NFL Week 15 Picks: Road Favorites You Can Count on to Cover

If you're the kind of person who doesn't like betting on road favorites when you pick NFL games, Week 15 is not your week. There are a lot of them to go around.

I'm typically pretty wary of road favorites myself, but the good news is that there are a bunch that look like pretty good bets. It helps that we know which teams are good and which are bad at this point in the season, and there are more than a handful of matchups that feature bad teams hosting good teams.

There are some road favorites that I think are going to fall flat in Week 15, but there are four in particular that I like to win and cover.

Let's take a closer gander, shall we?

Note: all spreads according to Bodog.

Green Bay Packers (-14) at Kansas City Chiefs

This one's actually a little too easy. We're talking about the NFL's best team going up against one of the league's worst teams, and the Chiefs seem to be getting worse every week.

The Chiefs' biggest problem at this juncture is a total lack of offense. They lost Jamaal Charles to an ACL tear a long time ago, and the Chiefs have been helpless with Tyler Palko under center in place of Matt Cassel. With their current lineup, they're capable of scoring no more than 10 points in a given game.

It doesn't help that the Chiefs just fired their head coach on Monday (see The Kansas City Star), giving Todd Haley the axe after less than three seasons on the job.

It all adds up to a long day at the office against the Packers. Aaron Rodgers and the Pack's offense is going to do its thing, and the Chiefs will be powerless to keep pace with them. Considering the circumstances, you should consider the 14-point spread a gift.

Packers 28, Chiefs 10

New Orleans Saints (-7) at Minnesota Vikings

At first glance, this looks like a no-brainer, as surely the 10-3 Saints can cover a seven-point spread against the 2-11 Vikings.

It's not that simple. The Saints haven't won by seven points on the road since Week 4, and the Vikings haven't lost a home game by seven points since Week 5. They won't go down without a fight in this game.

However, you do have to like Drew Brees' chances going up against Minnesota's weak pass defense. The Vikings rank 26th in the league against the pass, and they are tied for the league low with six interceptions.

This doesn't bode well for them going up against a quarterback who slings it as much as Brees. The Vikings are going to have trouble staying within striking distance and will ultimately run out of gas.

Saints 27, Vikings 19

Cincinnati Bengals (-7) at St. Louis Rams

The Bengals haven't yet shown that they are capable of beating the league's better teams, but they're in the playoff chase because they've been very good at beating bad teams.

As such, you have to think they'll be just fine against a Rams team that doesn't bring much to the table. Nothing the Rams do is particularly scary, and they have way too many weaknesses that are easily exploited. 

Their inability to stop the run is the big one. The Rams rank dead last in the NFL in rush defense, so Cedric Benson should be in for a big game.

Assuming Andy Dalton doesn't make too many mistakes and the defense is able to hold its own against Sam Bradford and the Rams' offense, the Bengals should be golden.

Bengals 24, Rams 13

Baltimore Ravens (-1) at San Diego Chargers

Every now and then, you come across a spread that makes you wonder if the oddsmakers know something you don't.

The Ravens being favored by a single point against the Chargers is one of these. The Ravens are the best team in the AFC, so they should be favored by more.

The oddsmakers are clearly trying to trick bettors into believing two things. The first is that the Chargers' turnaround in the last two weeks is for real, and the other is that the Ravens will once again fall flat in what is essentially a trap game.

You should believe neither. The Chargers are not as good as they've looked in the last two weeks, and the Ravens have shown in recent weeks that they've learned their lesson about staying focused in unspectacular matchups.

This game won't be a blowout, mind you, but I don't see the Ravens disappointing again.

Ravens 21, Chargers 17