Week 7 NFL Picks: Predictions for Vegas' Final Odds, Props on Sunday's Schedule

Everybody knows what's going on with the New England Patriots.

They are rolling right now, having won their first six games of the season. But that's not good enough for this team. They have unfinished business—business from the 2007 season, when they went undefeated through 18 games before losing in the final minute to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII.

So with the spur of Deflategate pushing them, the Patriots are going to roll right through everybody and get another shot at the perfect season, and this time, they won't get stopped short.

Yeah, right.

That's not going to happen. The Patriots have gotten off to a brilliant start, but this is not a perfect team. They have a secondary that can be beaten and the offensive line is not in the best of shape. They are not going to go unbeaten.

Their first loss? It could happen when they host the Jets on Sunday. New York may not be undefeated, but the Jets have gotten off to a 4-1 start under first-year head coach Todd Bowles and have a more complete team than they did when Rex Ryan was coaching them in his last few seasons.

The Jets have an offense that includes the big-play ability of wide receiver Brandon Marshall (37-511-4), the attacking running style of Chris Ivory (460 yards and 5.5 yards per carry) and impressive quarterback play from Ryan Fitzpatrick (62.6 percent completion rate).

The defense that was the key to the team in the Ryan era is now even better. The Jets rank first in yards allowed, and they have been stellar against the run with 82.6 yards allowed.

The Jets could go into Foxborough and find a way to steal the game, but they may not. If they don't, they are not going to be intimidated by the Patriots, and Bowles will have his team prepared to play its best game.

The Jets are getting nine points in this game, according to Odds Shark, but this is going to come down to who scores at the end of the game—and the margin will be seven or under.

The Jets will get the cover, and they will also get the win.

Game	Line	Over/Under	Selection
Buffalo vs. Jacksonville (London)	Buffalo (-4.5)	41	Buffalo; Over
Minnesota at Detroit	Even	44.5	Minnesota; Under
New Orleans at Indianapolis	Indianapolis (-4.5)	52	New Orleans; Over
Pittsburgh at Kansas City	Kansas City (-2.5)	43.5	Pittsburgh; Under
Houston at Miami	Miami (-4.5)	44.5	Miami; Over
NY Jets at New England	New England (-9)	47.5	NY Jets; Under
Cleveland at St. Louis	St. Louis (-7)	42	Cleveland; Over
Atlanta at Tennessee	Atlanta (-7)	46.5	Atlanta; Under
Tampa Bay at Washington	Washington (-3)	42.5	Tampa Bay; Over
Oakland at San Diego	San Diego (-3.5)	46.5	Oakland; Under
Dallas at NY Giants	New York (-3)	45	NY Giants; Over
Philadelphia at Carolina	Carolina -3	45.5	Carolina; Under
Baltimore at Arizona	Arizona (-10)	49.5	Arizona; Over

Dolphins Have an Opportunity to Make It 2 in a Row

Through the first four games of the season, the Miami Dolphins appeared to be going through the motions.

They had a 1-3 record through four listless games, and when they were beaten soundly by the Jets when the two teams played in London in Week 4, owner Stephen Ross had seen enough. He concluded the Dolphins weren't going to get any better with Joe Philbin as head coach.

The Dolphins fired Philbin and made tight ends coach Dan Campbell the new boss.

Campbell is a far from a proven commodity, but he turned up the intensity in practice, and the Dolphins responded with a one-sided 38-10 road win against Tennessee in Week 6.

They return to Sun Life Stadium on Sunday against the Houston Texans, and the home fans are likely to see a much better effort from a team that wants to turn things around.

The Dolphins were able to get their pass rush going against the Titans, and defensive end Cameron Wake is coming off a four-sack game. Wake, Olivier Vernon and Ndamukong Suh have the ability to put the heat on Houston quarterback Brian Hoyer throughout the game.

The Dolphins are 4.5-point favorites, and they have a chance to win the game and cover the spread if that pass rush can create havoc. If it does, look for the Dolphins to force turnovers and take advantage of them.

Miami will punish Houston on Sunday. Lay the points.

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

Backup QBs Get Prop Action

Quarterback injuries often tell a key story in the NFL. Only the rarest of quarterbacks can stay healthy season after season the way Brett Favre did during his record-shattering career.

Elite quarterbacks get hurt, and if the backup is sufficient, a top-level team can survive for a few weeks without its star.

The Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers have been without Tony Romo and Ben Roethlisberger respectively for several weeks. The Cowboys used Brandon Weeden to start in Romo's place, while the Steelers went with Michael Vick in lieu of Roethlisberger. In Week 7, both teams are going with new starters.

Matt Cassel gets the call for the Cowboys at New York against the Giants, and Landry Jones will start for the Steelers at Kansas City.

Linemakers are offering prop bets on both quarterbacks. Football bettors can bet on Cassel's yardage total, and if he throws for more than 220.5 yards, they can win $100 by risking $115, according to Odds Shark. They can also win and risk the same amounts if they believe he will not reach that total.

Linemakers are offering the same odds on Jones, but the yardage number is 210.5.

Bettors can also get action on the number of TD passes each man throws. If Cassel exceeds 1.5 TD passes, the return on a $100 bet is $120, while those who think Cassel will fall short have to risk $150 to win $100.

In the case of Jones, throwing more than 1.5 TD passes will bring a return of $130 on a $100 bet, but the risk on taking the under is $160 to win $100.

We are going to pass on Cassel, but we like Jones to exceed the yardage total and the touchdowns for our prop plays of the week. Kansas City's pass defense has been poor, and Jones will take advantage with Pittsburgh's superb receivers.