NFL Week 13 Picks: Guide for Latest Vegas Odds and Winning Predictions

Now that Week 12 has officially come to a close, it's time to look ahead to the 13th week of the 2016 NFL season.

There are 15 games on the upcoming slate, which begins with a tantalizing Thursday night matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings. Other potential playoff previews include a contest between the Buffalo Bills and Oakland Raiders, and a game between the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins.

Today, we're going to run down the full slate of Week 13 games. We'll also be looking at the latest odds—courtesy of OddsShark—and making our predictions against the spreads. Then, we'll take an in-depth look at some of the more interesting matchups of the week.

NFL Week 13

Time (ET)	Game	National TV	Line	Prediction
Thur. 8:30 p.m.	Dallas at Minnesota	NFL Network, NBC, Twitter	DAL -3.5	DAL
Sun. 1 p.m.	Kansas City at Atlanta	CBS	ATL -3.5	ATL
Sun. 1 p.m.	Detroit at New Orleans	Fox	NO -5.5	NO
Sun. 1 p.m.	Los Angeles at New England	Fox	NE -13.5	NE
Sun. 1 p.m.	Denver at Jacksonville	CBS	DEN -5	DEN
Sun. 1 p.m.	Houston at Green Bay	CBS	GB -4.5	GB
Sun. 1 p.m.	Philadelphia at Cincinnati	Fox	PHI -2.5	PHI
Sun. 1 p.m.	Miami at Baltimore	CBS	BAL -3.5	BAL
Sun. 1 p.m.	San Francisco at Chicago	Fox	CHI -2.5	CHI
Sun. 4:05 p.m.	Buffalo at Oakland	CBS	OAK -3	OAK
Sun. 4:25 p.m.	NY Giants at Pittsburgh	Fox	PIT -6	PIT
Sun. 4:25 p.m.	Washington at Arizona	Fox	ARI -2.5	WAS
Sun. 4:25 p.m.	Tampa Bay at San Diego	Fox	SD -4	SD
Sun. 8:30 p.m.	Carolina at Seattle	NBC	SEA -6.5	CAR
Mon. 8:30 p.m.	Indianapolis at NY Jets	ESPN	IND -1	IND

Week 13 Matchups to Watch

Denver Broncos at Jacksonville Jaguars

The Denver Broncos have an opportunity this week to bounce back from Sunday's draining overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Broncos will travel to take on the struggling 2-9 Jacksonville Jaguars.

This is the definition of a trap game.

The Jaguars may have failed to live up to expectations, especially after a headline-grabbing flurry of offseason moves. However, Jacksonville is still a talented football team with an improving defense and some difference-making offensive weapons.

If Blake Bortles, Allen Robinson and the rest of the Jaguars offense can play efficient football, Jacksonville will have a chance to hang in this game.

Jacksonville's defense is currently ranked sixth in the NFL in yards allowed, 320.9 per game. It has been good enough to keep the team in games over the past month. Each of Jacksonville's last four games has been lost by a touchdown or less.

All four of those losses have come against quality teams—the Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills.

The Broncos cannot afford to overlook Jacksonville here. If they do, they could easily run the risk of losing. Even if the Broncos stay focused, there's a chance Jacksonville will keep this game closer than expected. Use caution if the spread increases during the week.

San Francisco 49ers at Chicago Bears

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

The San Francisco 49ers have also disappointed to a large degree this season, even if the expectations for the team weren't so high to begin with. The 49ers are essentially the anti-Dallas Cowboys—they haven't managed to produce a win since the opening week of the season.

Even with Colin Kaepernick playing at a respectable level—he holds a passer rating of 87.0—the 49ers are rated dead last in overall offense by Pro Football Focus. The San Francisco defense, which is allowing an NFL-worst 31.3 points per game, isn't any better.

Yet, there's a chance the 49ers could snag their second win of 2016 this week against the Chicago Bears. The two-win Bears aren't exactly a juggernaut, and the team is likely starting third-string quarterback Matt Barkley for a second consecutive week.

The thing is, Barkley actually played relatively well last week against the Tennessee Titans. He went 28-of-54 for 316 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Had Bears receivers done a better job of reeling in catchable passes, his numbers would look even better.

"

Matt Barkley played pretty well. Skill set is clearly limited but they would have won if his receivers didn't drop 20 passes.

— Cian Fahey (@Cianaf) November 28, 2016"

Chicago can feel good about Barkley's performance heading into Week 13.

“Probably much like all his teammates and all the coaches, I think our confidence level is a little bit higher now,” Bears coach John Fox said, per Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times.

If Barkley again plays at an above-average level, the Bears should be able to keep the 49ers defense off balance. Chicago's running game has gotten a boost from rookie Jordan Howard, who has 766 yards rushing already this season. The 49ers defense, meanwhile, is surrendering an NFL-worst 171.8 yards rushing per game.

Picking the 49ers here is tempting, but we feel the Bears can get the job done.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at San Diego Chargers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have managed to win three games in a row to emerge as potential playoff contenders. This week, they'll travel to San Diego for an underrated matchup with the Chargers.

The Chargers have been a tough team to figure out this season. They've lost late leads in baffling ways in winnable games, then turned around and beaten quality teams. The Chargers have knocked off possible playoff teams like the Broncos, the Houston Texans and the Atlanta Falcons.

While the Buccaneers are the ones riding momentum into this game, the Chargers are arguably the more dangerous team.

Offensively, it's been business as usual for Philip Rivers and his teammates. San Diego ranks fifth in passing yardage (271.5 yards per game) and fourth in points scored (28.5 per game). Where the team has turned things around a bit is on the defensive side of the ball.

The Chargers are still surrendering 26.5 points per game (25th in the NFL), but they've been stout against the run (89.8 yards rushing allowed per game) and dangerous in the right situations. Pro Football Focus rates San Diego seventh in overall defense for the season so far.

What also makes the Chargers dangerous is the fact that they aren't quite out of the playoff mix yet.

“I know the guys still believe, and I believe,” Rivers said prior to Sunday's win, per Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune. “Keep fighting. That's part of this game."

San Diego's won't-quit attitude and home-field advantage could be enough to give the Chargers the edge here—even if the Buccaneers are the team with the better shot at the postseason.