Hi, hello & welcome to Week 15 of the National Football League! I’m Steve Cook, and I’ve got some good news & some bad news. Let’s start with the good.

Good News: We had ourselves another ten-win performance in Week 14! I’m pretty sure these are the first two ten-win weeks we’ve had this season, so things have certainly been heading in the right direction. A bunch of people let me know they had good gambling weeks too…not sure how much I had to do with them, alls I know is that none of it ended up in my PayPal account. Oh well.

Bad News: The NFL (and sports in general) is in the midst of their biggest COVID problem of 2021. The NHL & NBA have had to postpone games this week due to teams not having enough players free of the protocols. So far, the NFL hasn’t discussed the idea of postponing games, and at this point in the season it would be really difficult for them to do such a thing. However, we currently have seven teams operating remotely and more positive tests coming in by the hour.

Which presents an important question that I don’t have the answer to: How does one pick against the spread when we don’t know who’s going to be available to play or coach?

Vegas doesn’t know either. Many of the Vegas Insider lines completely changed between Tuesday & Wednesday night, and they’ll likely take a few more twists & turns before then. All I can do here is give you what I know as of press time. After that, you can always follow me on Twitter @stevecook84 to see what I’m thinking & if changes need to be made in order to make you some money. Since I’m not making any money off this, it’s no big thing if I end up getting 0 wins in the column. It is a thing for you bettors out there, so I’ll try & update you with any changes I make based off of current events.

Thursday, December 16

Kansas City (-3) at LA Chargers

How big is the Chiefs-Chargers game on Thursday night?

If the winner runs the table — each will be favored every game the rest of the way — and the Patriots/Titans lose one game each, they're the No. 1 seed in the AFC.

Beyond massive.

— Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) December 13, 2021

Possibly the game of the week here, as both teams are starting to look like the teams we thought they were heading into the season. Neither team had much of a problem with their Week 14 opponent, but their previous meeting in Week 3 was a humdinger. The Chargers won that one, and I think they stand a good chance of winning this one too.

Saturday, December 18

Las Vegas (-1.5) at Cleveland

Browns about to line up like this against the Raiders pic.twitter.com/rvsUzNJmGD

— John (@JohnHillbery) December 14, 2021

Since the Browns’ QB & head coach got positive tests, along with a decent portion of the team & coaching staff, Cleveland went from being six point favorites to home dogs. There allegedly hasn’t been talk about moving this game, but I got the exclusive from the NFL office:

Meanwhile, the Raiders somehow managed to avoid having anybody on the list. It’s only Thursday though. There’s an old saying about home dogs howling, but I have to go with the Raiders based off the amount of unavailable Clevelanders. We’re gonna keep an eye on this situation though, and if the QB & head coach end up making it through we might change our mind.

New England at Indianapolis (-2)

Colts & Patriots is gonna be AWESOME on Saturday night#ForTheShoe #ForeverNE pic.twitter.com/ooWoZFcIPf

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) December 14, 2021

Patriots vs. Colts has been one of the top NFL rivalries of the twenty-first century, largely due to the presence of Tom Brady & Peyton Manning on the respective teams. I mean…Mac Jones vs. Carson Wentz probably won’t be the next version of Tom vs. Peyton, but it is nice to see these teams in a big time matchup late in the season. The Patriots have been winning a lot lately, and I think that trend continues.

Sunday, December 19

Washington at Philadelphia (-7)

Mark Sanchez will be the game analyst with Kevin Kugler doing play-by-play for Washington @ Eagles on Sunday.

Sanchez always had really good insight. pic.twitter.com/KN7eb4ig1N

— Barstool Philly (@BarstoolPhilly) December 14, 2021

As if the Football Team didn’t have enough issues to deal with, now they got one of them there covid outbreaks. It’s a situation, yet they would still be in the playoffs if the season ended prior to Week 15. They’re still not getting any respect from Vegas, who thinks the Eagles will blow them out of the water based off of…well, I’m not really sure what. I’ll roll with the Eagles anyway, assuming that Vegas knows something here that I don’t.

Carolina at Buffalo (-10.5)

Is Cam Newton a sleeper agent Belichick will activate to destroy the Bills as a panther and increase separation in the division? I’m just asking the question caller pic.twitter.com/RAD2y000Ls

— TheFib AKA Mr. Editor (@thefib0624) December 13, 2021

The Bills finally get some lesser competition back in their lives, and it couldn’t come a moment too soon. Playing all these good teams hasn’t really worked out for them. Surely the Panthers coming to town will help the cause.

NY Jets at Miami (-10)

v. Jets
@ Saints
@ Titans
v. Patriots

The Dolphins are 1 GB of a Wild Card. I hate that you gave me hope pic.twitter.com/nVGUWnXHjl

— Jay Shatara WWMT (@JShataraTV) December 13, 2021

Dolphins are right in the thick of it. I said this would happen. They could use a running back though, since all of them appear to be on the covid list. Does this mean that the Jets can make it close? Nah.

Dallas (-10.5) at NY Giants

Washington being as beat up as they are is going to continue to have ramifications well beyond just this game.

A Dallas win (over the Giants) and a Washington loss (in Philadelphia) next week gives the Cowboys the NFC East title.

— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) December 12, 2021

Am I going to pick against another New York team that’s a heavy underdog? You betcha! There’s a lot of talk about Dak Prescott going through a slump, but the Cowboys are still putting up points. I don’t see the Giants putting up too many this week.

Green Bay (-5.5) at Baltimore

In a battle of first-place teams, much of the talk this week with the Ravens and Packers will center on a toe and an ankle … https://t.co/N1xM1viGJG

— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) December 13, 2021

Lamar Jackson should be good to go for this game, as the ankle sprain isn’t as high as feared. Will that make much of a difference in the result here? Maybe not, but I find it hard to pick against the Ravens when they’re getting points at home. Even against Aaron By Gawd Rodgers.

Tennessee (-1.5) at Pittsburgh

Mike Tomlin says he's kicking himself for not paying more attention to Titans FS Kevin Byard when he came out of MTSU.

"I know better. A guy with double-digit interception numbers in college. Usually the ball isn't hitting them in the face." #Steelers

— Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) December 14, 2021

I thought for sure the Steelers were going to come all the way back and beat the Vikings on Thursday night. It didn’t happen, but they sure came close. People are going to count Pittsburgh out, and they are wrong. As much as I would prefer the Titans to win here, it sure feels like one of those Steelers weeks. The extra days off should help.

Houston at Jacksonville (-3.5)

#Jaguars HC Urban Meyer was asked about Andre Cisco playing more (again). He said “Cisco is playing a little bit more, I believe, I don’t have his numbers in front of me”

Cisco played 0 defensive snaps yesterday.

— Demetrius Harvey (@Demetrius82) December 13, 2021

If you’re betting on this game you need to call one of those gambling hotlines that get plugged at the end of radio commercials. My goodness. The only reason to watch clips of this game was to see if Urban Meyer kicks somebody. Now that he’s apparently been fired 15 weeks later than expected, I got nothing. I do expect the Jaguars to perform well this week now that the dark cloud has been lifted. It wouldn’t be enough against most teams, but we’re talking about the Houston Texans here.

Arizona (-13) at Detroit

Jared Goff is 7-1 against the cardinals… Lions play them next week. pic.twitter.com/bjHALVfzyE

— Daltino🎄🎅 (@MajinDaltino) December 14, 2021

The Cardinals are going to be PISSED OFF this week and will certainly take it out on the Lions. Keep an eye on them next week though, since they spent Monday night with a bunch of covid-carrying folks.

Atlanta at San Francisco (-9)

49ers’ playoff chances would be around 35% with a loss and around 90% with a win. A game against the #32 DVOA Falcons stands in the way.

SF honestly might not be deserving of a playoff spot if they can’t take care of this business on Sunday given what’s on the line https://t.co/VES2HYDoAC

— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) December 14, 2021

I’m still not sure how the Falcons are in the playoff hunt. I can see why the 49ers are, and see them handling the Falcons by two touchdowns or so.

Cincinnati at Denver (-2.5)

Still can’t believe that after the game Joe Burrow had, with him leading the Bengals back into the game and storming the ball down the field in overtime, that they took the ball out of his hands on the SF 26 1st and 10.

Absolutely wild.

— Blake Jewell (@BlakeJewellNFL) December 14, 2021

Most of y’all probably didn’t see it because of Bills/Buccaneers, but the 49ers/Bengals game was a classic example of a Cincinnati Bengals game if there ever was one.

-Get off to a terrible start
-Assist the opponent by making dumb mistakes
-Give up tons of yardage to the opponent’s tight end
-Make a comeback
-Come up short by making bad play calls

The more the Bengals change, the more they stay the same. This means they go out west & lose to the Broncos. Probably by a field goal or so.

Seattle at LA Rams (-4.5)

Seahawks scheduled to play at the Rams on Sunday.

Stay tuned. https://t.co/a61Kc3Cj0R

— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) December 14, 2021

The Rams were favored by seven on Tuesday night, before their Covid news trickled in. Obviously Vegas still doesn’t have much faith in the Seahawks. We also saw the Rams handle the Cardinals on Monday night, so there’s that to account for. I see this one being closer than expected, with Russell Wilson leading the Seahawks down the field at the end of the game down four points with no timeouts.

New Orleans at Tampa Bay (-11)

"T-shirt and hat games are big," Bruce Arians says of Bucs having a chance to clinch NFC South title Sunday with a win at home against Saints.

— Greg Auman (@gregauman) December 13, 2021

The Tom Brady Buccaneers are 1-3 against the New Orleans Saints. Fortunately for them, the one win came during last year’s playoffs. Even so, it’s become fairly obvious that even if the Buccaneers look like the superior team on paper, the Saints give them problems. I think the Bucs win, but the Saints will make this Sunday night game more interesting than people might think.

Monday, December 20

Minnesota (-3.5) at Chicago

What brilliant mind last spring thought a Bears-Vikings matchup in Week 15 should go on #MondayNightFootball, and why does the @NFL keep putting #DaBears on national TV??? pic.twitter.com/njLzzLX1gc

— Daniel Gaona (@DanielGaona13) December 14, 2021

You know what though? As much as we’re not looking forward to another Chicago prime time game, you know the Bears are gonna make this thing close. Mostly because the Vikings are not big on blowing teams out, or winning too many games in general.

I just hope Matt Nagy gets to have fun for more than a half this week. You gotta feel bad for the guy at this point.

Week 14 Results: 10-3-1

Overall Results: 96-108-4