NFL Week 15 Picks: Early Predictions for Every Game

If someone told you before Week 14 began that the Indianapolis Colts would need a last-second score to beat the Cleveland Browns, Peyton Manning wouldn't throw a touchdown pass, the Oakland Raiders would dominate the San Francisco 49ers and the Carolina Panthers would roll into the Mercedes-Benz Superdome to defeat the New Orleans Saints by more than 30 points, you probably would have burst into hysterics.

Well, all of those scenarios came to fruition Sunday, continuing the perplexing nature of the NFL.

Unfortunately, the end results of those unforeseen events left many bettors with much lighter pockets heading into a Monday Night Football matchup between the Green Bay Packers and the Atlanta Falcons. So, instead of concentrating on that contest, let's jump way ahead and take a look at the full 16-game slate for Week 15 in an effort to recoup some lost wagers.

Matchup	Spread	Pick ATS	Reason
Arizona at St. Louis	STL -3	Rams	The Rams keep pitching shutouts, and it's tough to trust Drew Stanton.
Washington at NY Giants	NYG -6.5	Giants	Colt McCoy looked like his old self in Week 14. Meanwhile, the Giants are rolling.
Tampa Bay at Carolina	CAR -5	Panthers	Cam Newton looks sharp again, and Josh McCown continues to stumble.
Miami at New England	NE -7	Patriots	See analysis below.
Green Bay at Buffalo	GB -5.5	Packers	Buffalo's defense is good but not as good as Green Bay's offense.
Oakland at Kansas City	KC -10.5	Raiders	The Raiders found some balance on offense, while the Chiefs are still searching for it.
Jacksonville at Baltimore	BAL -13.5	Jaguars	Baltimore's shaky secondary will allow Jacksonville's young offense to keep up.
Houston at Indianapolis	IND -7	Texans	The Colts have made many mistakes of late, and that will cost them in a division game.
Pittsburgh at Atlanta	PIT -1.5	Steelers	Atlanta doesn't have a defense capable of containing Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown.
Cincinnati at Cleveland	CIN -1.5	Bengals	Both teams melted down in Week 14, but the Bengals offense was more efficient.
Denver at San Diego	DEN -4	Broncos	Peyton Manning will quickly atone for his lack of Week 14 touchdown passes.
NY Jets at Tennessee	Even	Jets	See analysis below.
Minnesota at Detroit	DET -7.5	Lions	Minnesota's offense won't be able to move against Detroit like it did against the Jets.
San Francisco at Seattle	SEA -10	49ers	The 49ers keep it within 10 points due to a fierce rivalry with Seattle.
Dallas at Philadelphia	PHI -3.5	Cowboys	The Cowboys take the win this time around as Mark Sanchez continues to falter.
New Orleans at Chicago	NO -2.5	Saints	The Saints are unpredictable, so it only makes sense they bounce back in Chicago.

All game odds courtesy of Odds Shark and current as of December 8 at 12 a.m. ET.

Early Odds to Bet

Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots (-7)

DENIS POROY/Associated Press

It's really difficult to trust Miami's offense after two consecutive lackluster games. While the Dolphins defeated the New York Jets in Week 13, they didn't produce an impressive performance by any stretch of the imagination, as the offense lacked big plays. Well, that trend continued in Week 14 against the Baltimore Ravens.

Quarterback Ryan Tannehill put up eerily similar stats for the second straight game against another struggling secondary. Here's a look at what the signal-caller has done over his last two games:

Week	Opp.	Rank vs Pass	C/ATT	Yds	TD	INT	RAT
13	Jets	13	25/35	235	0	1	77.7
14	Ravens	31	23/33	227	1	0	98.9

One reason for the quarterback's lackluster play is his offensive line. James Walker of ESPN tweeted his thoughts during the game against the Ravens:

Baltimore's secondary has been a major weakness of late, and the fact that the Dolphins put up a total of only 249 yards of offense is rather concerning going forward, especially against a team like the Patriots.

New England was challenged by the San Diego Chargers on Sunday night, but they prevailed in a difficult road contest. The team showed once again why it is one of the league's most well-rounded squads, racking up 397 yards of offense while holding the Chargers to just 216 yards in a 23-14 victory.

The Dolphins aren't trending in a good direction right now, and the Patriots continue to look very strong. With home-field advantage on their side—New England is 6-0 in Foxborough this season—Tom Brady and Co. are looking at a big win in Week 15.

Prediction: Patriots 31, Dolphins 20

New York Jets (even) at Tennessee Titans

Alex Goodlett/Getty Images

It's very rare that anyone would decide to wager on the Jets without a substantial point spread to work with, but that's going to be the case against the Titans in Week 15.

Tennessee continues to struggle on the offensive side of the ball, putting up just seven points against an average New York Giants defense on Sunday. Making matters worse, it looks as though there will be a change under center for the remainder of the season, according to Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean:

That brings the unstable Jake Locker back into action. While Locker did complete nine of his 11 passing attempts in relief against the Giants, he also threw an interception. The lack of a running game doesn't help things either, as rookie Bishop Sankey averaged only 2.8 yards per carry against a Giants team that came into the week ranked 31st in the league against the run.

Meanwhile, the Jets have found a formula for (near) success. New York lost in overtime to the Minnesota Vikings only Sunday, marking the team's second close loss in as many weeks. Here's the big reason why they're beginning to contend: They're running the football.

Quarterback Geno Smith is a liability. We all know that, and so do the Jets. They've taken the ball out of his hands and placed it in the arms of Chris Johnson and Chris Ivory. The duo of ball-carriers led the team to total 168 yards on the ground against the Vikings and dominated time of possession in the process.

Tennessee has the league's worst run defense, making Week 15 a very favorable matchup for a Jets team that loves to pound the rock.

Prediction: Jets 23, Titans 16