NFL Picks Week 15: Tips and Predictions for Prop Bets, Over/Under Lines and Odds

The 14th week of the 2018 NFL season was a wild one. If you predicted that the Chicago Bears would completely shut down the Los Angeles Rams offense, that the New England Patriots would lose on an improbably pitch-drill play and that the Seattle Seahawks would spring into championship form—well, you probably made some quality bets.

The NFL is unpredictable, though. That's just the nature of the league and a big reason why football is so fun. Everyone loves to try predicting the unexpected anyway, though.

That's exactly what we're here to do. We're going to take a look at the odds for every game of Week 15 and the over/unders from OddsShark. We'll also make score predictions for each game and examine some of our favorite early plays of the week.

Week 15 Odds, Over/Unders and Predictions

Los Angeles Chargers (+3.5, 53 O/U) at Kansas City Chiefs: Chargers 30, Chiefs, 28

Houston Texans (-6, 41.5 O/U) at New York Jets: Texans 35, Jets, 24

Cleveland Browns (+3, 45.5 O/U) at Denver Broncos: Broncos 24, Browns 23

Green Bay Packers (+5.5, 45 O/U) at Chicago Bears: Bears 22, Packers 16

Miami Dolphins (+9.5, 44.5 O/U) at Minnesota Vikings: Vikings 24, Dolphins 20

Detroit Lions (+2.5, 38.5 O/U) at Buffalo Bills: Bills 20, Lions 17

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+8, 46.5) at Baltimore Ravens: Ravens 30, Buccaneers 24

Arizona Cardinals (+8.5, 44 O/U) at Atlanta Falcons: Falcons 26, Cardinals 24

Oakland Raiders (+3, 46 O/U) at Cincinnati Bengals: Bengals 22, Raiders 20

Tennessee Titans (+2.5, 43.5 O/U) at New York Giants: Titans 26, Giants, 23

Washington Redskins (+7, 36 O/U) at Jacksonville Jaguars: Jaguars 13, Redskins 12

Dallas Cowboys (+3, 47 O/U) at Indianapolis Colts: Cowboys 28, Colts 26

Seattle Seahawks (-4.5, 44.5 O/U) at San Francisco 49ers: Seahawks 33, 40ers 27

New England Patriots (Unavailable) at Pittsburgh Steelers: Patriots 30, Steelers 28

Philadelphia Eagles (+9, 53.5 O/U) at Los Angeles Rams: Rams 31, Eagles 22

New Orleans Saints (-6.5, 52 O/U) at Carolina Panthers: Saints 34, Panthers 25

Top Week 15 Plays

New Orleans Saints +6.5 against Carolina Panthers

The New Orleans Saints finally pulled out of their funk in the second half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week. They racked up 25 points in that half after scoring just three in the first and only 10 against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 13.

Not everything can be perfect all the time, even for a talented team like New Orleans.

"A lot of people expect us to come out and be perfect, but that's just not reality," running back Alvin Kamara said, per Mike Triplett of ESPN.com.

The Saints getting back on track is terrific news for those looking to take New Orleans and the points against the rival Carolina Panthers. Nearly a touchdown is a sizable margin for a divisional game, but the Saints should be able to hit it.

The Panthers are in a slide, and quarterback Cam Newton is less than 100 percent. The Saints, meanwhile, will be motivated to put this game away in order to hang onto the top seed in the NFC.

The upstart Cleveland Browns only missed beating the Panthers by a touchdown because of a missed point. Drew Brees and the Saints may win by twice that.

Saints and Panthers OVER 26.5 First-Half Points

Because we expect the Saints to come out swinging—and scoring—we like this prop found at Oddschecker.com. You can find almost even odds on the first-half over/under of 26.5 points, and we're going to go with the over.

Both teams will be eager to get off to a fast start. New Orleans is trying to maintain playoff positioning. Carolina is fighting for its playoff life. While the Saints have earned the reputation as an offensive juggernaut, it's not like the Panthers don't have weapons of their own.

Newton isn't healthy, but he's still dangerous. Christian McCaffrey is one of the best running backs in the league. D.J. Moore and Ian Thomas have both been coming on in recent weeks. Just consider that the Panthers were able to put up 17 first-half points on the Browns despite taking a methodical, grinding approach to the first half.

If Carolina scores 17 against the Saints in the first half, that will only leave New Orleans needing to score 10 to hit the over. That should happen with ease.

Rams and Eagles OVER 26.5 First-Half Points

We're a big fan of props that involve first-half over/unders. OddsChecker.com has the same 26.5-point over/under set for the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles contest on Sunday night. We like the over there too.

The Rams will be eager to erase the lingering taste of last week's six-point outing against the Chicago Bears. Scoring early against the stumbling Eagles should help accomplish that goal.

Philadelphia has been dealing with a number of injuries in the secondary. While defensive back Avonte Maddox may be returning, former second-round pick Sidney Jones is still returning. Cornerback Jalen Mills was just placed on injured reserve.

This banged-up secondary allowed Dak Prescott to pass for 455 yards and three touchdowns last week. Jared Goff may not hit that number, but we do expect the Rams to jump out early.

If this game is 21-9 at the half, we wouldn't be surprised one bit. That would also be enough to hit the first-half over. We're not quite as high on this game hitting the full-game over—we are in the Saint-Panthers tilt—because we can see Los Angeles coasting in the second half.

For the first, though, take the over.