Week 14 of the NFL season delivers a number of marquee matchups, including a pair of contests that will pit two of the top four teams in each conference against each other. Let’s take a look at the five best matchups and sports betting lines for the week:
San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints
Odds: Saints -3
The San Francisco 49ers’ loss in Baltimore on Sunday could potentially derail their season. With the Seattle Seahawks’ win on Monday Night Football, the 49ers have fallen all the way down to the fifth seed in the NFC standings. That’s hard to believe, considering they were the last team in the league to lose.
The 49ers have bigger concerns in front of them as they’ll visit the Saints on Sunday. Both teams enter the week at 10-2, but remember that the Saints will have had 10 days to prepare for this contest. They’re fresh off a 26-18 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Thanksgiving Thursday.
Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills
Odds: Ravens -6.5
The Ravens extended their winning streak to eight games after turning aside the 49ers 20-17. They won on a last-second field goal by Justin Tucker, which is a decidedly closer win than their previous five games. They had won those by an average of 28.0 points per game. Baltimore’s win over the Niners and the Patriots loss to the Houston Texans led Caesars Las Vegas to install the Ravens as the odds-on favorite to win the Super Bowl. The Ravens hold the No. 1 seed in the AFC at the moment.
Now the Ravens will visit the Buffalo Bills, who at 9-3 are just one win shy of the Ravens in the standings. The Bills had mostly beaten up on bad teams to pump up their portfolio, but dominated the Cowboys 26-15 in Dallas on Thanksgiving. This sets up a matchup of two of the best rushing teams in the NFL as the Ravens rank first in the category, while the Bills are fifth.
Tennessee Titans at Oakland Raiders
Odds: Titans -1
Don’t look now, but the Titans have won five of their last six and have pulled even with the Pittsburgh Steelers at 7-5 for the final playoff spot in the AFC playoff picture. Now they’ll see if they can keep it going against the team that’s right behind them, the Oakland Raiders.
The Raiders are coming off a couple of ugly losses as they’ve been outscored 74-12 in the last two games. They’ve now fallen to 6-6 on the year. However, the Raiders have been a completely different team at home as they are 5-1 in Oakland, compared to 1-5 on the road.
Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots
Odds: Patriots -3.5
The Chiefs and Patriots entered the year as the top two Super Bowl favorites and while both teams have looked beatable at times, their Week 14 matchup is an important one.
While the Patriots have yet to lose at home this season, their last outing in front of their home audience wasn’t pretty. They barely beat the Cowboys at home, edging 13-9. Their last outing overall was ugly too as their offense struggled mightily in a loss to the Houston Texans.
Meanwhile, Kansas City looked crisp coming off of their bye week as they rolled the Oakland Raiders 40-9. They’ve now won three of their last four games with the lone loss being a last-second loss at Tennessee. They’re as healthy as they’ve been all season and just might be playing their best football right now.
Seattle Seahawks at Los Angeles Rams
Odds: Seahawks -2.5
The Seahawks will visit the Rams for Sunday Night Football in a game that will have plenty of playoff implications. With a win, the Rams can pull even in the win column with the eight-win Minnesota Vikings (Vikings have one less loss). As for the Seahawks, they’re now in first place in the NFC West and are tied with the New Orleans Saints for the best record in the NFC. The Seahawks surged ahead of the 49ers in the NFC West, but the Rams need a victory at home to maintain decent odds of making the NFC playoffs.
The Seahawks hosted the Rams in Week 5 and beat them 30-29 when Greg Zuerlein missed a game-winning 44-yard field goal as time expired.