Week 15 Game Picks
18 Dec. 2021 8:15 p.m. ET Game
Patriots @ Colts
It’s week 15 which means it’s time to get some NFL football on a Saturday! In the lone installation of a Saturday game, due to the Browns and Raiders contest getting postponed, the Patriots head to Indy in a pivotal AFC contest. Both teams are coming off a bye week, and New England sits atop the AFC with the No. 1 seed. A loss on Saturday night would dethrone Bill Belichick’s squad and push Indy firmly into the playoff picture.
Jonathan Taylor is going to be the key factor of this game as the Colts RB has accounted for 35.2 pct of the team’s scrimmage yards this season (only player with 30+ pct of team's yards). If New England’s run defense can look to do damage control against Taylor and force Carson Wentz to air it out against their stout secondary, this team could be en route to their eighth straight win (6-0 on the road).
Score: 27-23, Patriots Win.
19 Dec. 2021 1:00 p.m. ET Game
Cowboys @ Giants
The Cowboys have won two straight seek their third straight win in New York, which happens to be their third consecutive road game. Dallas’ defense has thrived on the road lately allowing 20 points or fewer in each of their last 4 away games.
The Cowboys look primed to take care of business as the team has dominated the NFC with a record of 7-1, their lone loss coming in Week 1 against the defending champs, Buccaneers. If that wasn’t convincing enough, the Giants have lost 8 of their last 9 games vs the Cowboys (swept in 3 of the last 4 seasons).
Score: 31-16, Cowboys Wins.
Titans @ Steelers
If there has to be a “bold pick” in the early-window games of Week 15, it’s going to be this one. Despite how ugly Pittsburgh looked in the first half against the Vikings in last Thursday’s outing, they outdid themselves by nearing completing what would’ve been the largest regular-season comeback in NFL history.
This week the team returns back to their home turf in Heinz Field with a couple of extra days of rest. They take on a Tennesee team that is without their top two offensive talents in RB Derrick Henry and WR A.J. Brown. The Steelers defense needs to take advantage of that as they have allowed 24.8 PPG (would be most since 1988) and 371.3 total YPG (would be most in team history) this season. There’s room for Ryan Tannehill to make his mistakes, but it’s all up to Pittsburgh being able to capitalize on those turnovers.
Ben Roethlisberger could be the Steelers key with a 100+ passer rating in 4 of his last 5 games and a 6-3 record in his career vs Titans (won 3 straight starts). He can form a two-dimensional attack with rookie Najee Harris, who is the only RB to rank top 6 in rush and rec yards among RBs this season. Together they can exploit a Titan defense that has proven to be vulnerable at times… I’ll take the Steelers in a close one.
Score: 24-20, Steelers Win.
Jets @ Dolphins
Miami is a perfect 5-0 since Week 9 and takes on a Jets defense this week that has allowed 30.5 PPG, a 70.6 opp comp pct, and a 108.2 opp passer rating this season. Meanwhile, the Dolphins have allowed a mere 11.0 PPG over their 5-game win streak. It should be a field day in favor of the home team.
Score: 28-13, Dolphins Win.
Cardinals @ Lions
This game is a no-brainer. Arizona has looked great all year, but just not good enough to keep the No. 1 seed in the NFC on lock. Besides, being in primetime has affected this team as Arizona is 10-0 in non-primetime games started by Kyler Murray this season. On top of that, the Cardinals are 9-0 in games when allowing fewer than 24 points this season (1-3 when allowing 24+ points). Fortunately, they take on a Lions team that has scored have 17 points or fewer in 10 games this season (most such games in the NFL). A bounce-back game this week is exactly what this team needs after a tough NFC west loss last week.
Quinn Harris | Credit: USA TODAY Sports
Score: 34-17, Cardinals Win.
Panthers @ Bills
Both these teams haven’t been the most successful lately as Carolina has lost 8 of their last 10 games and Buffalo has lost 4 of their last 6 games. This week, the Panthers get yet another lopsided matchup against a Bills team that is better than their 7-6 record suggests. Cam Newton has lost 11 straight starts for the Panthers and this week he takes on Josh Allen who should find no problem exploiting a weak Carolina secondary. Buffalo bounces back in dominant fashion.
Score: 27-19, Bills Win.
Texans @ Jaguars
The Texans are bad, but they aren’t as bad as their AFC south rivals in Jacksonville. This week the Jaguars take the field for the first time since firing head coach Urban Meyer but this likely shouldn’t change the team’s history against Houston.
The Jaguars have averaged 13.8 PPG this season and a huge part of that could be because No. 1 pick Trevor Lawrence has 0 pass TD in 6 games this season, including 5 of his last 6. He takes on fellow rookie QB Davis Mills who is 0-7 in his career as a starter, so a first win seems on the horizon as long as he plays smart and lets the defense get a fair share of takeaways. Besides, the Texans have won 7 straight games vs Jaguars if that counts towards anything…
