NFL Week 15 Picks

August 11th NFL news ... NFL Week 15 Picks at nflweek15-picks.com

NFL Insider: Whos hot, whos not and more
2013-09-24

Whos hot

San Diego Chargers receiver Eddie Royal has 10 catches for 114 yards and five touchdowns. He already has tied his career high for touchdowns in a season. Royal is healthy again after being banged up much of last season and is benefiting from the time he spent with coach Mike McCoy in Denver.

Whos not

New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith has completed 53.4 percent of his passes for 470 yards with one touchdown, four interceptions and a 55.2 passer rating. He also has taken nine sacks.

Numbers game

9 The Jaguars offensive points this season. They have more penalties (14) and have allowed more sacks (11) this season.

Best bet

NY Giants (minus-1) at Carolina: Ron Rivera is 2-7 in September games in his three seasons as the Panthers head coach. Record vs. the spread: 0-1-1.

Blitz

The Denver Broncos have won 13 regular-season games in a row. A win Monday night will match the franchise record.

The Washington Redskins are 1-5 when Robert Griffin III starts and rushes for fewer than 25 yards.

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson went 78 yards on his first carry of the season. He has averaged 2.7 yards per carry on the 43 carries since.

The New Orleans Saints have one touchdown in seven red-zone trips. They ranked second in the league last season in that category, scoring a touchdown on 68.4 percent of their visits inside opponents 20-yard line.

The New York Giants are trying to avoid their first 0-3 start since 1996, when they went 6-10. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, 115 teams have started 0-3 since 1990, and only the 1992 Chargers, the 1995 Detroit Lions and the 1998 Bills made the playoffs.

The Cincinnati Bengals have not allowed a 300-yard passing game since Clevelands Brandon Weeden had 322 against them in Week 2 last year.

San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis and his brother, Indianapolis Colts cornerback Vontae Davis, will meet on opposite sidelines for the first time at any level. Vernon is 41/2 years older.

Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning has a passer rating of 90.0 or better for 15 consecutive regular-season games. He will break his own league record if he can accomplish that again Monday.

The Detroit Lions have dropped eight passes, the most in the league, according to ESPN research.

The Houston Texans lead the NFL in red zone touchdowns, going 7 for 7. Matt Schaub has six touchdown passes, and Arian Foster has a touchdown run. Houston has scored 49 points in the red zone, second to Green Bays 52.

The Seattle Seahawks are 18-8 since the final half of the 2011 season. Their eight losses were by an average of 4.4 points.

Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson became the only NFL defender since at least 1970 with a catch and a completion in the same game. He threw a 17-yard pass and caught a 17-yard pass in last weeks victory over the Lions.

Information from the Sports Xchange was used in this report.