Week 7 NFL Picks: Predictions for Sunday's Games, Odds Guide and Over/Under Tips

The NFL picks outlook for Week 7 started innocently enough. 

Oddsmakers had the Denver Broncos pegged as 2.5-point favorites over the Arizona Cardinals, which seemed fair to both teams.

The Broncos took care of business, to put it lightly, on the road for Thursday Night Football en route to a 45-10 victory. 

If the first game of the week is any sign, the entire slate shouldn't be too difficult, though there are a handful of games with large encounters, and a few heavyweight battles like Carolina-Philadelphia and Cincinnati-Kansas City seem like 50-50 plays. 

If bettors play it right, they can be like the Broncos and use Week 7 as a turning point. 

Week 7 NFL Odds

Tennessee at L.A. Chargers (-7) | O/U 45.5

Buffalo at Indianapolis (-7.5) | O/U 43

Carolina at Philadelphia (-5) | O/U 45.5

Cleveland at Tampa Bay (-3.5) | O/U 49.5

Detroit (-3) at Miami  | O/U 46.5

Houston at Jacksonville (-4.5) | O/U 42

Minnesota (-4) at N.Y. Jets | O/U 47

New England (-3) at Chicago | O/U 49.5

New Orleans at Baltimore (-2.5) | O/U 49.5

Dallas at Washington (-1) | O/U 41

L.A. Rams (-10) at San Francisco | O/U 52

Cincinnati at Kansas City (-6) | O/U 58.5

N.Y. Giants at Atlanta (-4) | O/U 54.5

Buffalo at Indianapolis (-7.5)

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

There's no shame in using injury news as a way to build bankroll. 

An encounter between the Buffalo Bills and Indianapolis Colts provides this chance, with the road team now missing rookie starter Josh Allen, shoving Derek Anderson into the spotlight away from home. 

Granted, Allen wasn't much of a threat to begin with considering he only completed 54 percent of his passes with two touchdowns and five interceptions, suffering from the usual rookie growing pains while doing so on one of the league's worst rosters. 

But we're talking about Anderson, a 35-year-old quarterback who has attempted more than 50 passes in a season twice since 2010. He's certainly not going to elevate one of the worst supporting casts in football. 

On the other end is Andrew Luck, a guy clearly getting more zip behind his passes each week, which continues to open up the playbook.

Unlike Anderson, he's got the ability to uplift talent: 

The Colts are 1-5, yes, but this has been the most winnable game on the schedule since before the season started. Luck and his 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions will make short work of a Buffalo team unable to chew clock offensively before putting points on the board. 

This one won't be pretty by any means, but the biggest quarterback disparity of the week will have predictable results. 

Prediction: Colts 28, Bills 10

Detroit (-3) at Miami

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

It's simply an odd week for quarterbacks. 

Anybody who watches film closely knew Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill was dealing with some sort of arm issue suffered during the first four weeks of the season, which carried over to losses in Weeks 4 and 5—now the NFL is investigating how the Dolphins reported the injury. 

Granted, the Dolphins went on to win in Week 6, escaping the elite Chicago Bears defense, 31-28, while Brock Osweiler of all people threw for 380 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions. 

Just don't expect it to happen again. 

The problem with relying on the Osweiler train here is it ignores the fact the Detroit Lions now have a week of film detailing what the Dolphins want to do. At the professional level, most times one week of film is all it takes. 

These Lions are only 2-3, but they are this year's blue-collar team that loves to drop the winnable games (30-27 loss to San Francisco) but win the tough encounters, hence wins over New England and Green Bay by 26-10 and 31-23 margins, respectively. 

Matthew Stafford once again makes it all click, this time completing 66 percent of his passes with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions while breakout rookie running back Kerryon Johnson averages 5.7 yards per carry against a team coughing up 118.2 rushing yards per game, ranking them outside the top 20. 

The Dolphins are a tougher-than-expected opponent by most accounts, so the Lions should fare well if they once again play to the level of the competition.

Keep in mind they enter this one off a bye week as well, so they are not only fresh for the road encounter but have multiple weeks to prepare. Late in the game, a fourth-quarter-comeback guru like Stafford should put this one away. 

Prediction: Lions 27, Dolphins 23

Cincinnati at Kansas City (-6)

Steven Senne/Associated Press

Don't expect the Kansas City Chiefs to suffer a hangover coming off their first loss of the season. 

A road loss to the Patriots in 43-40 fashion while Pat Mahomes throws for 352 yards and four touchdowns isn't exactly something to fret over. And for those counting, the Andy Reid understudy now has 18 touchdown passes over six games for the five-win team. 

All this heading into a game at home against a Cincinnati Bengals defense coughing up 292 passing yards (28th) and 26.3 (23rd) points per game. 

Which isn't to say those Bengals don't stand a chance, but they enter the road contest coming off a 28-21 loss to Pittsburgh and will miss a few key names like starting cornerback Darqueze Dennard.

Andy Dalton has the offense humming with 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions and Tyler Boyd has emerged as a strong complement to A.J. Green (they have combined for nine touchdowns already), but the running game won't have Giovani Bernard and the coaching staff only gave Joe Mixon 11 carries a week ago. 

Knowing Reid, he'll scheme up a way to exploit the absence of Dennard in the slot while otherwise picking on what is likely the worst linebacking unit in the NFL, which will also happen to miss starter Nick Vigil—so expect a huge workload for Travis Kelce. 

On prime time, expect Mahomes to have a big day as the Chiefs pull ahead early on scripted plays designed to hit the Bengals where they're hurt, forcing the visitors into a one-dimensional attack that stutters often. 

Prediction: Chiefs 31, Bengals 23

Odds via OddsShark