Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Here’s who the experts are siding with in Sunday’s NFC South battle between the Panthers and Saints
Can the Carolina Panthers catch an upset and their second win of the season against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday?
Here’s what the experts think about this Week 14 matchup:
A whopping 97% of experts are taking the Ravens to beat the Rams, but a large portion of them expect the game to be within one score
The odds are stacked against the Los Angeles Rams this weekend as they take on the Ravens in Baltimore. Not only are they 7.5-point road underdogs against the well-rested Ravens, but almost no experts are taking the Rams to beat Baltimore on Sunday afternoon.
According to Tallysight, 97% of experts who submitted picks are taking the Ravens to beat the Rams straight-up. That’s a massive margin, but a good portion of them are picking the Rams to cover the spread and at least keep the game within one score.
Of those who have submitted picks, 48% are taking the Rams to cover the spread. Experts are also leaning heavily toward the over, with a whopping 74% taking the over at 40 points.
The over/under has moved significantly since the start of the week when it was 44.5 points, likely due to the expectation for rain on Sunday in Baltimore. At 40 points, it’s hard not to like the over in this matchup, despite the weather forecast.
In games where he’s favored by at least seven points, Lamar Jackson is 25-4 straight up. The Ravens are also 8-4 against the spread this season, so there seems to be a decent chance they cover the spread and win by at least eight points based on the numbers.
NFL experts are pretty split on the Colts and Bengals in Week 14.
The Indianapolis Colts (7-5) will be on the road for the second consecutive game visiting the Cincinnati Bengals (6-6) at Paycor Stadium for a Week 14 matchup on Sunday.
Riding a four-game winning streak for the first time since 2018, the Colts are right in the thick of the playoff race in the AFC. The same goes for the Bengals, who are just on the cusp of the final wild-card spot coming off their first win with Jake Browning under center.
Vegas has the Colts sitting as two-point road underdogs in this matchup, according to BetMGM.
Here’s how the experts around the league see this matchup shaking out:
| Expert | Pick | Score (if applicable) | Link |
| Nate Davis (USA TODAY) | Colts | 24-20 | Link |
| Jarrett Bell (USA TODAY) | Bengals | 31-30 | Link |
| Lorenzo Reyes (USA TODAY) | Colts | 23-20 | Link |
| Mike Clay (ESPN) | Bengals | — | Link |
| Dan Graziano (ESPN) | Bengals | — | Link |
| NFL Network | Bengals | 22-20 | Link |
| Bill Bender (Sporting News) | Bengals | 21-20 | Link |
| Pete Prisco (CBS Sports) | Bengals | 27-23 | Link |
| Cam DaSilva (Sportsbook Wire) | Bengals | — | Link |
| Bleacher Report | Colts | 28-26 | Link |
Over at Tallysight, 54% of the analysts have the Colts walking away with a road victory. In terms of the two-point spread, 52% of analysts believe the Colts will cover on the road.
According to BetMGM, the numbers favor the Bengals. As of this writing, 53% of the bettors are taking the Bengals moneyline while 61% have them covering a two-point spread. Meanwhile, 70% believe the game will hit the over on a 44-point total.
This game truly could go either way, especially after seeing Jake Browning carve up the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday night. While that’s not an immaculate feat by any means, it was an impressive showing that this offense does have a high ceiling.
The Colts will see the return of defensive tackle Grover Stewart, which will make a huge difference along the interior defensive line, but they will have their hands full covering Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
This should be a competitive game throughout, and it’s no surprise to see analysts split on who will take home the victory.
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The Commanders are huge underdogs against the Dolphins and the experts don’t give them a chance.
Another week, another game where the Washington Commanders are an overwhelming underdog.
This week, the Commanders host the Miami Dolphins in a game where the NFL’s statistically worst-scoring defense (Washington) faces the league’s top offense.
Things have gone so badly for the Commanders that they fired defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio and secondary coach Brent Vieselmeyer last week. It’s difficult to believe that Washington’s defense was a top-10 unit last season by any metric and now can’t seem to do anything right.
One of many problems for the Commanders is their inability to limit explosive plays. Unfortunately for Washington, no offense is better at creating explosive plays than Miami.
The Dolphins are 9.5-point favorites over the Commanders. What do the experts think? According to NFL Pickwatch, an overwhelming 98% of the picks favor the Dolphins.
The Commanders pulled off a massive upset in each of head coach Ron Rivera’s first three seasons as head coach. They’ve failed to do so this season despite coming close. Can that happen on Sunday against the Dolphins?
Don’t count on it.
A handful of experts think the Panthers will capture their second win of the season on Sunday against the Bucs.
Will the 1-10 Carolina Panthers raise the victory flag in Tampa Bay on Sunday? Well, a handful of league experts actually think that’ll be the case.
Here are this week’s picks for the team’s NFC South clash with the Buccaneers:
Here’s how the experts see this divisional matchup shaking out.
The Indianapolis Colts (6-5) will be on the road visiting the Tennessee Titans (4-7) on Sunday at Nissan Stadium for a divisional matchup in Week 13.
As the Colts are riding a three-game winning streak, the Titans just snapped their own three-game losing streak with a win in Week 12 over the Carolina Panthers. The Colts won the first meeting between these two teams in Week 5 with a 23-16 victory at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Vegas has the Colts sitting as 1-point road favorites in this matchup, according to BetMGM.
Here’s how the experts around the league see this matchup shaking out:
| Expert | Pick | Score (if applicable) | Link |
| Nate Davis (USA TODAY) | Colts | 23-17 | Link |
| Jarrett Bell (USA TODAY) | Colts | 24-21 | Link |
| Lorenzo Reyes (USA TODAY) | Colts | 21-16 | Link |
| Mike Clay (ESPN) | Colts | — | Link |
| Dan Graziano (ESPN) | Tians | — | Link |
| NFL Network | Colts | 23-20 | Link |
| Bill Bender (Sporting News) | Titans | 21-16 | Link |
| Pete Prisco (CBS Sports) | Titans | 23-20 | Link |
| Cam DaSilva (Sportsbook Wire) | Titans | — | Link |
| Bleacher Report | Titans | 24-23 | Link |
Over at Tallysight, 68% of the analysts have the Colts walking away with a victory. In terms of the 1-point spread, 61% of analysts believe the Colts will cover on the road.
Regardless of what the records and standings state, this is going to be a physical matchup. It always is. The Titans should be relying on Derrick Henry more, especially since Grover Stewart has one game remaining on his suspension.
The Colts have played well on the road this season with a 4-1 record away from Lucas Oil Stadium while averaging 24 points per game in those matchups. The Titans have mirrored that success at home with a 4-1 record while averaging 23 points per game in those games.
It should be a fun matchup and one that is crucial for the AFC playoff race and just as the spread states, this could be a coin flip.
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The majority of experts are picking the Rams to beat the Browns on Sunday afternoon
The Los Angeles Rams have a golden opportunity to improve their playoff chances on Sunday afternoon when they host the Cleveland Browns. A win will pull them into a tie with the Seattle Seahawks at 6-6, and they own the tiebreaker so they’ll actually be ahead of their division rival. A loss will keep them one game back, however.
Despite having a worse record than the Browns, it’s the Rams who are favored at home. Experts are heavily leaning toward Los Angeles in this matchup, too. According to Tallysight, 77% of experts are picking the Rams to win on Sunday. That number drops a little bit when factoring in the spread, with only 60% picking Los Angeles to cover the 3.5-point margin.
Three-quarters of experts expect this to be a lower-scoring game, too: 75% are picking the under, with the line set at 40 points.
The Rams and Browns are trending in different directions right now. The Rams have won two in a row and can get back to .500 with a win on Sunday, while the Browns are likely to start their fourth different quarterback and are fresh off a 29-12 loss to the Broncos.
Not to mention, Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward and Amari Cooper are all banged up so Cleveland is hardly close to full strength injury-wise.
Most experts believe the Panthers won’t be playing a winning tune in the Music City this weekend.
Will the Carolina Panthers be able to dab on the Tennessee Titans again?
Here’s who the experts are taking in this Week 12 matchup:
Here are the expert picks for the Week 12 matchup between the Colts and Buccaneers.
The Indianapolis Colts (5-5) will be hosting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-6) on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium for a Week 12 matchup.
As the Colts won their two games leading into the bye, the Buccaneers have lost five of their last six games.
Vegas has the Colts sitting as 2.5-point favorites in this matchup, according to BetMGM.
Here’s how the experts around the league see this matchup shaking out:
| Expert | Pick | Score (if applicable) | Link |
| Nate Davis (USA TODAY) | Colts | 27-20 | Link |
| Jarrett Bell (USA TODAY) | Colts | 24-20 | Link |
| Lorenzo Reyes (USA TODAY) | Colts | 21-15 | Link |
| Mike Clay (ESPN) | Colts | — | Link |
| Dan Graziano (ESPN) | Colts | — | Link |
| NFL Network | Buccaneers | 22-20 | Link |
| Bill Bender (Sporting News) | Colts | 23-18 | Link |
| Pete Prisco (CBS Sports) | Buccaneers | 30-21 | Link |
| Cam DaSilva (Sportsbook Wire) | Buccaneers | — | Link |
| Bleacher Report | Colts | 24-21 | Link |
Over at Tallysight, 52% of the analysts have the Colts walking away with a victory. In terms of the 2.5-point spread, 58% of analysts believe the Buccaneers will cover on the road.
In what will likely be a close matchup throughout, the strengths and weaknesses will be interesting. The Bucs excel at stopping the run, but they are equally as bad at stopping the pass. Meanwhile, the Bucs have struggled to run the football, but the Colts have struggled to stop the run in the absence of Grover Stewart.
The Colts are 1-4 at home this season with two of those losses being within one score. Meanwhile, the Bucs are 2-3 on the road this season and have averaged 18 points per game over their last six games.
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Washington has been double-digit underdogs against Dallas before and won — more than once.
It would be an understatement to say the Washington Commanders are massive underdogs in their Week 12 Thanksgiving Day showdown against the Dallas Cowboys.
Dallas opened as 11-point favorites on Sunday, and that point spread increased to 13.5 points as of Thursday morning. With the Commanders coming off a six-turnover performance against the New York Giants, it’s understandable why the Cowboys are such big favorites.
And according to NFL Pickwatch, the experts agree with the sportsbooks. Over 98% of the experts have made their picks for Washington’s game vs. Dallas, and they don’t give the Commanders a chance. Just three experts favor Washington on Thursday.
As we all know, in the NFL, nothing is impossible. We’ve seen the Commanders play up to their competition. There is also a history of Washington pulling off the upset over Dallas as a huge underdog. It happened on Monday Night Football in 2014 when Colt McCoy led the then-Redskins to an upset over the Cowboys.
Go all the way back to 1995. The Cowboys would win Super Bowl XXX and finished the regular season with a 12-4 record.
Does anyone remember that 1995 team? It was Norv Turner’s second season as head coach after coming over from the Cowboys. Washington would finish 6-10 that season — with two of its six wins coming against Dallas.
Gus Frerotte would lead Washington to a win over Dallas in Week 5, while Heath Shuler was under center in Week 14 for the Redskins as they upset the Cowboys.
According to Kevin Sheehan of “The Kevin Sheehan Show” on Team 980, Washington, 3-9 at the time, was a 17.5-point underdog in Week 14, which, to this day, remains the biggest NFL underdog in the regular season to win outright.
That’s an excellent nugget from Sheehan if you’re looking for hope.
It’s the NFL, and it’s called “Any Given Sunday” for a reason.
