Week 14 of the NFL season features a Home Dog Alert for a half-dozen teams, including the Chicago Bears on Thursday Night Football and the Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders, Arizona Cardinals, and LA Rams. The Bills are a home dog when they host the Baltimore Ravens, who are currently the favorites to win the 2020 Super Bowl.
A handful of home dogs are hosting teams that are on the playoff bubble, or who are trying to hold on to their wild-card spot.
The Bills (9-3) have the best record out of any home dogs this week, which may not mean much when Lamar Jackson and the high-octane Baltimore Ravens (10-2) come to town.
The Oakland Raiders (6-6) host a Tennessee Titans (7-5) squad that’s on a mission to secure an AFC wild-card spot. The Titans are on the bubble, and have won five out of their last six games with Ryan Tannenhill in the starting lineup after Marcus Mariota got benched.
Home Dog Alert – NFL Week 14
Chicago Bears +2.5 (TNF)
Buffalo Bills +5.5
Jacksonville Jaguars +3
Oakland Raiders +3
Arizona Cardinals +2.5
LA Rams +1
The Arizona Cardinals (3-8) host the Pittsburgh Steelers (7-5), who currently occupy the second wild-card spot in the AFC. The Cardinals have zero shot at a postseason berth, but they can play the role of spoiler against Pittsburgh.
Meanwhile, the Seattle Seahawks (10-2) recently secured first place in the NFC West. The San Francisco 49ers (10-2) are currently in the first NFC wild-card spot. The LA Rams (7-5) are technically still in the playoff hunt, but they desperately need a win over the Seahawks if they want to keep their postseason aspirations alive.
Chicago Bears +2.5
The Bears played on Thanksgiving Day in Week 13, so even though they’re scheduled for a Thursday Night Football game, they’ve had a full week of rest. The Bears are hosting the Dallas Cowboys, who also played on Thanksgiving, and who also had a full week of rest. With two well-rested teams, we might actually have a great TNF game. Da Bears as a home dog in December is usually an automatic system play, but these Bears are more like cuddly cubs than they are ferocious beasts.
Buffalo Bills +5.5
The Ravens and Bills matchup should be one of the premier games in the NFL for Week 14. The big knock against the Bills is that they haven’t played any really good teams. We’ll finally get to see how they stack up when the Ravens come to town.
The Bills boast the third-best defense in the NFL, allowing only 15.7 points per game. The Bills will be tasked with stopping the most prolific offense in the league and the Ravens average 33.8 points per game. Jackson leads the league’s top rushing attack, cranking out 207.8 yards per game.
The Bills kept the game close in two of their losses, including a 16-10 loss against the New England Patriots and a 19-16 loss against the Cleveland Browns. When the Bills struggled in the past, you expected them to be a home dog every week. This season, the Bills have been one of the top teams in the AFC, making this is one of the rare times they’re a home dog as a team with nine wins.
Jacksonville Jaguars +3
The Jacksonville Jaguars benched Nick Foles, returning backup QB, Gardner Minshew II to the starting lineup. Minshew went 4-4 as a starter when Foles was out with a broken clavicle. The LA Chargers are a weird team because they could easily be 8-4, but instead, they’re 4-8. All eight losses were by margins of one score or less. Five Chargers’ losses were decided by a field goal or less.
Oakland Raiders +3
The Raiders dropped two in a row due to an anemic offense, which averaged only six points in their last two games. The Raiders dropped back-to-back road games against the LOLJets and the Kansas City Chiefs. Jon Gurden’s team is back home for their penultimate game in Oakland before the team relocates to Las Vegas next season. The Raiders have one of the best home records in the AFC at 5-1. Only the Patriots (5-0) and Minnesota Vikings (5-0) have yet to lose a game at home this season.
Tennessee is coming in hot and riding a three-game winning streak. They’re trying to catch the Steelers and seize the AFC wild card. This should be a fun game because the Titans are in playoff mode, and the Raiders don’t mess around on their home turf.
Arizona Cardinals +2.5
The Cardinals have a porous defense that is the second-worst in the NFL (behind the Dolphins), allowing 29.3 points per game. The Cardinals pass D is the worst in the NFL, allowing 307.5 yards per game. That bodes well for the Steelers’ Duck Devlin and James Washington. The two new BFFs and duck hunting buddies can’t wait to air it out against Arizona’s Swiss cheese secondary. The Steelers are currently the second wild-card team, and are trying to keep the Titans from stealing their spot in the postseason.
LA Rams +1
The Rams are desperate for a win. If they want to return to the playoffs, then they must win out the rest of the season, and hope the football gods gift them with a couple of losses from their opponents.
NFC West divisional games are always tight and tough. The Seahawks have the best road record in the NFL at 6-0 this season. They usually don’t travel well, and struggle away from their insanely loud stadium in Seattle. However, Russell Wilson and the Seahawks have yet to lose on the road this season.
