NFL Week 15 Top Matchups: Odds for Patriots-Steelers, Rams-Seahawks
The New England Patriots (10-3) may have been caught looking ahead to their Week 15 showdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers (11-2) when they lost as double-digit road favorites to the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football.
Now the Patriots have to beat the Steelers on Sunday if they are going to earn the No. 1 seed in the AFC and home-field advantage in the playoffs as 3-point road betting favorites on the NFL Week 15 odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
A loss by New England at Pittsburgh would not only give the latter a two-game lead in the race for the conference’s top seed, but the Steelers would also win a tiebreaker if the teams end up with the same record at the end of the regular season - essentially giving them the No. 1 seed with only two games left.
The Patriots could still lose the No. 1 seed with a victory as well if they were to lose in the final two weeks.
That said, you can bet New England head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady will be super motivated for this matchup knowing what is on the line. The Patriots have won 11 of the past 14 meetings in the series, going 10-3-1 against the spread during that stretch, according to the OddsShark NFL Database. Four of those 11 New England wins have taken place on the road at Heinz Field compared to just one loss.
In the NFC, there is another huge game taking place in Seattle with the Seahawks (8-5) listed as 1.5-point home favorites versus the Los Angeles Rams (9-4). Seattle won the first meeting 16-10 at Los Angeles back in Week 5 as a 2.5-point road underdog and can pick up a key sweep of the NFC West-leading Rams with another victory here.
Under that scenario, the Seahawks would win the tiebreaker for the division title if the two teams finish with the same record, and they wrap up the regular season by visiting the Dallas Cowboys and hosting the Arizona Cardinals.
Los Angeles has dropped 19 of the past 25 meetings with Seattle and owns a 2-5 ATS mark in the team’s last seven games versus NFC West foes. The Rams have won four straight though following a loss without dropping consecutive games this year. The Seahawks are 13-1 SU in their last 14 after a loss and have gone 21-7 SU in their past 28 December games (22-6 ATS).
