NFL Week 15 Picks: Predictions for Favorites and Underdogs

The Arizona Cardinals overcame their underdog label Week 15, defeating the St. Louis Rams 12-6 in a defensive struggle on Thursday Night Football. With that, bettors who were relying on the favorite to help them gain some extra spending money for the holidays are in the hole for the week.

Don't worry, though, there are plenty of chances to recoup that lost cash on Sunday.

While Week 15 is chock-full of tough-to-predict divisional clashes, there are a few contests featuring favorable spreads. In an effort to help line your pockets with some extra coin to get that present you've been eyeing for that special someone, let's take an in-depth look at two such games.

But first, here's a look at the remaining slate of games, their corresponding odds and a pick against the spread for each.

Matchup	Odds	Pick ATS	Reason
Miami at New England	NE -7.5	Patriots	Miami's passing game isn't strong enough to keep up with Tom Brady.
Green Bay at Buffalo	GB -4	Packers	Buffalo's defense is playing well, but it won't stop Aaron Rodgers.
Oakland at Kansas City	KC -10	Raiders	Kansas City doesn't have the firepower to pull away by 10 points.
Jacksonville at Baltimore	BAL -14	Jaguars	Baltimore's secondary will allow a young Jaguars offense to keep up.
Houston at Indianapolis	IND -6.5	Texans	Too many recent mistakes by the Colts will keep this game close.
Pittsburgh at Atlanta	PIT -2	Steelers	Pittsburgh has the better offense for this ensuing shootout.
Cincinnati at Cleveland	CLE -1	Bengals	See analysis below.
Washington at NY Giants	NYG -6.5	Giants	New York's offense is rolling, and Washington's defense is struggling.
Tampa Bay at Carolina	CAR -3	Panthers	Derek Anderson beat the Bucs earlier this year, and he'll do it again.
NY Jets at Tennessee	NYJ -2.5	Jets	The Titans won't stop a strong Jets running game.
Denver at San Diego	DEN -4	Broncos	Denver runs a well-balanced offense and gets Julius Thomas back.
Minnesota at Detroit	DET -7	Lions	The Vikings don't have an offense capable of getting past Detroit's defense.
San Francisco at Seattle	SEA -10	Seahawks	See analysis below.
Dallas at Philadelphia	PHI -3	Cowboys	The Eagles offense is coming off a poor showing, while Dallas is rolling.
New Orleans at Chicago	NO -3	Saints	The absence of Brandon Marshall won't help the Bears keep up with Drew Brees.

All game odds courtesy of Odds Shark and current as of December 12.

Notable Favorite: Seattle Seahawks (-10) vs. San Francisco 49ers

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

A 10-point spread sure seems like an awful lot in a rivalry game such as this. However, with a surging Seattle team facing a embattled 49ers squad, this clash between NFC West foes won't have the same look it has had in past seasons.

These teams last faced off in San Francisco on Thanksgiving Day, and the visiting Seahawks handed the home team a 19-3 loss. Russell Wilson was very efficient in the contest, completing 15 of his 22 passing attempts for 236 yards and a score, while Seattle rushed for 157 yards and a touchdown on 34 carries, averaging 4.6 yards per attempt.

On the flip side, Colin Kaepernick completed just 16 of his 29 passing attempts for 121 yards and two interceptions, while San Francisco's running game could only muster 64 yards on 18 carries—an average of 3.6 yards per rush.

Chris Burke of Sports Illustrated tweeted one of the biggest problems surrounding San Francisco's offense:

Don't expect things to be any different this time around. Seattle continued its stellar play on the road, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 24-14 and holding Chip Kelly's prolific offense to just 139 total yards. Meanwhile, the 49ers fell 24-13 to the Oakland Raiders after another dismal performance by their quarterback.

Now, San Francisco must attempt to notch a win against its divisional foe in Seattle, where the Seahawks have been outstanding in recent years. This one won't be close.

Prediction: Seahawks 27, 49ers 13

Notable Underdog: Cincinnati Bengals (+1) at Cleveland Browns

Frank Victores/Associated Press

Will rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel save Cleveland's season? Nope.

The Browns are a hot mess right now. Despite owning a 7-6 record and residing in the thick of the AFC's playoff race, they decided to make a switch at the quarterback position. Obviously, that's not something that happens often—and there's a good reason for that.

Manziel will get support in front of his home crowd, but in Cincinnati, he'll be making his first career start against a divisional foe that is playing for its playoff life. While a switch at the quarterback position may have been warranted because of Brian Hoyer's struggles, this isn't a good matchup for the rookie.

Though Cincinnati is ranked just 21st in the league against the pass, its cornerbacks have been solid in recent weeks. The team allowed just one passing touchdown to Drew Brees, blanked Ryan Mallett and shut down Josh McCown before allowing Ben Roethlisberger to pass with ease during the fourth quarter of its Week 14 contest.

To make matters worse, Manziel has brought plenty of attention to himself this season, which may leave some Bengals defenders hankering to get a hold of him. Here's a telling quote from Browns head coach Mike Pettine, via NFL on ESPN:

It's difficult to expect an inexperienced signal-caller to find much success in this scenario.

On the other side of the coin, Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton is playing better. He's coming off a nice performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers, completing 21 of his 29 passing attempts for 302 yards and two touchdowns, adding 22 rushing yards and another score. Having a healthy A.J. Green back in the fold has done wonders for Cincinnati's passing game.

The last time these teams met, Cleveland shut Cincinnati down, winning 24-3. Expect the Bengals to flip the script this time around.

Prediction: Bengals 27, Browns 17