NFL Picks Week 15: Highlighting Best Vegas Odds and Expert Predictions

There are a number of high-profile NFL games this week. The Los Angeles Chargers will meet the Kansas City Chiefs Thursday night, and there's a get-together between the shocked New England Patriots (based on their last-play loss to the Miami Dolphins) and the slumping Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday.

The Sunday night meeting between the struggling Philadelphia Eagles and the Los Angeles Rams will be featured later in this piece, but the meeting between the Dallas Cowboys and Indianapolis Colts on the same day is slipping somewhat under the radar.

The Cowboys are the hottest team in the NFL with five consecutive victories, but they are three-point underdogs in this game, per OddsShark.

The Colts have also been playing excellent football, and that's quite a surprise considering this was a 4-12 team last year and many of the preseason publications selected the Colts as a last-place team in the AFC South.

But the return of Andrew Luck has turned the Colts into a feisty and competitive team that comes into this game having won six of seven games and with a winning (7-6) record.

The Colts bounced back from a 6-0 defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars with a 24-21 victory over the Houston Texans. Both of those games were on the road, and the Colts ended Houston's nine-game winning streak with that upset.

Luck has come back from a shoulder injury that caused him to miss the 2017 season, and he has completed 359 of 530 passes (67.7 percent) for 3,759 yards with 34 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

He has a strong working relationship with T.Y. Hilton and tight end Eric Ebron. Hilton has caught 62 passes for 986 yards and six touchdowns, while Ebron is having a career year with 58 receptions, 654 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Ebron had never caught more than five TD passes in any season before this year and twice was limited to one TD catch for a full season.

The Cowboys have won five games in a row, and the combination of quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott has turned it on during that winning streak. The Dallas passing game has become quite dangerous since it acquired Amari Cooper from the Oakland Raiders.

Prescott is completing 68.2 percent of his passes and has a 17-7 TD-interception ratio, while Elliott has rushed for 1,262 yards with six rushing touchdowns. He is also an excellent pass catcher with 65 receptions out of the backfield.

Cooper is coming off a huge game, as he caught 10 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The wrong team appears to be favored in this game. The Cowboys are not only streaking, but they appear powerful on both sides of the ball. The Colts are a hustling team that is getting the most out of its ability. The Cowboys win this game straight-up as underdogs.

Jamey Eisenberg of CBS Sports likes the Colts, per NFL Pick Watch, a site that monitors many of the top NFL writers and expert handicappers.

Other Indianapolis backers include Mike Clay of ESPN.com, OddsShark and Numberfire. Dave Richard of CBS Sports and Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas Morning News are among those selecting the Cowboys.

NFL Week 15 Schedule and Odds

All Times ET

Thursday, December 13

Los Angeles Chargers at Kansas City (-3.5) (Over/Under: 53.5) (8:20 p.m., Fox) 

Saturday, December 15

Houston (-6) at New York Jets (Over/Under: 41.5) (4:30 p.m., NFL Network) 

Cleveland at Denver (-3) (Over/Under: 45.5) (8:20 p.m., NFL Network) 

Sunday, December 16

Oakland at Cincinnati (-2.5) (Over/Under: 46) (1 p.m., CBS) 

Miami at Minnesota (-7) (Over/Under: 44.5) (1 p.m., CBS) 

Tennessee at New York Giants (-2.5) (Over/Under: 43.5) (1 p.m., CBS) 

Washington at Jacksonville (-7) (Over/Under: 36) (1 p.m., CBS) 

Arizona at Atlanta (-9) Over/Under: 44) (1 p.m., Fox) 

Detroit at Buffalo (-2.5) (Over/Under: 39) (1 p.m., Fox) 

Green Bay at Chicago (-6) (Over/Under: 45.5) (1 p.m., Fox) 

Dallas at Indianapolis (-3) (Over/Under: 47) (1 p.m., Fox) 

Tampa Bay at Baltimore (-7.5) (Over/Under: 46.5) (1 p.m., Fox) 

Seattle (-4.5) at San Francisco (Over/Under: 44) (4:05 p.m., Fox) 

New England (-2) at Pittsburgh (Over/Under: 52) (4:25 p.m., CBS) 

Philadelphia at Los Angeles Rams (-10.5) (Over/Under: 52.5) (8:20 p.m., NBC) 

Monday, December 17

New Orleans (-6) at Carolina (Over/Under: 52) (8:15 p.m., ESPN)     

Odds obtained from OddsShark. Picks against the spread in bold. 

Philadelphia at Los Angeles Rams

The defending Super Bowl champions have never hit their stride this season, and they appear to be in a dangerous position against the Rams Sunday night.

Quarterback Carson Wentz has a back injury and did not practice Wednesday. Adam Schefter of ESPN reported on Thursday that Wentz has a fractured vertebra and will require rest, and his status will be monitored to see if playing again this season will make the injury worse. 

If Wentz can't play, that means Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles will take his place, and that will make it more difficult to compete with the Rams. Foles has completed 54 of 82 passes for 451 yards with one touchdown and one interception this season.

The Eagles are coming off a 29-23 overtime loss to the Dallas Cowboys, and they have lost three of their last five games. The two wins in that span came against the New York Giants and Washington Redskins, and the Eagles are 6-7 this season.

They are also catching the high-powered Rams at the wrong time. Los Angeles suffered its second loss of the season Sunday night on the road against the Chicago Bears. Jared Goff struggled in the cold temperatures against Chicago's hard-hitting defense, and Todd Gurley was kept in check.

The Rams were held to six points in that game, and the belief here is that the return home will allow them to return to the form that has led to 11 victories and the NFC West title.

The pointspread is heavy at 10.5 points, and that is insulting to the Super Bowl champions. However, they don't have the firepower to stay with the Rams in this game, and look for Los Angeles to cover the spread in the victory.

All of the experts on the first page of NFL Pick Watch's leaderboard have picked the Rams to win. The Eagles just have too big a hill to climb to register a much-needed upset.