NFL Picks Week 14: Game-by-Game Advice for Current Vegas Spreads

The 2016 NFL season has been an unpredictable masterpiece so far. Teams like the Dallas Cowboys and Oakland Raiders have exceeded expectations, while teams like the Cincinnati Bengals and Carolina Panthers have been veritable disappointments.

Of course, the uncertain nature of the current season has made it difficult to accurately predict how teams are going to fare on a week-to-week basis. It hasn't helped that a team perceived to be very good like the Seattle Seahawks can produce a mere five points one week and then 40 the next.

Naturally, this doesn't stop anyone from trying to predict what will happen before it actually does. For the oddsmakers in Las Vegas, prognostication is both a business and a way of life.

We're going to take our crack at predicting the future of Week 14 here. We'll be running down the complete schedule—along with the latest lines, courtesy of OddsShark.com—and making our picks against the spreads. We'll also be examining some of the more intriguing matchups of the week.

NFL Week 14

Day, Time (ET)	Game	Line	Prediction
Thursday, 8:30 p.m.	Oakland at Kansas City	KC -3	KC
Sunday, 1 p.m.	Washington at Philadelphia	WAS -1	WAS
Sunday, 1 p.m.	Minnesota at Jacksonville	MIN -3.5	MIN
Sunday, 1 p.m.	Chicago at Detroit	DET -8	CHI
Sunday, 1 p.m.	Cincinnati at Cleveland	CIN -6	CIN
Sunday, 1 p.m.	Arizona at Miami	MIA -1	MIA
Sunday, 1 p.m.	Houston at Indianapolis	IND -4.5	IND
Sunday, 1 p.m.	Denver at Tennessee	TEN -1.5	DEN
Sunday, 1 p.m.	San Diego at Carolina	CAR -1	SD
Sunday, 1 p.m.	Pittsburgh at Buffalo	PIT -1.5	PIT
Sunday, 4:05 p.m.	NY Jets at San Francisco	SF -1	SF
Sunday, 4:25 p.m.	New Orleans at Tampa Bay	TB -2.5	TB
Sunday, 4:25 p.m.	Atlanta at Los Angeles	ATL -6	ATL
Sunday, 4:25 p.m.	Seattle at Green Bay	SEA -3	GB
Sunday, 8:30 p.m.	Dallas at NY Giants	DAL -3	DAL
Monday, 8:30 p.m.	Baltimore at New England	NE -7	BAL

Matchups to Watch

Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts

Early on in the season, the Texans looked like legitimate playoff contenders. They jumped out to a 6-3 record and appeared to be the team to beat in the AFC South.

Despite having a quality defense and some legitimate offensive stars, the Texans have struggled mightily in recent weeks. The team has dropped three in a row, in part because of inconsistent play from quarterback Brock Osweiler.

Osweiler is completing less than 60 percent of his passes and has 14 turnovers to go with his 14 passing touchdowns. He isn't necessarily the guy you want leading your team into a quarterback duel with Andrew Luck.

Luck's Colts got off to a rocky start in 2016 but have managed to equal Houston's 6-6 record after blowing out the New York Jets on Monday night. The 6-6 Tennessee Titans are also in the mix in the AFC South, but the Colts can take control of the division with a win next week.

If Luck and the Colts offense can play like it did against the Jets in Monday's 41-10 slaughter, the Texans are going to have a difficult time putting up a legitimate fight.

As a team, Houston is rated just 29th in overall offense by Pro Football Focus.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo Bills

The 7-5 Ravens hold the lead in the AFC North due to their win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Ravens are going to have to beat the New England Patriots to ensure they hold that lead through Week 14, but the Steelers are going to have their own battle to conquer.

Pittsburgh will travel to take on Rex Ryan and the Bills, who may be just a bit angry after blowing a big lead over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday. The team held a 24-9 lead over the Raiders at one point but ended up losing by two touchdowns.

“We felt like we controlled the game," Bills running back LeSean McCoy explained, per Chris Brown of the team's official website. "In the first half when it was close I felt we had control. Defense was making stops, offense, we were driving. In the second half, we couldn’t finish it out for the most part. It just happened so fast. We couldn’t move the ball against them. It got bad.”

If Buffalo comes out angry, it could cause trouble for the Steelers. Buffalo ranks first in rushing with an average of 161.9 yards per game on the ground. The Steelers are rated just 22nd in run defense by Pro Football Focus.

In addition, the Steelers have struggled offensively at times on the road this season. Pittsburgh scored just three points against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 3 and 15 points against the Miami Dolphins in Week 6.

Of course, the Steelers also dropped 28 points on the Colts a couple weeks ago, so there's a good chance the team finally has things figured out.

Our guess is that Ben Roethlisberger and Co. get things rolling early and take advantage of a Bills secondary that is rated just 25th in pass coverage by Pro Football Focus.

Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots

If the Steelers do manage to take care of business, then there will be a tremendous amount of pressure on the Ravens to come away with a win in New England. While it's a task that is easier said than done, the Ravens defense certainly gives them a chance.

Actually, this could end up being one of the more entertaining games of Week 14. On one side, we'll get Tom Brady and the mighty Patriots offense. On the other, we'll have the Ravens, who allow an average of just 17.2 points per game, second-fewest in the NFL.

This game could very well come down to Baltimore's ability to move the ball against New England and put up points of its own. Because of this, we have to like New England to win.

The Ravens average a modest 21.3 points per game. The New England defense, while definitely not dominant, can be quite efficient overall. In fact, Pro Football Focus rates the Patriots second in overall defense for the season.

As Doug Kyed of NESN recently pointed out—with just a touch of sarcasm—New England's defense has gotten pretty good in a variety of areas:

New England should also get a huge boost from playing at home, and we believe the Patriots will come out on top. However, no one should be surprised if this game ends up being a lot closer than folks are initially expecting.