NFL Week 15 Picks: Predicting the Winners of All 16 Matchups

Week 15 of the NFL season is a thing of beauty.

Monumental matchups with playoff and division title implications are littered throughout the schedule, including clashes between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles, the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers, and the Denver Broncos and the San Diego Chargers, among others.

The playoff race will begin to shape up after the Week 15 results. With that in mind, here is a look at the schedule and a predicted winner for each game.

Date	Time (ET)	Matchup	Predicted Winner
Thursday, Dec. 11	8:25 p.m.	Arizona Cardinals at St. Louis Rams	Rams
Sunday, Dec. 14	1 p.m.	Pittsburgh Steelers at Atlanta Falcons	Steelers
Sunday, Dec. 14	1 p.m.	Washington at New York Giants	Giants
Sunday, Dec. 14	1 p.m.	Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots	Patriots
Sunday, Dec. 14	1 p.m.	Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs	Chiefs
Sunday, Dec. 14	1 p.m.	Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts	Colts
Sunday, Dec. 14	1 p.m.	Jacksonville Jaguars at Baltimore Ravens	Ravens
Sunday, Dec. 14	1 p.m.	Green Bay Packers at Buffalo Bills	Packers
Sunday, Dec. 14	1 p.m.	Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers	Panthers
Sunday, Dec. 14	1 p.m.	Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns	Bengals
Sunday, Dec. 14	4:05 p.m.	New York Jets at Tennessee Titans	Jets
Sunday, Dec. 14	4:05 p.m.	Denver Broncos at San Diego Chargers	Broncos
Sunday, Dec. 14	4:25 p.m.	Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions	Lions
Sunday, Dec. 14	4:25 p.m.	San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks	Seahawks
Sunday, Dec. 14	8:30 p.m.	Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles	Eagles
Monday, Dec. 15	8:30 p.m.	New Orleans Saints at Chicago Bears	Saints

Game to Watch: Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles

When you're talking about a matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles, it is impossible to ignore the 33-10 beatdown fans witnessed in Week 13.

The Eagles outgained the Cowboys in total yards 464 to 267. Mark Sanchez tallied 217 passing yards and a touchdown, LeSean McCoy racked up 159 rushing yards and a touchdown, and Jeremy Maclin finished with 108 receiving yards. The tempo of the offense and the overwhelming skill all over the field were simply too much for an overmatched Dallas defense.

What’s more, the athletic Eagles defense stifled the Cowboys attack and forced two interceptions and held DeMarco Murray to 3.7 yards per carry.

Michael Perez/Associated Press

Chip Kelly understood in the aftermath that his team had to move forward, though, because that win wouldn't mean anything unless the Eagles won again in Week 15, according to The Associated Press, via ESPN.com.

"We're not into statements," he said. "We've given ourselves the opportunity to play meaningful football in December, and in this league, every week is a whole different deal, a whole different animal."

One thing that will be different about this matchup is the fact that it is in Philadelphia. That may seem like a disadvantage for the Cowboys, but they are actually much better on the road (6-0) than at home (3-4). Games in Dallas often feel more like college bowl games, with the crowd split almost 50-50, but Dallas gets plenty of crowd support on the road.

The Eagles were undefeated at home until they lost to Seattle in Week 14, so something has to give.

In Week 14, Dallas went into Chicago and flexed some of those road muscles, while Philadelphia was stifled by the red-hot Legion of Boom and the Seattle Seahawks. That gives the Cowboys a bit of momentum, but the blowout from Week 13 still lingers.

Fortunately for the Eagles, the Cowboys defense is far worse than the Seattle defense.

Dallas is 25th against the pass and 17th against the run, which will be an issue for the Cowboys on Sunday because the presence of Maclin and Jordan Matthews in the passing game opens up the entire field for the Eagles. With Matthews' emergence, opposing defenses can no longer focus simply on Maclin, and it also forces extra help in the secondary, which can open up lanes for McCoy on runs and screen passes.

Ultimately, the Eagles offense totally overwhelmed the Dallas defense less than two weeks ago in a complete mismatch, and the same thing will happen again on Philadelphia’s home turf.

On the other side of the ball, the Eagles defense is certainly vulnerable from a statistical standpoint. It is 26th against the pass and 18th against the run, although it did dominate the Dallas offense in the first matchup and played fairly well against the Seattle Seahawks in a 24-14 loss in Week 14. 

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

The Eagles are not going to completely shut down many opponents, but they will pressure Tony Romo once again after sacking him four times in the last matchup and consistently rattling the passing game. The pass rush was a major reason why fans saw two interceptions from Romo and an overwhelming performance from the Philadelphia defense.

The importance of this game cannot be overstated, and it goes beyond the rivalry. 

ESPN’s Kevin Negandhi set the table for the Eagles:

The loser will fall to second place in the NFC East and be in a compromising position in the wild-card battle with the Detroit Lions and the Seahawks or the Arizona Cardinals. The Lions and the Cardinals both play teams with losing records in Week 15 (although the St. Louis Rams are playing very well and will stifle Arizona with their defense), and the Seahawks play the free-falling San Francisco 49ers.

The winner of Sunday’s clash will have the inside track to a playoff position. The loser could very well be watching the playoffs from home in January. 

Prediction: Eagles 31, Cowboys 17

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