NFL Week 14 Lines: Bucs, Vikings In Unfamiliar Territory To Open Week

Tom Brady is the greatest NFL quarterback of all time, and his team will square off with a squad led by a rookie Mr. Irrelevant in Week 14 — and the Buccaneers are considerable underdogs.

After Tampa Bay wraps up the Week 13 slate on Monday night at home against the New Orleans Saints, Brady and the Bucs will travel to California to take on the upstart San Francisco 49ers. The Niners took again took care of business Sunday with a home win over the Miami Dolphins, but it came at a price. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is done for the season after suffering a foot injury, and he was replaced by rookie Brock Purdy, who was the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft.

Purdy looked decent in his first real run at the NFL level, but the Bucs will now have a week (albeit a short one) to prepare for him. Despite that — and despite Brady’s obvious pedigree — the 49ers are a consensus 3-point favorite at home against Brady and the Bucs.

That’s not the only eyebrow-raising early-week line, though. The Vikings, who can lock up the NFC North on Sunday, opened as short favorites on the road against Detroit. However, that game has already been bet down to a pick ’em with the highest total (53) of the week.

Finally, of note before getting into the full slate: Week 14 is the final week for byes with six teams idle.

Here are the consensus betting lines and totals to open Week 14.

THURSDAY, DEC. 8
(-5.5) Las Vegas Raiders at Los Angeles Rams, 43

SUNDAY, DEC. 11
Minnesota Vikings at (PK) Detroit Lions, 53
New York Jets at (-9.5) Buffalo Bills, 44.5
Baltimore Ravens at (-1.5) Pittsburgh Steelers, 38
(-6.5) Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants, 44.5
Cleveland Browns at (-4.5) Cincinnati Bengals, 48.5
Jacksonville Jaguars at (-3.5) Tennessee Titans, 41.5
Houston Texans at (-16) Dallas Cowboys, 46
(-2) Miami Dolphins at Los Angeles Chargers, 51.5
Carolina Panthers at (-5.5) Seattle Seahawks, 43.5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at (-3) San Francisco 49ers, 37.5
(-9) Kansas City Chiefs at Denver Broncos, 41.5

MONDAY, DEC. 12
(-1) New England Patriots at Arizona Cardinals, 43.5