NFL Week 14 picks against the spread

Carolina Panthers (-1.5) @ Cleveland Browns

The Carolina Panthers are in full free-fall mode. They’ve lost four games in a row, including last week’s game to the Bucs. They went from Super Bowl contenders to contenders to clean house. All of a sudden, Ron Rivera is on the hot seat, and people are questioning the power of Cam Newton. Rivera took over play calling on the defense, and the players are actually confused. Eric Reid said there were play calls that weren’t part of the game plan. Not the best situation to be in when a team is trying to get back into a playoff spot.

The Browns, on the other hand, came back to Earth last week. Baker Mayfield may have thrown away any chance to win Rookie of the Year after three first half interceptions. Nick Chubb was really the only redeeming part of the offense, but he wasn’t even good he just scored a touchdown. It was a terrible game for the Browns after two big wins since the firing of Hue Jackson.

It’s hard to tell what you can get from the Panthers this week. The Vikings have some hard matchups left, so one could say the Panthers are still in the driver’s seat. They must win this game, or their season could be over. Expect them to frustrate Baker and come out with the win.

Carolina 31, Cleveland 14

Atlanta Falcons @ Green Bay Packers (-5.5)

This line is just confusing. The Green Bay Packers just lost to the Arizona Cardinals, one of the worst teams in the league. It was so embarrassing, they immediately fired their coach Mike McCarthy. They’ve been in every headline all week long, even firing another assistant because of what he wrote on Twitter (allegedly). Aaron Rodgers is great, but can he get this team to pay attention to the task at hand when things are so tumultuous off the field?

The Atlanta Falcons are in a similar situation minus the fired coach. They were an utter disappointment this season, and Matt Ryan was not enough to win games by himself. Julio Jones isn’t scoring enough, and the magic of Calvin Ridley has run dry. Still, they are getting more than five points from a team that just canned their coach.

It might seem insane to bet against Rodgers when he is facing adversity, but this team should never get this many points, even at home. The Falcons have players, and the last time Jones player the Packers he hit a career high in yards at the time. Take the points here even with the Falcons on the road, which is this bettor’s only concern.

Green Bay 26, Atlanta 23