Week 15 NFL Picks: Vegas Betting Odds, Over/Under Spreads and Line Projections

Oddsmakers hit the proverbial nail on the head in Week 14. 

In the week's final contest, the New England Patriots stormed back to beat the Baltimore Ravens 30-23 on Monday night. The seven-point margin was exactly what those in charge of the lines had called for most of the week.

With any luck, bettors played the line well and came out ahead on a rather tricky week. With only a few weeks remaining, both bettors and oddsmakers have to be on top of their games, which only makes things more interesting.

As always, the best way for bettors to come out ahead in the long run is to take advantage of lines early in the week. Let's take a look.

NFL Week 15 Odds

Matchup	Spread	O/U	Predicted Winner
L.A. Rams at Seattle (TNF)	SEA -15	40.5	SEA 34-14
Miami at N.Y. Jets (Saturday)	MIA -3	41.5	MIA 23-20
Green Bay at Chicago	GB -4	N/A	GB 27-20
Tennessee at Kansas City	KC -5	43.5	KC 28-20
Detroit at N.Y. Giants	NYG -4.5	N/A	DET 26-23
Cleveland at Buffalo	BUF -10	44	CLE 23-20
Indianapolis at Minnesota	MIN -4	44	IND 24-20
Philadelphia at Baltimore	BAL -5.5	N/A	BAL 20-17
Jacksonville at Houston	HOU -6	41	HOU 28-14
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati	PIT -3.5	45	PIT 27-17
New Orleans at Arizona	ARI -2.5	50	NO 28-24
San Francisco at Atlanta	ATL -11.5	51.5	ATL 33-10
New England at Denver	NE -3	N/A	NE 27-24
Oakland at San Diego	OAK -2.5	51	OAK 28-20
Tampa Bay at Dallas	DAL -7	N/A	DAL 27-23
Carolina at Washington (MNF)	WAS- 4.5	N/A	CAR 20-17

Odds according to OddsShark.

Green Bay (-4) at Chicago

Bettors will want to hop on this line before it grows. 

The Chicago Bears have looked good at times this year. Matt Barkley has done somewhat well at times given the circumstances, Jordan Howard is a breakout star with 969 yards and five scores, and rookie linebacker Leonard Floyd is a force.

None of that equates to a win against the Green Bay Packers, though. Aaron Rodgers has led his team to three consecutive wins; the latest was a 38-10 shellacking of the Seattle Seahawks where his defense offered a helping hand by nabbing five interceptions.

Bettors have already benefited from this matchup once this year. Back in Week 7, the Packers took care of business against these Bears in 26-10 fashion behind three passing scores from Rodgers.

The first win for the Packers came in the middle of a trying portion of the season and was the lone victory in five attempts. Now Green Bay looks like a playoff-ready team, and Rodgers has thrown 10 touchdowns against no interceptions over his last four outings.

Chicago doesn't have the defense to stop Rodgers. Barkley's offense is much better than the one the team trotted out in the first encounter, but it won't be enough to counteract the Packers, who are gunning for a playoff spot.

Prediction: Packers 27-20

Oakland (-2.5) at San Diego

This is another line that is about to grow in a significant manner.

Bettors should be all over the Oakland Raiders in this one. Yes, the team took a 21-13 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 14, where quarterback Derek Carr threw for only 117 yards on 41 attempts.

However, bettors shouldn't buy too much into a short-turnaround game on a Thursday, let alone a divisional contest between two playoff hopefuls.

This game falls under the AFC West umbrella, but the San Diego Chargers aren't shooting for the playoffs at 5-8. They have lost two of their last three and lost to these Raiders in Week 5, 34-31. Philip Rivers threw four touchdowns, and the team still couldn't get the win, not while the offense turned the ball over four times.

This line will grow because these two teams are heading in different directions. Not only that, but San Diego still can't avoid the injury bug. Star defensive lineman Joey Bosa suffered a neck injury in Week 14, according to Chargers head coach Mike McCoy (via Ricky Henne of the Chargers' official website), who still expects him to play.

More importantly, running back Melvin Gordon suffered an injury, as NFL Network's Ian Rapoport detailed:

ESPN.com's Eric D. Williams revealed Gordon strained his hip and sprained his knee.

With the Chargers' two stars limping into the game, Oakland has a clear path to victory. The defense can force San Diego into one-dimensional looks and force more turnovers while Carr cruises against a defense that is allowing 26.7 points per game.

Prediction: Raiders 28-20

Tampa Bay at Dallas (-7)

Now here is a line bettors have to be a little more careful with. 

A few factors are at play here. For one, the Dallas Cowboys finally dropped one, as their 11-game streak came to an end in Week 14 thanks to a 10-7 loss against the New York Giants.

The Cowboys were going to lose some time, so it's only right it came in a gritty NFC East battle against a team that had already upended Dallas once this year. It's not a huge concern that rookie quarterback Dak Prescott looked like a (gasp) rookie, throwing one touchdown to two interceptions.

No, the bigger concern with this spread is the talent of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Seemingly out of nowhere, they have a spot at the playoff table for the time being thanks to rattling off five consecutive wins, including dismissals of the Seahawks, Chargers and Chiefs.

Tampa Bay's defense allows only 22.8 points per game, and Jameis Winston continues to mature under center and make key plays when it matters.

One can see why the NFL flexed this contest to prime time. 

As good as the Buccaneers look (a playoff berth wouldn't be a surprise), it's hard to go against the Cowboys here. Even Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter put the challenge in blunt terms, as the Tampa Bay Times' Rick Stroud captured:

"

They've got big-time players at every position and at least three Pro Bowl offensive linemen, an elite left tackle, a great, explosive wide receiver, one of the best tight ends of all time, two rookies that everybody is arguing who's the rookie of the year and who's the MVP of the league between those two guys.

"

Dallas surrenders just 18.3 points per game, and rookie back Ezekiel Elliott continues to put together strong performances against any defense.

This game comes down to Prescott, who shouldn't falter much at home. Look for the Cowboys to secure a few key turnovers, though don't expect the Buccaneers to let this one hit the spread.

Prediction: Cowboys 27-23

Stats courtesy of NFL.com. All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus. 

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