Week 7 NFL picks: Rise of the underdogs

Both the Jaguars and Raiders are 1-4 this season and have lost two games in a row heading into their showdown on Sunday. Despite identical records, national experts are almost unanimously picking Oakland to win on Sunday.

All 12 ESPN experts are picking the Raiders to be victorious. All four Yahoo Sports experts are expecting the Oakland to win and 6 of the 8 experts on CBSSports.com are picking the Raiders to defeat Jacksonville.

SB Nation’s NFL Editor Joel Thorman writes that it’s “a big game” for both teams, saying, “The problem for Cincy is that it doesn’t beat Pittsburgh very often,” as he went on to predict a 20-16 Steelers win.

Locally, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette selected against the hometown Steelers, predicting a 27-24 Cincinnati win due in-part because, as he writes, “The Steelers have not won a game on the road since last year’s regular-season finale in Cleveland.”

At 1-4, the Panthers are on a three-game losing streak but are coming into the game off a bye week. Carolina’s passing defense has been marginal, allowing 250 passing yards per game. On offense, quarterback Cam Newton is completing only 59% of his passes and also leads the team in rushing yards.

Most experts are tabbing the Cowboys as the winners of this matchup. At ESPN.com, 11 of the 14 predictors are taking the Cowboys, including the Accuscore and fan picks. CBSSports.com’s pickers are less clear, but five of eight are still picking Dallas, while all four of Yahoo!‘s pickers also have the Cowboys winning.

ESPN’s crew of 12 experts unanimously agree that the Vikings will down the Cardinals on Sunday, as do Yahoo’s trio of prognosticators. Five of CBSSports.com’s experts like the Vikings, while three of them (Jason La Canfora, Josh Katzowitz and Ryan Wilson) think the John Skelton-led Cardinals can pull off an upset.

Kickoff for Sunday’s game is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET at Mall of America Field and the game will be televised on FOX.

But because these are two of the highest-scoring teams in the NFL, expect a back and forth battle that could come down to the final possession.

At CBSSports.com, the experts are split; four say the Texans will win, four say the Ravens will win. All three pickers on record at Yahoo! Sports so far have picked the Texans, and the four experts at FoxSports.com agree, but with a caveat: all four pickers at FoxSports.com say the Texans will not cover the 7.5-point spread.

Despite sharing the same record and the Rams boasting a perfect home record, experts are picking heavily against them. At CBSSports.com, all eight experts are picking in favor of the Packers. Four more experts at FoxSports.com have Green Bay, as do the three pickers who have put down their picks so far at Yahoo! Sports.

The line opened with the Colts as 3.5-point favorites, but has dipped a point over the week. Despite being the owners of a 1-5 record, the Browns have performed well against the spread this season, going 3-2-1. The Colts, meanwhile, are 2-3, and have an identical record against the spread.

The current over/under for the game is 45 points, which indicates that Vegas doesn’t have much confidence in either team’s offense. So far through the 2012 season, the teams have given up a combined 56.2 points per game, a far cry from the over/under.