NFL Picks Week 15: Baltimore Ravens and the Safest Road Favorites to Back

The Week 15 lines are out and the good teams aren’t getting the respect they deserve because of the silly Vegas rule that every home team automatically gets three free points.

I’m not here to complain about it, I’m here to help you take advantage with these two games:

(Spreads courtesy of Covers.com)

Baltimore Ravens -1.5 at San Diego Chargers

The Ravens seem to have conquered their bad habit of playing down to the level of their opponent and match up well against a Chargers team that has lost four of their last five games in this series.

Philip Rivers has finally been able to minimize his turnovers, but then again it’s been against the Jaguars and Bills. So let’s not overact and believe that Rivers, behind an O-Line that has been absolutely ravaged by injuries, will have much success against a Ravens defense that ranks second against the rush and fifth against the pass.

The Ravens are still playing for a first round bye and will bring their “A” game to the west coast.

Key Trends:

Ravens are 4-1 ATS in their last five meetings.

Favorite is 5-2 ATS in their last seven meetings.

Chargers are 1-5 ATS in their last six home games vs. a team with a winning road record.

Prediction: Ravens 26, Chargers 20

Dallas Cowboys -7 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Cowboys have entered desperation mode while the Buccaneers are securing vacation plans.

The Bucs have lost by less than a TD a grand total of once in their last six losses and sport a defense that’s 27th against the pass and 28th  against the run. They can’t do anything right as it seems every facet of the team has taken a step back from last year.

With Miles Austin back to join Laurent Robinson and Dez Bryant, Tony Romo should have no problems putting up at least 30 points.

No way Tampa Bay comes close to that.

Key Trends:

Favorite is 4-0 ATS in their last four meetings.

Cowboys are 4-1 ATS in their last five meetings.

Buccaneers are 1-6 ATS in their last seven games overall.

Prediction: Cowboys 36, Buccaneers 17