NFL Week 15 Selections

Week 15 of the NFL regular season was not a good one for the favorites. They went 9-7 straight up and 6-10 against the spread; our hanicappers also ate its share of chalk on the way to a 7-8 week.

Our week began Thursday with the Denver Broncos visiting the Houston Texans. Jay Cutler has developed nicely at quarterback for the Broncos, but he got sacked five times and Houston romped for 158 yards in a 31-13 upset. We had Denver as a 1.5-point favorite.

Sunday was a bit of a minefield. We expected the Pittsburgh Steelers (-3) to take care of business at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but Fred Taylor continued his surprise breakout season with 147 yards rushing and a TD in a 29-22 win for the Jags.

We also got tripped up when the inconsistent Seattle Seahawks (-7.5) blew a tire at Carolina, rushing for just 44 yards in a 13-10 loss to the Panthers and fourth-string QB Matt Moore. Rounding out our upsets were the New York Giants (-4.5), who unofficially dropped eight passes and lost Jeremy Shockey to a broken leg in a 22-10 loss to the Washington Redskins.

Our workbook wasn't entirely coated in chalk. We correctly picked the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-12.5) to drop the hammer on the Bobby Petrino-free Atlanta Falcons, and they obliged with a 37-3 shellacking. We were also on the Tennessee Titans (-4), who upended the slumping Kansas City Chiefs 26-17 at Arrowhead.

Life was much better for the dogs - although the Detroit Lions (+10.5) might have to be euthanized. Jon Kitna chucked five picks and the San Diego Chargers galloped for 274 yards in a 51-14 laugher. We also whiffed on Arizona (+3.5), Buffalo (+5.5) and St. Louis (+8), one of our two Best Bets for Week 15.

Making up for their three-legged cousins were four of the most intriguing doggies in the window. Oakland (+10.5) kept things tight with Indianapolis, Miami (+3.5) beat Baltimore for its first win of the season, the Jets (+21.5) stayed within 10 points of the Patriots, and Philadelphia (+10) upset Dallas.

We capped off Week 15 with our second Best Bet, which was also our only total of the week: under 43.5 points in the Monday nighter between the Chicago Bears and the Minnesota Vikings. As expected, both teams ran the ball and struggled at quarterback in a 20-13 Vikings victory. We'll carry that momentum into Week 16.