Things starts to get serious now as teams around the USA make that one final push towards the playoffs as we charge towards Week 15 of the regular season.
BetDeluxe is on hand, as usual, to go through the best bets for every game in the NFL this weekend.
la chargers vs. kansas city
17th december 12:20pm
AFC West rivals do battle in a huge contest when Los Angeles Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs duel at SoFi Stadium.
In a game that will determine the likely winner of the division, the Chiefs are slightly favoured by the market with their six-game winning streak.
The Chiefs crushed the Raiders 48-9 on Monday as Patrick Mahomes threw for two touchdowns off a 83% passing conversion rate, while the Chargers found their way to 8-5 after a 38-21 win over the New York Giants.
Kansas is building strongly towards the pointy end of the season and Monday’s win was a sign of dominance at the moment.
Combine Mahomes pass with the vicious running game the Chiefs showed and it could be lights out for the Chargers.
Suggested Bet: Kansas City Chiefs -3 at $1.89
cleveland vs. las vegas
19th december 8:30am
Las Vegas heads over to Cleveland licking its wounds after being belted from pillar to post by Kansas City on Monday.
The Raiders will have to get their act together quickly against the Browns with only four days rest to figure out how they are going to recover from their 48-9 belting against the Chiefs.
Cleveland will not be easy to conquer either.
The Browns are coming off a hard-fought 24-22 win against Baltimore and win here would see them creep ever closer to grabbing top spot of AFC North.
We are yet to get a gauge on how the Browns perform as underdogs on their home turf, but a winning 5-2 record at home, the $2 on offer is too good to refuse.
Suggested Bet: Cleveland Browns head to head at $2
indianapolis vs. new england
19th december 12:15pm
New England Patriots travel to Indianapolis for a tussle against the Colts on Sunday afternoon.
Mac Jones has been the leader of the Patriots charge towards the playoffs, but he is under a serious injury cloud with a thumb injury.
Indianapolis, meanwhile, comes into this game fresh after its week off and will be chomping at the bit to keep up its momentum after a 31-0 drubbing of Houston before its break.
The bye week is sure to have done the Colts the world of good and they can make the most of an a Patriots team who will likely be without Jones.
Suggested Bet: Indianapolis -2.5 at $1.87
detroit vs. arizona
20th december 5:00am
The Arizona Cardinals take on the Detroit Lions in week 15 NFC action in the NFL.
For the Cardinals, a team striving for big things, this appears to be a manageable road spot against a team who struggled to win all year.
The Lions seem to be running on empty now and its a massive question mark in their defence can hold its own and withstand the run/pass juggernaut that is the Cardinals.
Even with a few injury concerns facing the Cardinals, this should be pencilled in as a win.
Suggested Bet: Arizona Cardinals +13.5 at $1.81
new york giants vs. dallas
20th december 5:00am
In what is shaping as Dallas’ best season in over a decade, the Cowboys head north to face the New York Giants.
The Cowboys held off a dogged Washington team last week to go 9-4 after a 27-20 victory in which chants of “MVP” rang around the stadium in reference to rookie linebacker Micah Parsons.
With Daniel Jones set to miss another game for the Giants, there is almost no way the home team can match Dak Prescott will put in terms of offensive potency.
Add that in the with elite intercept vision of this Dallas defence and it could get ugly for the Giants.
Suggested Bet: Dallas Cowboys -10.5 at $1.89
pittsburgh vs. Tennessee
20th december 5:00am
Week 15 of the NFL sees the Pittsburgh Steelers up against the Tennessee Titans on Monday morning.
The Titans shut out the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 14 with professional 20-0 victory.
The Titans have had to put it together with depth on the roster having been without both receiver A.J. Brown and running back Derrick Henry.
Both players are set to miss week 15 and this could be the issue against a Steelers team which will provide more resistance than the struggling Jaguars.
Suggested Bet: Pittsburgh +1.5 at $1.91
jacksonville vs. houston
20th december 5:00am
Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars will attempt to hastily move on from a disastrous 20-0 loss against the Titans when they face the Houston Texans.
Lawrence was in horrible form last week as he threw for four intercepts, while the Texans fared no better being smashed 33-13 against Seattle.
It is simply a case of picking the lesser of two evils in this contest.
The Texans already have a victory against the Jaguars this season, so we will have a dip at them to cover the spread here.
Suggested Bet: Houston Texans +3.5 at $1.87
philadelphia vs. washington
20th december 5:00am
Philadelphia and Washington resume hostilities in a Week 15 clash that will be integral to legging up into the wild card playoff spots.
The Eagles were regrettably praying their long-time rivals Dallas did the job over Washington last week and that they did.
Washington fell short by a converted touchdown, while the Eagles sat back, recovered and watched along during their bye week.
It is still uncertain as to whether Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts will be available for the selection, but if he is, we suspect the Eagles will absolutely have the edge in this contest.
Suggested Bet: Philadelphia -6.5 at $1.91 (If Hurts plays)
miami vs. new york jets
20th december 5:00am
The Miami Dolphins (6-7) look poised to make it 7-7 when they face the New York Jets (3-10) in Florida.
The Jets have had their struggles in the last month having lost five of their last six contests, while the Dolphins have continued to gradually improve and is a live playoffs chance.
The worrying sign for the Jets is how they allowed 203 rushing yards in the 30-9 loss to the New Orleans Saints.
For the season, New York ranks 29th in the league in defending the run (138.8 yards per game) and that is something the Dolphins will look to exploit with Myles Gaskin.
Suggested Bet: Miami Dolphins -9.5 at $1.92
buffalo vs. carolina
20th december 5:00am
The Carolina Panthers (5-8) will try to end a three-game skid when they hit the field against the Buffalo Bills (7-6) in Week 15 action.
The Bills are highly fancied to win this game on their home deck against a Panthers team who has a 50% winning strike rate when going into games as the underdogs.
There does not seem to be much value on either end of the spectrum in this one, but one trend that does stand out is the Panthers’ games going under the combined total points scored on eight out of 13 occasions.
Suggested Bet: Total points scored under 44.5 at $1.91
denver vs. cincinnati
20th december 8:05am
It is pretty much an early playoff game for Denver against Cincinnati in Week 15 of the NFL season.
The equation is simple for the Broncos; win and your playoffs chance is still alive.
The Bengals face an identical situation as well.
This game is going to come down to whether or not the Broncos can handle the Bengals rushing attack.
Joe Mixon has been a huge weapon for the Bengals all season, and if he can be quelled, the Broncos will be on their way to winning this contest.
Suggested Bet: Denver Broncos -2.5 at $1.81
san francisco vs. atlanta
20th december 8:05am
After both teams added road wins to their record last week, San Francisco heads back home to host a Falcons team that seems to excel on the road, having gone 5-2 on its travels so far this season.
It might prove to be a big danger game for the 49ers who have struggled at home this season with a losing 2-6 overall record at Levi’s Stadium.
Even if the 49ers have showed a greater body of work this season compared to the Falcons, there is every chance the Falcons can cover the spread.
The line has moved right out since the markets opened and the value now lies with the visitors.
Suggested Bet: Atlanta Falcons +7.5 at $2.05
baltimore vs. green bay
20th december 8:25am
Green Bay is on the road when it faces a Baltimore Ravens outfit keen to bounce back from a disappointing loss to Cleveland on Monday.
The Packers have relied upon an unblemished home record to cruise along to 10-3, but have mixed their away form with three wins from six games.
The Ravens have definitely shown some quality patches of football this season that is definitely capable of toppling the Packers.
Baltimore has only ever started one game as the outsiders on their home deck and covered the spread easily.
That is good enough for us to pick them here.
Suggested Bet: Baltimore +2.5 at $2.47
LA Rams vs. seattle
20th december 8:25am
Matt Stafford and Russell Wilson go head to head when the Los Angeles Rams come up against the Seattle Seahawks.
The Rams are playing for the NFC West title and this will be the true pressure test put on the shoulders of Stafford who has carried the Rams to their 9-4 record.
He was simply outstanding in the win over Arizona last week after throwing for three touchdowns and 287 yards.
Wilson is certainly capable of putting up those numbers, but Seahawks simply do not have a reliable enough defence to withstand the Rams’ offence led by Stafford.
Suggested Bet: Los Angeles Rams -4.5 at $1.91
tampa bay vs. new orleans
20th december 12:20pm
The New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will renew hostilities at Raymond James Stadium, with the NFC South crown on the line.
If the Buccaneers win, they’ll clinch their first division title since 2007 and take another step towards defending their Super Bowl crown.
The return of Alvin Kamara will have the Saints looking competitive in this game after he helped guide his team to victory in his comeback game against the struggling Jets.
But Tom Brady and his drives are going to super incredibly hard to stop.
The Buccaneers have an embarrassment of riches at their as they top the league by yards per game (410.2) this season.
Wide receiver Chris Godwin has climbed to second in the NFL in receptions (92) and fourth in yardage (1,054) after putting up consecutive monster weeks.
Buccaneers win this easily.
Suggested Bet: Tampa Bay -10.5 at $1.89
chicago vs. minnesota
21st december 12:15pm
Effectively nothing but pride and development is on offer for Chicago when it welcomes the Minnesota Vikings to Soldier Field.
At 4-9, Chicago is playing out what will be the end of the Matt Nagy coaching tenure.
The Vikings will be hoping the Bears drop their heads with the home side’s season all but over.
With a wild card shot still up for grabs, that should be enough motivation for the Vikings to get the job done, but it might be heard in mouth stuff as they have failed to really put teams away all season.
Suggested Bet: Minnesota Vikings head to head at $1.50
