NFL Week 13 Picks: Favorites That Will Easily Cruise to Victory

The NFL's weekend slate for Week 13 may not include as many matchups after three Thanksgiving Day games, but there's no shortage of scintillating games among the remainder of the week's schedule.

While a handful of upsets will emerge from the mass of games, these favorites are a sure thing to pick up a W as they head toward a crucial push for the playoffs.

Here are the biggest locks for victory in Week 13.

Away	Home	Spread	Pick
Jacksonville Jaguars	Cleveland Browns	-7	Jaguars
Tennessee Titans	Indianapolis Colts	-4	Colts
Chicago Bears	Minnesota Vikings	-1	Bears
Miami Dolphins	New York Jets	-2	Jets
Arizona Cardinals	Philadelphia Eagles	-3	Eagles
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Carolina Panthers	-8	Panthers
New England Patriots	Houston Texans	+7.5	Patriots
Atlanta Falcons	Buffalo Bills	-3	Bills
St. Louis Rams	San Francisco 49ers	-8	Rams
Denver Broncos	Kansas City Chiefs	+5.5	Broncos
Cincinnati Bengals	San Diego Chargers	-1	Chargers
New York Giants	Washington Redskins	+1	Giants
New Orleans Saints	Seattle Seahawks	-4.5	Seahawks

Denver Broncos (-5.5) over Kansas City Chiefs

A brutal three-week slate for Kansas City concludes with its second matchup against the Broncos in three weeks, and that's not good news for the Chiefs.

Kansas City has lost two straight games after starting off 9-0, and its defense was carved up by the Chargers last week by Philip Rivers. 

Peyton Manning was able to find plenty of success against the Chiefs' highly touted secondary in the first of two showdowns, and after Rivers gave him plenty of tape to look over throughout this week, he should be able to do even more.

The Broncos have the Chiefs' number, and that hasn't changed over the last three weeks. 

Broncos 34, Chiefs 20

Seattle Seahawks (-4.5) over New Orleans Saints

It's not very often that Monday Night Football produces an epic matchup, but this is certainly one of those weeks, with Seattle hosting New Orleans in a game that may end up deciding home-field advantage in the NFC.

Although it's struggled in stretches, the Seattle offense has shown signs of explosiveness and looks impossible to stop at times. The Seahawks have a combined 74 points in their last two games.

The only way to attack the Seahawks defense is on the ground, as they rank second in the league in pass defense and middle of the pack (16th) against the run. That doesn't really match up with the Saints, whose 97.7 yards per game is 23rd in the NFL. 

The Seahawks will have to replace some losses in the secondary, but Seattle's unique home-field advantage playing at CenturyLink Field will make it awfully tough for Brees to generate momentum in the passing game.

Seahawks 30, Saints 20

New England Patriots (-7.5) over Houston Texans

There aren't many games that prove to be easy to pick in the NFL—a league that has been even more predictable than usual—but this is one of them.

The Patriots are one controversial call against the Panthers away from coming in with a four-game winning streak, and they recently knocked off the Broncos. They shut down Peyton Manning through the air, and improved to boast the ninth-best pass defense. 

From September until now, Houston has gone from a Super Bowl pick for some to arguably the worst team in the league. The Texans have lost nine in a row ever since starting the year off 2-0, and are coming in off a 13-6 loss to Jacksonville—yes, Jacksonville. 

Really, the only chance Houston has to make this a game is to light it up through the air with Case Keenum connecting early and often with Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins. Against a revamped Patriots secondary, not a chance that will happen.

Patriots 35, Texans 14