APC NFL Picks, Week 14: Handicapping Steelers-Bills, Cardinals-Giants, & Packers-Lions

Week 14 in the NFL’s 2020 season comes with a handful of interesting games. Coming into the season, a contest between the Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants did not look like one that would carry a great deal of intrigue late in the season, but circumstances change; the Giants are leading the NFC East (even though they remain under .500) and the Cardinals are fighting to stay alive in the race for a Wild Card spot in the NFC. Those two teams will meet in one of the more interesting games in the early time slot on Sunday, with the Cardinals flying across the country to suit up in New Jersey.

Sunday night gets a true premier matchup this week, however. The Pittsburgh Steelers look like one of the NFL’s best teams, even despite receiving their first loss of the year last Monday from Washington. They will make a short trip north to Buffalo, where they will face the AFC East-leading Bills in a game that could have major implications for playoff seeding. If Buffalo wins, they will have a legitimate shot at the second seed in the AFC, but a Steelers victory will all but assure them a top-two spot and keep them in the driver’s seat for the sole first-round bye.

How will those games shake out? APC’s writers are taking Arizona and Buffalo in fairly slim majorities this week, going with the favorites in both games. Meanwhile, the Packers look to repeat their performance against the Detroit Lions from week two, when Green Bay won by more than 20 points. APC likes the Packers to win outright and cover the 7.5-point spread in Detroit this week as well.

Additionally, this week’s picks are publishing after the Thursday night game, but the picks below for Rams-Patriots came in before the contest kicked off. As always, these picks are for entertainment purposes only.