2011 Week 14 NFL Betting Preview
The final quarter of the NFL betting campaign gets underway on Thursday night, and it is clearly going to be a week that helps separate the pretenders from the contenders.
It is already clear that we have three major contenders in the NFC, as the Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, and New Orleans Saints are head and shoulders above the rest of the field. The rest of the conference though, has a very interesting week ahead.
The team that has to be smiling is the Detroit Lions. They are going to be comfortable favorites over the lowly Minnesota Vikings at home on Sunday when the Week 14 lines are released for that game, especially if RB Adrian Peterson and/or QB Christian Ponder don't end up suiting up.
Detroit is the only team in the NFC playoff picture that truly has it easy this week. The Atlanta Falcons are short 2.5 point favorites, but they have to go on the road to take on QB Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, while the Chicago Bears are 3.5 point underdogs on the road at the incredibly hot Denver Broncos.
The big game in the NFC comes on Sunday Night Football, when the Dallas Cowboys play host to the New York Giants. The winner of that game is going to be in control of their own destiny over the last three weeks of the season, especially if it is Dallas that wins the game. The Cowboys will move two up with three to play, and they basically need to win either this week's game or the Week 17 clash at MetLife Stadium against the Giants to feel like they have total control over the NFC East. The loser of this one is going to be in a heck of a lot of trouble. New York has lost four in a row, but three of those four games came against the big boys in the NFC that we mentioned at the top of this article. Dallas, which lost last week to Arizona, is favored by a field goal at home.
Depending on how things work out this week for the rest of the teams involved in the Wild Card picture, the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals can get back within a game of the postseason with a win this week. The Cards have only lost one game in the last month, and that came to the 49ers. Unfortunately, it is San Fran that is once again on the schedule this week, and that's why Arizona is a four point underdog. Seattle takes on the St. Louis Rams at home on Monday Night Football in a game that is currently off the board until St. Louis figures out whether either QB Sam Bradford or QB AJ Feeley will be available for the game.
Over in the AFC, most of the cream is expected to continue to rise to the top of the conference. The Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, and New England Patriots are all huge favorites against teams that aren't going to be in the playoffs this year, and all three should easily move to 10-3.
The question is whether the Houston Texans are going to join them at 10-3 or not. If they do, they have a chance to win the AFC South and clinch their first playoff berth in team history. The battle this week is tough though, as the 7-5 Cincinnati Bengals badly need a win like this one. Though Houston has proven that it can win a game at home with QB TJ Yates calling the shots, on the road against a conference foe is a totally different story. The Bengals are getting the nod by 3.5.
The Bengals aren't the only team with a tough draw this week. The Kansas City Chiefs are at 5-7 and are two games back of the pack both in the AFC West and for the sixth seed in the conference. They can move within a game in all likelihood of at least one, if not both positions with a win on the road at the New York Jets. The Jets are favored by nine, but this is definitely not going to be the easiest game in the world.
Speaking of not easy, the Broncos, who are now the AFC West leaders, have to take on the aforementioned Bears at home. Denver has won five in a row, and it is a 3.5 point favorite to extend that to six games. It goes from difficult to nearly impossible in the AFC West, as the Oakland Raiders have to travel to Lambeau Field to try to derail the perfect season of the Packers. Oakland is an 11 point underdog.
With all of these 7-5 teams playing difficult games, one would like to think that the door would swing open for the Tennessee Titans to move into the last Wild Card slot... Maybe not... They are four point home underdogs to the Saints at LP Field.
Finally, in a de facto elimination game from the AFC playoffs, the San Diego Chargers will host the Buffalo Bills. Emotions are high for the Bolts after the announcement that Head Coach Norv Turner will be let go at the end of the year, and they came out and proved it by blowing away the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday Night Football. Now, they are seven point favorites to get the job done against the Bills, who are also slumping and look nothing like a playoff team.
