Week 7 NFL Picks: Predictions, Advice for Latest Vegas Spreads and Odds

The 2015 season hasn't featured much balance with the elite teams seemingly dominating every week. With three undefeated squads on bye in Week 7, there could be some much closer games.  

Only one of the opening lines featured a spread of more than a touchdown, and the past few days haven't seen too much of a shift. Interestingly, the biggest spread (New England Patriots minus-nine against the New York Jets) is the only matchup between two teams with a winning record.

With the exception of a few games, there are likely to be a lot of close calls throughout the weekend. This makes betting a little tougher, but here is a look at predictions for each contest for Week 7.

Away	Predicted Score	Home	ATS Pick
Seattle Seahawks	20-14	San Francisco 49ers	SF +6.5
Buffalo Bills	24-13	Jacksonville Jaguars	BUF -5.5
Atlanta Falcons	28-10	Tennessee Titans	ATL -4
Houston Texans	17-27	Miami Dolphins	MIA -4
Cleveland Browns	13-20	St. Louis Rams	STL -5.5
New Orleans Saints	21-31	Indianapolis Colts	IND -4.5
Minnesota Vikings	24-28	Detroit Lions	DET +2.5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	17-16	Washington Redskins	TB +3.5
New York Jets	21-27	New England Patriots	NYJ +9
Pittsburgh Steelers	20-7	Kansas City Chiefs	PIT -2
Oakland Raiders	23-16	San Diego Chargers	OAK +4
Dallas Cowboys	20-24	New York Giants	NYG -3.5
Philadelphia Eagles	27-31	Carolina Panthers	CAR -3
Baltimore Ravens	17-34	Arizona Cardinals	ARI -7.5

Note: All spread info courtesy of Odds Shark. 

Top Bets

St. Louis Rams (-5.5) vs. Cleveland Browns

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

The Cleveland Browns are coming off a solid showing against the Denver Broncos where they fought hard before falling in overtime. The St. Louis Rams pose a similar challenge with a strong defense and inconsistent offense.

The difference will be the Rams' ability to run the ball nearly at will against the Browns. Rookie running back Todd Gurley has 305 rushing yards over his past two games and will face a Cleveland defense currently ranked dead last in the NFL with 149.8 rushing yards allowed per game.

Browns head coach Mike Pettine is expecting the Rams to take advantage of this fact:

Amazingly, even if the team knows what's coming, it doesn't mean it will be able to stop it. If the Rams used the bye week to get more creative offensively, they could have a strong day against an inconsistent defense.

At that point the Rams defense will just have to slow down Josh McCown to come away with an easy win.

Detroit Lions (+2.5) vs. Minnesota Vikings

Jose Juarez/Associated Press

The first win of the year was far from perfect, but after an 0-5 start, the Detroit Lions were ready to accept anything.

Among the positives from the game, Matthew Stafford finally looked like an NFL quarterback with 405 passing yards and four touchdowns. Matt Harmon of NFL.com noted the difference in the passing attack:

Calvin Johnson certainly benefited with 166 receiving yards and a touchdown in the win. Lance Moore also came through with a big game, while Golden Tate scored his "touchdown" that somehow the officials didn't call back.

In any case, the squad showed there is a lot of talent still on the roster despite some tough early losses.

Additionally, Detroit should feel confident slowing down Adrian Peterson after holding Matt Forte to just 2.9 yards per carry in Week 6. The Minnesota Vikings love running the ball and average the sixth most yards per game on the ground, but the Lions have the ability to hang on against the opposing offense's biggest strength. 

With quarterback Teddy Bridgewater being inconsistent at best this season, look for a letdown on the road against this divisional opponent.

Miami Dolphins (-4) vs. Houston Texans

Both teams earned wins last week against some of the worst teams in the NFL, but the Miami Dolphins were the ones providing a lot more encouragement going forward.

The Houston Texans have obvious talent with DeAndre Hopkins and Arian Foster, although the defense has not lived up to the hype so far this year. The Jacksonville Jaguars were competitive even without their starting running back (T.J. Yeldon) and with Blake Bortles throwing three interceptions.

Meanwhile, the Dolphins looked more like we expected them to look when the season began. The difference was new head coach Dan Campbell, who brought a toughness to the squad that was missing under Joe Philbin. Chris Wesseling of NFL.com noted one big difference:

The defense was also much better with an aggressive pass rush that produced six sacks in Sunday's win. This could cause trouble for quarterback Brian Hoyer and the Texans offense.

With a balanced offense, the Dolphins are more dangerous than ever before, and they should be a serious threat going forward.

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