NFL Predictions Week 4: Last-Minute Picks and Advice for Sunday's Schedule

With mere hours left until Sunday's slate of NFL games begin, there's still a little bit of time left to read up before making your final picks.

At this point, you're almost better off just grabbing teams out of a hat. The season's only entering its fourth week, and yet, fans have already seen the New Orleans Saints lose to the Cleveland Browns, the Washington Redskins get throttled by the New York Giants, the Kansas City Chiefs fall to the Tennessee Titans and the San Diego Chargers beat the Seattle Seahawks.

Although it will likely be an exercise in futility, read on to see picks for every game over the next two days in addition to three pieces of advice that may or may not come in handy. Who knows?

Time	Matchup	TV Info	Line	Pick
Sunday
1 p.m. ET	GB at CHI	FOX	CHI, -1.5	GB
1 p.m. ET	BUF at HOU	CBS	HOU, -3	HOU
1 p.m. ET	TEN at IND	CBS	IND, -6.5	IND
1 p.m. ET	CAR at BAL	CBS	BAL, -2.5	BAL
1 p.m. ET	DET at NYJ	FOX	Even	NYJ
1 p.m. ET	TB at PIT	FOX	PIT, -8	TB
1 p.m. ET	MIA at OAK	CBS	MIA, -3.5	MIA
4:05 p.m. ET	JAX at SD	CBS	SD, -13.5	SD
4:25 p.m. ET	PHI at SF	FOX	SF, -4.5	SF
4:25 p.m. ET	ATL at MIN	FOX	ATL, -2.5	ATL
8:30 p.m. ET	NO at DAL	NBC	NO, -2.5	NO
Monday
8:30 p.m. ET	NE at KC	ESPN	NE, -3	NE

Note: Spread info is courtesy of Odds Shark.

Advice for Sunday

Lock of the Week: Indianapolis Colts

Two words explain why you should bet the house on the Indianapolis Colts: Charlie Whitehurst. The career backup looks poised to start on Sunday in place of an injured Jake Locker. The 32-year-old's made four starts during his six-year career, going 1-3.

The Tennessee Titans are only giving up an average of 170 yards through the air, which ranks second in the league. What also bears mention is that opposing teams have attempted only 90 passes against the Titans in three games, which is third-fewest.

Tennessee's secondary hasn't been tested in the way Andrew Luck will test it on Sunday. The third-year quarterback is on pace to have his best year yet.

According to Pro-Football-Reference.com, his completion percentage is up a little over eight points from last year (60.2 in 2013 to 68.3 in 2014), while his QB rating (103.0) and QBR (70.03) are also improved from where they were at the end of 2013.

With Whitehurst under center for the Titans and the Colts attempting to get back to .500, this game should be a one-sided Indianapolis victory.

Don't Underestimate the New York Jets

Remember how the Detroit Lions lost to the Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year? Their matchup with the New York Jets has the potential to be one of those games where the Lions trip over their own feet and fall flat on their face.

Geno Smith is likely running out of time to prove himself, at least in the short term. His stats haven't improved much from where they were last year. His completion percentage is up slightly, but his yards gained per pass completion are down, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com. Smith also has four interceptions to three touchdowns.

Jets head coach Rex Ryan is doing his best to back his struggling QB.

"He has it. There is no question he has it inside," Ryan said, per Tom Pedulla of The New York Times. "He can get it done. Everybody is behind Geno. He’s our quarterback, and our football team believes in him."

With Michael Vick waiting in the wings, Smith knows he needs to start producing soon. Maybe that desperation lights a fire under the second-year signal-caller.

The Jets defense is good enough to keep New York in this game. The question is whether Smith will do his part offensively.

Only two of 16 Bleacher Report writers are backing New York, while three of 13 are doing so on ESPN.com. You wouldn't be wrong to pick the Lions here, but don't dismiss the Jets offhandedly.

Upset of the Week: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are unquestionably one of the worst teams in the league, but be careful in putting too much stock into their 56-14 drubbing at the hands of the Atlanta Falcons. Thursday Night Football tends to create a few outliers here and there. While the Bucs are bad, they're not historically bad.

Josh McCown looks to be out for Sunday. Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times reported the veteran quarterback hasn't practiced all week:

That would leave Mike Glennon in charge of the offense, which might be the lesser of two evils. In 13 starts last year, Glennon went 4-9 while throwing for 2,608 yards, 19 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Look at it this way, he can't be much worse than McCown.

The Bucs should also be boosted by getting Doug Martin and Gerald McCoy back into the fold, per Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com:

This has the potential to be a serious trap game. The Pittsburgh Steelers are riding high after their 37-19 win over the Carolina Panthers and might take Tampa a little too lightly.