Week 15 NFL Picks: Mid-Week Vegas Odds, Lines, Prop Bets and Predictions

The Carolina Panthers are undefeated and have an excellent chance of remaining that way through the end of the regular season.

The Seattle Seahawks are surging with four straight wins, and their offense has rarely looked as good as it has during this winning streak. They are the team that nobody wants to play.

But the Arizona Cardinals just may be the best team in the NFC. They have reeled off seven straight wins and are playing with a purpose. Head coach Bruce Arians knows his team can beat anyone when the Cardinals are at their best, which is a level they had not reached at this point last year when a series of game-changing injuries hit Arizona.

The most notable injury was the torn ACL suffered by quarterback Carson Palmer. Without their triggerman, the Cardinals lacked the firepower to compete with the top teams and were a first-round washout in the playoffs.

Palmer is healthy this year, and Arizona has the top-ranked offense in the league. Palmer has thrown for 4,003 yards and has also fired 31 touchdown passes. He has the Cardinals playing relentless football, and that should be more than good enough to get them a convincing win on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The 11-2 Cardinals are 3.5-point favorites over the 6-7 Eagles, but the spread should be closer to a touchdown in this game. The betting public agrees, as 68 percent of the bettors are backing Arizona.

In addition to issues at quarterback with Sam Bradford, the Eagles running game has been something of a disappointment. While the Eagles rank 13th in running the ball, DeMarco Murray has not fit in. Murray may have won the league's rushing title a year ago, but he is averaging 3.5 yards per carry this season and is no longer starting for Chip Kelly.

Additionally, the Eagles rank 26th in yards allowed, and that will be an open invitation for Palmer to open up the passing game. 

It will start with Larry Fitzgerald, and it will also include John Brown and Michael Floyd. The Cardinals have too many weapons and the Eagles make too many mistakes.

This should be an easy win and cover by the visitors.

Game	Line	Over-Under	Selection
Tampa Bay at St. Louis	St. Louis -1.5	41	Tampa Bay; Over
New York Jets at Dallas	N.Y. Jets -3	42	New York Jets; Under
Carolina at New York Giants	Carolina -5	48	Carolina; Over
Buffalo at Washington	Even	44	Buffalo; Over
Atlanta at Jacksonville	Jacksonville -3	49	Jacksonville; Over
Chicago at Minnesota	Minnesota -5.5	43	Minnesota; Under
Tennessee at New England	New England -15.5	47	New England; Over
Kansas City at Baltimore	Kansas City -8.5	42	Baltimore; Under
Houston at Indianapolis	No line	--	Indianapolis
Cleveland at Seattle	Seattle -16	43	Seattle; Under
Green Bay at Oakland	Green Bay -3	46.5	Oakland; Over
Miami at San Diego	San Diego -1	46	San Diego; Under
Denver at Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh -7	44.5	Pittsburgh; Over
Cincinnati at San Francisco	Cincinnati -4.5	40.5	San Francisco; Over
Arizona at Philadelphia	Arizona -3.5	50.5	Arizona; Under
Detroit at New Orleans	New Orleans -3	50.5	New Orleans; Over

Packers, Raiders headed for explosive game in Oakland

Fans who have tickets for the Green Bay Packers and Oakland Raiders for their Week 15 encounter at the O.co Coliseum are advised to get to the stadium early.

This is no game to get stuck in traffic and take a chance on missing any of the action. This should be a high-scoring, well-executed offensive game in the Bay Area.

Both teams have quarterbacks who are capable of lighting it up and stringing touchdowns together. This is nothing new for Aaron Rodgers, as he has been one of the best quarterbacks in the game for several seasons. However, Derek Carr has come on dramatically after a solid rookie year in 2014. He has built an excellent rapport with rookie wideout Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree.

The Raiders also have a running game with Latavius Murray that can produce big plays.

The Packers had not gotten a lot out of their running game prior to last week, but the powerful Eddie Lacy gained 124 yards on 24 carries in Green Bay's victory over Dallas.

Rodgers is going to spread the ball around to Randall Cobb, Davante Adams and tight end Richard Rodgers. The Green Bay quarterback should have no problems making plays against the generous Oakland secondary.

The total in this game is 46.5 points. Look for these two teams to surpass that mark early in the fourth quarter. The over will come through with ease.

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

The nobody-wants-it division

It seems that the NFL will provide football fans with at least one division nearly every season that can't play high-level football.

This year, the NFC East has that label, as the the Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants are all tied for first place with 6-7 records.

How bad is the division? The Cowboys are 4-9, and they are not out of it.

Las Vegas handicappers are offering a bet on which team takes the division title. With three games to play, the Eagles are the betting favorite at plus-130.

The Giants are the second choice at plus-190, while the Redskins are listed at plus-225. The Cowboys have the most to overcome, as they are plus-3,300. 

Bettors who are interested in this proposition should stay away from Philadelphia and New York. They are the two favorites, so why not go with a long shot in this underwhelming division? Take the Redskins to survive and earn the division title.

Odds courtesy of Odds Shark.