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As the NFL season hits Week 15, the playoff push is reaching full throttle. Covers checks in on the opening lines for a quartet of key contests, with insights from Scott Cooley, odds consultant for offshore sportsbook Bookmaker.eu.
New England Patriots at Pittsburgh Steelers (no line)
New England is very much rounding into the form of a defending Super Bowl champion, though it still has some Week 14 work to do, playing in the Monday nighter at Miami. The Patriots (10-2 SU, 8-4 ATS) are on an eight-game winning streak, cashing for bettors in seven of those contests. In Week 13, the Pats stumped Buffalo 23-3 as a 7.5-point road favorite.
Pittsburgh barely kept alive its winning streak in the Week 14 Sunday nighter. The Steelers (10-2 SU, 6-6 ATS) snagged their eighth consecutive victory (4-4 ATS), edging Baltimore 39-38 on a last-minute field goal while failing to cash as a 6-point home chalk.
With Pittsburgh playing late Sunday and New England yet to play, Bookmaker.eu is holding off on posting this line.
“As long as nothing out of the ordinary happens in the final two games of the week, we’ll look to open the Patriots as 2- or 3-point favorites,” Cooley said. “They are simply the most dominant club in the league, and the next team isn’t that close. This game will command a huge handle, and hopefully we’ll get a great game.”
Los Angeles Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs (-1)
Kansas City finally got out of its rut, halting a four-game losing streak and a 1-6 SU and ATS slide overall. The Chiefs (7-6 SU and ATS) dropped Oakland 26-15 on Sunday as a 4.5-point home fave.
Thanks to K.C.’s slide, Los Angeles (7-6 SU, 7-5-1 ATS) has surged into contention in the AFC West. The Chargers rolled Washington 30-13 laying 6 points at home Sunday.
“The Chiefs finally flexed their muscles this week, but wow, the Chargers have certainly impressed,” Cooley said. “And really that’s been the case all season. We have L.A. ranked higher in our ratings at this point, which is probably surprising to some. Early smart money is on the Chargers.”
That took the opening line of Chiefs -1 down to pick ‘em at Bookmaker.eu. Both teams will go on slightly shorter rest, as this is a Saturday night game.
Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks (+1.5)
Los Angeles had a great opportunity to take a two-game lead in the NFC West, but couldn’t find a way to handle Philadelphia, even after knocking QB Carson Wentz out of the game. The Rams (9-4 SU, 8-5 ATS) rebounded from a 21-7 first-half deficit and took a 35-31 lead early in the fourth quarter, but ultimately fell short 43-35 laying 1 point at home.
The reason L.A. could have taken a two-game lead: Seattle lost at Jacksonville 30-24 as a 3-point pup Sunday. The Seahawks beat the Rams 16-10 as a 2-point road ‘dog on Oct. 8, so a win this week would create a tie at the top of the division, with Seattle owning the tiebreaker on head-to-head.
“Early sharp money suggests this should have opened closer to a pick,” Cooley said, noting the line indeed moved down to pick ‘em on Seattle money. “I could certainly see this game going either way. Seattle got the best of the Rams earlier this season, but that Los Angeles squad has made leaps-and-bounds improvement since then.”
Green Bay Packers at Carolina Panthers (no line)
Carolina moved back into a tie atop the NFC South, taking advantage of New Orleans’ Thursday night loss at Atlanta. The Panthers (9-4 SU, 8-5 ATS) slowed down red-hot Minnesota, claiming a 31-24 home victory getting 2.5 points Sunday.
Green Bay nearly gave up Cleveland’s first win of the year, pulling out a 27-21 overtime victory giving 2.5 points on the road. Now, there’s the expectation that star quarterback Aaron Rodgers returns for the Week 15 clash with Carolina. But since that’s not yet certain, Bookmaker.eu isn’t posting a number.
“We’re expecting Rodgers to be back in action, but you never know. So we’ll wait to get confirmation before putting up a line,” Cooley said. “Rodgers is worth so much to the line, we can’t risk hanging a bad number. If he does suit up, we’re probably looking at Carolina being a small favorite, possibly down to even a pick ‘em.”
Patrick Everson is a Las Vegas-based senior writer for Covers. Follow him on Twitter: @Covers_Vegas.
