709 yards, seven TDs) already for the season after Week 13. Houston is 7-6 with Stroud starting this season and 7-26-1 with any other QB in last three seasons. Davis Mills will start Sunday, his first start since Week 18 last season in Indianapolis when that surprise win lost the Texans the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft – although that worked out great as Houston got Stroud at No. 2. Mills has a 5-19-1 record as a starter with 25 picks. Perhaps consider a Derrick Henry rushing yards prop Sunday. The former rushing king and Offensive Player of the Year has four career games with 200 rushing yards and two rush scores vs. the Texans, more than any running back has against all teams in league history.
Jets at Dolphins (-10 to -8.5)
This might be the Jets’ last game without Aaron Rodgers as he has been targeting Christmas Eve against Washington as his return. Personally, I don’t see him playing again this year unless the Jets somehow pull the upset here. New York does have a few things going for it Sunday. For one, embattled QB Zach Wilson should be brimming with confidence after playing one of the best games of his career in the 30-6 rout of Houston in Week 14, completing 27 of 36 for 301 yards and two scores. That also can only help his standing in the locker room. Second, the Dolphins are on a short week after somehow blowing a 27-13 home lead in the final three minutes Monday night to Tennessee and losing 28-27, a brutal blow to Miami’s AFC top-seed hopes. The Fins lost starting centre Connor Williams to a torn ACL in that one, but the main reason this dropped is because superstar receiver and Offensive Player of the Year favourite Tyreek Hill is in doubt. Hill sprained his ankle during the first half of Week 14 and missed a little over a quarter before returning to action. Miami’s offence looked so much worse without him. There are a lot of other injuries the team is dealing with.. It might be half Jets fans in south Florida this time of year.