NFL Week 14 Picks: Early Predictions for Every Game

The NFL had some unexpected results in Week 13. Let's establish this up front before diving into predictions for Week 14. We're coming off of a week that saw the New Orleans Saints score 10 points—total!—and the New York Giants upset the Chicago Bears, even if Chase Daniel was quarterbacking in place of an injured Mitchell Trubisky.

Elsewhere, the Jacksonville Jaguars somehow found a way to beat the Indianapolis Colts by an uninspired score of 6-0 when Jacksonville came into the game having lost seven in a row, benched Blake Bortles and fired an offensive coordinator. Indianapolis, meanwhile, was riding a five-game winning streak.

Green Bay—who were 15-point favorites at home, per OddsShark—lost to Arizona, 20-17. Promptly, Mike McCarthy was fired after serving as Packers head coach since 2006. Sitting at 4-7-1 and with Joe Philbin now serving as interim head coach, will Green Bay simply pack it in against an also underperforming Atlanta Falcons team?

Week 14 will serve several games like that—a seemingly complete wash on the outset with lost seasons at play. But, thankfully for us, there are also games pitting top contenders against each other with major stakes involved.

With the NFC West secured, will the Los Angeles Rams give Chicago their all or start preserving for the playoffs? Will the Kansas City Chiefs offense fall victim to the Baltimore Ravens' stout defense? Who will prevail on Monday night between two NFC teams fighting for a wild-card spot?

While those seem to be the most compelling games of Week 14 on paper, keep in mind that one of the more entertaining games of Week 13 featured a mismatched Chicago Bears and New York Giants in the Meadowlands.

In the meantime, here are early picks and a look into three hyped Week 14 slates.

Week 14 Picks

Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans: TEN 24, JAX 6

New York Jets at Buffalo Bills: BUF 14, NYJ 10

New York Giants at Washington Redskins: NYG 27, WSH 14

New Orleans Saints at Tampa Bay Buccaneers: NO 45, TB 17

New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins: NE 38, MIA 17

Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs: KC 35, BAL 28

Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans: HOU 31, IND 21

Atlanta Falcons at Green Bay Packers: GB 17, ATL 16

Carolina Panthers at Cleveland Browns: CLE 28, CAR 17

Denver Broncos at San Francisco 49ers: DEN 31, SF 9

Cincinnati Bengals at Los Angeles Chargers: LAC 41, CIN 10

Detroit Lions at Arizona Cardinals: DET 20, AZ 17

Pittsburgh Steelers at Oakland Raiders: PIT 40, OAK 24

Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys: DAL 17, PHI 14

Los Angeles Rams at Chicago Bears: LAR 34, CHI 24

Minnesota Vikings at Seattle Seahawks: SEA 30, MIN 20

Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs

John Bazemore/Associated Press

The projection for this game depends heavily on something we don't currently know: who will be starting at quarterback for Baltimore?

Reports go back and forth on the health of Joe Flacco, who has been out for three games with a hip injury. In his absence, rookie Lamar Jackson has gotten Baltimore back in the playoff race.

Week 14 at Kansas City will go a long way in deciding the Ravens' January fate. Will head coach John Harbaugh ride with Jackson, who might be actively saving his job, or go back to veteran Flacco, who has experience in many playoff races?

Having placed running back Alex Collins on injured reserve, the quarterback position is more critical than ever.

As for Kansas City, the quarterback position is the least of the franchise's problems. Second-year star Patrick Mahomes has 41 passing touchdowns and 3,923 yards through the air this season. He's the clear MVP of this team if not the NFL. The Chiefs go in step with his other-worldly ability to extend plays and find receivers.

It's the defense that has been a liability all season for the Chiefs, and more so now that the offense has one fewer playmaker to compensate for it.

The loss of Kareem Hunt, while more important than football implications, is huge for a franchise that has its eyes set on a Super Bowl. Hunt's absence will make a Baltimore defense giving up an average of 87.2 rushing yards a game even more probable to dictate the game flow.

All told, this crucial meeting will come down to the quarterback position for both sides. As the 7-5 Ravens try to cling to the No. 6 seed, the Chiefs are battling to secure the No. 1 seed in the AFC ahead of the Texans (9-3), Patriots (9-3) and Chargers (9-3), who are also challenging the Chiefs for the AFC West.

Kansas City fans know all too well what it's like for a Chiefs team to dominate all regular season only to sputter into a first-round loss in January. The Ravens find themselves in an unforeseen circumstance with the opportunity to send a juggernaut spiraling.

Los Angeles Rams at Chicago Bears

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

The Rams have already clinched the NFC West. Generally speaking, this is when teams start to get conservative down the stretch of the regular season with the playoffs and a Super Bowl run in mind. Those teams didn't have 32-year-old wunderkind Sean McVay at the helm. 

McVay shows no mercy. He is not the type of coach who's content with a regular-season divisional title, especially with the 10-2 New Orleans Saints, who handed the Rams their only loss of the season, right behind them contesting for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

So, what about the Bears? Chicago fell victim to a trap game in the Meadowlands on Sunday, losing to the New York Giants 30-27 in overtime. The loss pushed the Bears to 8-4, still leading the NFC North but within reach of the 6-5-1 Minnesota Vikings. More importantly moving forward, Chase Daniel was further exposed.

Daniel has started two games in place of Mitchell Trubisky—who is nursing his right shoulder—and has only started in four NFL games. He was the main liability for Chicago in losing to New York—even fumbling three times in one drive—and all-purpose back Tarik Cohen is the one who threw the game-tying touchdown.

Chicago's defense, led by an unstoppable Khalil Mack, is among the best in the league and good enough to keep them in the game. But if the lowly Giants—even with rookie star Saquon Barkley and the dual-threat Odell Beckham Jr.—can score 30 points in a win, the Rams offense will feast.

Not to mention the Rams defense potentially feasting on an inexperienced Daniel, particularly reigning Defensive Player of the Year and game-altering force Aaron Donald, who has 16.5 sacks on the season.

The Bears need Trubisky if they're going to have a shot against L.A.

Minnesota Vikings at Seattle Seahawks

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

Week 14's Monday Night Football offering will feature the key to the NFC wild-card picture. Seattle has improbably nuzzled into the No. 5 seed after starting the season wobbly at best. The Seahawks are riding a three-game winning streak—beating Green Bay, Carolina and San Francisco.

Needless to say, Minnesota will be Seattle's toughest test since losing to L.A. 36-31 in Week 10. Similarly, the Vikings' six wins on the season have all come against lesser opponents: San Francisco, Philadelphia, Arizona, New York Jets, Detroit and Green Bay. When facing tough competition, they have crumbled. 

The Vikings will visit the Pacific Northwest in a more precarious situation than Seattle. While the Seahawks' division is out of the question, Minnesota can still plausibly win the NFC North. Regardless, both teams have everything to play for.

On paper, Minnesota has the advantage on offense, but quarterback Kirk Cousins hasn't quite been able to figure out how to take advantage of his new weapons in his first season as a Viking, even considering Adam Thielen's breakout year. The Seahawks have been operating more efficiently as of late.

Running back Chris Carson is filling a need that Seattle has lacked since the departure of Marshawn Lynch. Speedy wide receiver Tyler Lockett has found the end zone eight times this season and opened things up for Doug Baldwin. Quarterback Russell Wilson, of course, has been the leader to get things back on track. 

On Sunday at New England, Minnesota gave up 160 yards on the ground and 471 total yards of offense in a 24-10 loss. On top of that, Cousins looked uninspiring. If Minnesota looks as lackluster in Seattle, expect the Seahawks to pounce quickly.