NFL Predictions Week 14: Early Odds, Picks and Projections for Upcoming Schedule

As the NFL season rolls along and we get increasingly closer to the playoffs, games begin to become even more unpredictable. That's great news for Vegas but bad news for bettors.

After all, not may of us believed the Arizona Cardinals defense would completely shut down against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 13 or the surging Cincinnati Bengals wouldn't be able to overcome a marginal point spread, winning by just one point over the hapless Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

At this time of year, defense is the best offense when it comes to wagering. Knowing which spreads to avoid will help keep you out of the red and hopefully assist in lining your pockets with some cold-hard cash. Here's a look at the full Week 14 slate of games, their corresponding odds and a prediction against the spread, followed by some in-depth analysis of lines to avoid completely.

Matchup	Spread	Pick ATS	Reason
Dallas at Chicago	DAL -3.5	Cowboys	Tony Romo will bounce back against Chicago.
St. Louis at Washington	STL -2.5	Rams	Tre Mason could be poised for another enormous game.
Houston at Jacksonville	HOU -4.5	Texans	Ryan Fitzpatrick might throw another six touchdown passes here.
NY Giants at Tennessee	Even	Giants	The Giants will win if they can avoid those costly turnovers.
Tampa Bay at Detroit	DET -9.5	Buccaneers	The Buccaneers don't stand a chance against Detroit's defense.
Carolina at New Orleans	NO -9.5	Panthers	See analysis below.
Indianapolis at Cleveland	IND -3	Colts	Take Andrew Luck over Johnny Manziel any day and twice on Sunday.
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati	CIN -3.5	Bengals	The Bengals offense will fare better against a shaky Pittsburgh defense.
NY Jets at Minnesota	MIN -4.5	Vikings	Minnesota is playing solid defense and faces a bad Jets offense.
Baltimore at Miami	MIA -3	Dolphins	Ryan Tannehill is playing well, and the Ravens secondary is decimated.
Kansas City at Arizona	AZ -1	Chiefs	Arizona continues to fall apart, and that's not good with Jamaal Charles coming to town.
Buffalo at Denver	DEN -10	Broncos	Buffalo doesn't have the ability to keep up with Peyton Manning in Denver.
San Francisco at Oakland	SF -7	49ers	San Francisco isn't playing well, but at least it wasn't recently shut out 52-0.
Seattle at Philadelphia	Even	Seahawks	See analysis below.
New England at San Diego	NE -3.5	Patriots	The Chargers are getting Tom Brady at the wrong time, coming off a loss.
Atlanta at Green Bay	GB -11.5	Packers	Aaron Rodgers will continue to light it up at Lambeau Field.

All game odds courtesy of Odds Shark and current as of December 1.

Early Odds to Avoid

Carolina Panthers (+9.5) at New Orleans Saints

New Orleans went to Carolina and defeated the Panthers 28-10 in Week 9. Now Carolina must avoid a season sweep by coming to play at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. No easy task. So, why should this 9.5-point spread be avoided?

Well, the Saints haven't exactly been performing well at home lately. They dropped three consecutive games in New Orleans following that win over the Panthers due to the defense's inability to get stops. In fact, since holding the Panthers to 10 points, the Saints have given up at least 27 points in each of their last four games.

That brings us to the next inquiry: Can a struggling Cam Newton put up any points on this defense? Absolutely. Carolina's running game is coming around lately. The team just put up 174 rushing yards on the Minnesota Vikings, averaging 5.4 yards per carry. Carolina's Twitter account noted the season-high total:

The inability to contain the run has been the Saints' Achilles' heel of late.

Meanwhile, Carolina's defense played well following its bye week. Despite losing to the Vikings, the team held Minnesota to just 12 first downs and 210 yards of offense. It won't do the same against the Saints, but it should be able to keep the game close.

That said, the Saints will win this game; however, it won't be by a very large margin. Avoid this game unless the line shifts dramatically.

Prediction: Saints 27, Panthers 23

Seattle Seahawks (even) at Philadelphia Eagles

Here's a game with tremendous postseason implications. The Seahawks are looking to overtake the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC West, while the Eagles are looking to maintain their lead atop the NFC East. Expect this to be treated like a playoff game.

Seattle played very well on the road against the San Francisco 49ers; however, the Seahawks dropped two of their three previous road contests to the St. Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs. Travelling all the way to the East Coast this time around isn't a friendly factor, either.

Both of these defenses have been playing well recently. Seattle is back to its old form, stifling most opponents and becoming the first team to hold opponents without a touchdown this season, according to ESPN Stats & Info:

Although, it must face a resurgent LeSean McCoy this week, who's been putting up some monster games. Philadelphia recently stifled a good Dallas Cowboys attack, holding DeMarco Murray to 73 yards and picking off Tony Romo twice.

While it can be argued the Seahawks defense is superior, the Eagles offense has been lighting up the scoreboard at home this year, accumulating at least 34 points in five of their six games at Lincoln Financial Field. That's led to a 6-0 record on the team's home turf.

If any team can buck that trend, it's a Seahawks team that has already found success on the East Coast this season, defeating the Washington Redskins, Carolina Panthers and New York Giants. The Eagles will provide a stiffer challenge, and this game could certainly go either way.

Prediction: Seahawks 27, Eagles 24 (OT)