NFL Predictions Week 13: Odds, Spread and Picks for Entire Schedule

Just five weeks remain in the 2016 NFL season with the beef of Week 13 getting underway on Sunday. Things got off to a tasty start on Thursday night when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Minnesota Vikings 17-15 with some late-game controversy. 

With 14 games remaining on the week's schedule, here is a look at the upcoming matchups, spread, odds—courtesy of OddsShark—and my picks for each game:

Time (ET)	Matchup	Line	Prediction
Sunday, Dec. 4
1 p.m.	Los Angeles at New England	NE -13.5	New England
1 p.m.	Detroit at New Orleans	NO -6	Detroit
1 p.m.	Philadelphia at Cincinnati	CIN -1.5	Philadelphia
1 p.m.	Houston at Green Bay	GB -6.5	Green Bay
1 p.m.	Kansas City at Atlanta	ATL -6	Atlanta
1 p.m.	Miami at Baltimore	BAL -3.5	Baltimore
1 p.m.	Denver at Jacksonville	DEN -3.5	Denver
1 p.m.	San Francisco at Chicago	SF -2.5	Chicago
4:05 p.m.	Buffalo at Oakland	OAK -3	Oakland
4:25 p.m.	Tampa Bay at San Diego	SD -3.5	San Diego
4:25 p.m.	Washington at Arizona	ARI -2.5	Arizona
4:25 p.m.	NY Giants at Pittsburgh	PIT -6	NY Giants
8:30 p.m.	Carolina at Seattle	SEA -7.5	Seattle
Monday, Dec. 5
8:30 p.m.	Indianapolis at NY Jets	IND -2	NY Jets

Game of the Week

Carolina Panthers at Seattle Seahawks (SEA -7.5)

The past three NFC champions will meet on Sunday night in the most tantalizing matchup of the week, although both of these teams haven't been nearly as dominant in 2016. 

Carolina, which has won the last two meetings between these two including last year's NFC divisional-round matchup, has lost two of its last three games leading up to Week 13.

Most recently, the Panthers defense allowed 35 points to the Oakland Raiders in Week 12, which was the third time this year Carolina allowed 30 or more points: 

During their 15-1 regular season in 2015, the Panthers did that just two times and managed to win both of those games. 

Unfortunately for the defense, it will be without star linebacker Luke Kuechly for a second straight week, per the Panthers:

This is as close to a must-win game in Week 13 as it can get for the Panthers. At 4-7, Carolina is three games behind the Atlanta Falcons for the NFC South lead and two games out of a possible wild-card spot with five games left to play. 

A loss on Sunday could all but destroy any notion of postseason hopes. 

The Panthers will be visiting a Seahawks team that is sitting pretty in the NFC West with a three-game lead over the second-place Arizona Cardinals. 

However, there is some cause for concern after Seattle scored just five points against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during a Week 12 loss, one that snapped a three-game winning streak: 

Head coach Pete Carroll didn't mince his words when describing what went wrong with the offense, per Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com: "Offensive line, we're done."

Tampa Bay sacked quarterback Russell Wilson six times on the day and gave him no time in the pocket to get the passing game going. 

Something will have to give on Sunday, though. Either Seattle's offense will come alive or Carolina's defense will wake up from a tough stretch. 

At home against a Panthers defense that's struggled this season, I'm taking the Seahawks. 

Stats courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com.