NFL Week 15 Preview: The Big Three

A look, now, at the three biggest games coming up in Week 15 of the NFL season. All NFL football betting lines are courtesy Sports Interaction’s online sportsbook.

Dallas Cowboys (8-5) at New Orleans Saints (13-0)
Saints -7, Over/Under 54.0

Dallas WR Roy Williams went out and basically guaranteed victory this weekend, which should be an ominous sign for Cowboys fans. Aside from the fact that Dallas plays mediocre football on the road (just 3-3 this year) and its QB is awful in December (Tony Romo, 5-10 for his career), the Cowboys have to go into the hornet’s nest that is the Super Dome. But this time, with extra motivation!

New Orleans has rolled up everyone that’s visited this year. They’ve outscored the opposition by almost 100 points total and have won each game by at least eight points. Also, it’s fair to assume that the Dallas Cowboys coming to town is considered a “marquee matchup.” That’s bad news for Dallas, because the Saints have a penchant for playing their best in these big games. For example:

Week 3 vs. 3-0 New York Jets: Saints win 24-10
Week 6 vs. 5-0 New York Giants: Saints win 48-27
Week 13 vs. 7-3 New England Patriots: Saints win 38-17

You get the idea. Sage bettors should be all over New Orleans -7 in this one, especially since the Saints appear fully committed to playing out the year and going after an undefeated regular season.

Indianapolis Colts (13-0) at Jacksonville Jaguars (7-6)
Colts -3.0, Over/Under 43.0

The big question in this one is which Colts team will take to the field. Will it be the undefeated juggernaut that’s run through the league? Or will it be the backups to that juggernaut? It’s no secret that the Colts are entertaining the notion of resting starters rather than trying to remain perfect…

Indianapolis coach Jim Caldwell has already gone on record saying he’ll play his “healthy” guys, an ambiguous comment given nearly everybody on the roster is nursing some sort of injury this late in the season.  Despite this, it’s hard to imagine any franchise — even a notoriously conservative one like Indy — would throw away the chance to make history.  As for the actual game itself, Jacksonville presents an interesting dilemma for Indy, as the Colts always seem to get a good test from the Jaguars. The last four games in this series have been decided by two, seven, two and three points respectively.

Realistically, the Colts aren’t going to start sandbagging with three weeks left in the regular season, so expect most of the regulars to play big minutes. The Jags are a divisional rival and you can bet Peyton Manning won’t want to let his foot off the pedal. In saying that, the Colts look like a nice bet -3.

Cincinnati Bengals (9-4) at San Diego Chargers (10-3)
Chargers -7.0, Over/Under 44

Rough couple of weeks for the Bengals. Last Sunday, they had to travel to Minnesota to take on the Vikings and were rolled up, 30-10. After that, they head out to the West Coast to take on the white-hot Chargers, winners of eight straight.

The Bengals have a serious problem developing with their lack of a vertical passing game. Carson Palmer is averaging just 172.2 passing yards in his last six games and the offense seems okay with letting Cedric Benson carry the ball 30+ times a game. That’s fine, but if Palmer can’t get into a rhythm with his two most dynamic playmakers — Chad Ochocinco and Andre Caldwell — the offense simply won’t score enough to keep pace with the NFL elite…like, say, the San Diego Chargers.