The New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams kicked off Week 14 of the 2020 NFL season, and it wasn't a very entertaining matchup. Sean McVay and Co. got their revenge from Super Bowl LIII, as they won by a score of 24-3. I don't expect many matchups this week to be as boring as that one was, however, as the Pittsburgh Steelers get a chance to rebound from their first loss against the red-hot Buffalo Bills and Jalen Hurts gets to try his hand at leading the Philadelphia Eagles against a voracious New Orleans Saints defense. As you should know by now, it's never too early to look ahead. So let's examine some Week 15 lines.
A highlight of my week is when the lookahead lines come out at William Hill Sportsbook. Every Friday, we take a look at the NFL lines a week and a half in advance to determine if we should put money down now in order to get the best bang for our buck. Depending on what happens in Week 14, all of these lines could change before we reach Week 15, so we want to go ahead and get our bets in if we see a nice opportunity for an upset or to jump on a favorite before the line moves even more in their favor. Make a habit of betting early.
Before we jump into some early bets to consider, here are the lookahead lines for Week 15. All NFL odds come courtesy of William Hill.
Week 15 lookahead lines
Chargers at Raiders (-3.5)
Bills (-5) at Broncos
Panthers at Packers (-7.5)
Texans at Colts (-6.5)
Lions at Titans (-8)
49ers (-3.5) at Cowboys
Seahawks (-3.5) at Washington
Patriots at Dolphins (-2.5) (Before "Thursday Night Football")
Bears at Vikings (-6)
Jaguars at Ravens (-11.5)
Buccaneers (-2.5) at Falcons
Eagles at Cardinals (-6.5)
Jets at Rams (-13.5) (Before "Thursday Night Football")
Chiefs (-3) at Saints
Browns (-3) at Giants
Steelers (-11.5) at Bengals
Picks to consider
Buccaneers (-2.5) at Falcons
The Falcons get the struggling Chargers this week, and I think that they have a good chance to get back into the win column. The Buccaneers are coming off of a bye week, and get the Vikings at home on Sunday. That is important to note, since Tom Brady has won and covered following his bye in five out of the last six seasons. It's hard to get a read on this Buccaneers offense, as you never know if they are going to put up three total points like they did against the Saints, or if they are going to explode for 46 like they did the following week in Carolina. It sounds trivial, but Brady is sort of like my grandpa. He's completely fine in the early afternoon, but don't expect much out of him around 8 p.m. or so. This season, Tampa Bay is 6-2 against the spread during the day, including four straight covers. At night, however, they are 0-4 against the spread. I think that the Bucs could potentially blow past the Vikings, who just barely beat the one-win Jaguars in overtime last Sunday, and then carry that momentum into their divisional matchup against the Falcons. I expect this line to move in favor of the Buccaneers.
Bills (-5) at Broncos
The Bills are scheduled to take on the 11-1 Steelers this Sunday, after Pittsburgh just suffered its first loss of the season. Most sports books have Buffalo favored in that matchup, but I personally don't agree. Either way, the Bills' stock is rising, and if they defeat the Steelers or just register a good performance, I can see this line increasing. The Broncos, on the other hand, are scheduled to take on the Panthers, who have been dealing with some COVID-19 issues this week. It's hard to get a read on that matchup, and since Denver hasn't registered a win in two weeks, I have a hard time believing this line could move in favor of the Broncos.
Steelers (-11.5) at Bengals
We talked a little bit about the Steelers' matchup with the Bills above. I think it's possible that the Steelers just needed to get that first loss off of their backs, plus they get James Conner back this week. I get that this spread against the Bengals is large, but Cincinnati's offense managed just seven points against the Dolphins last week, and they get a Cowboys team eager to register a win on Sunday. I really do think this line could increase, so throw a little bit of money on it now and let's watch how it reacts early next week.
