NFL Week 13 Predictions: Projections for the Early Lines, Spreads and Odds

A trio of Thanksgiving Day games are around the corner as we head straight into Week 13 of the NFL season with little time for fans to catch their breath.

Week 12 won't be in the rearview mirror until Monday's two games, with the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills playing their postponed game in Detroit alongside the regularly scheduled Monday Night Football matchup between Baltimore and New Orleans. But with Thanksgiving coming up, there isn't much time to waste.

Here's a look at the early odds for Week 13 to dissect as the week gets underway.

Matchup	Spread	Pick Against Spread	Reason
Thursday, Nov. 27
Chicago at Detroit	DET -5.5	DET	Detroit's sputtering offense will find its way against Chicago's porous secondary.
Philadelphia at Dallas	DAL -3	DAL	The Eagles won't put up enough points to cancel out Tony Romo and DeMarco Murray.
Seattle at San Francisco	SF -1	SEA	See below.
Sunday, Nov. 30
Tennessee at Houston	HOU -6.5	HOU	J.J. Watt will make a joke out of the Titans offensive line (again).
Washington at Indianapolis	IND -8	WAS	Alfred Morris will run it down the Colts' throats to keep Indy's win within a touchdown.
Cleveland at Buffalo	Even	CLE	The Browns are enormously up-and-down, but Buffalo is struggling mightily on a short week.
San Diego at Baltimore	BAL -4.5	BAL	Baltimore will make the Chargers offense one-dimensional.
New York Giants at Jacksonville	NYG -1.5	NYG	See below.
Cincinnati at Tampa Bay	CIN -4	CIN	Tampa Bay's secondary is improving, but will be no match for A.J. Green and Andy Dalton.
Oakland at St. Louis	STL -6.5	STL	Oakland's success won't last, as the Rams defensive line will chase Derek Carr all game.
New Orleans at Pittsburgh	PIT -3	PIT	The Saints defense of old would (maybe) be able to stop this Steelers offense, but not the 2014 version.
Carolina at Minnesota	MIN -2	MIN	The Vikings' underrated pass rush will torture Cam Newton.
Arizona at Atlanta	Even	ARI	Arizona will reclaim its offensive success against a hapless secondary.
New England at Green Bay	GB -4	NE	Both passing attacks are on fire, but the Patriots have the much superior defense.
Denver at Kansas City	DEN -1.5	DEN	Kansas City has a great defense, but not enough to stifle Peyton Manning.
Monday, Dec. 1
Miami at New York Jets	MIA -4	MIA	The Jets have given up huge days to QBs all season, and Ryan Tannehill is next up.

Note: All odds courtesy of Odds Shark, last updated Nov. 24 at 12 a.m. ET

Best Bets

New York Giants (-1.5) over Jacksonville Jaguars

Kathy Willens/Associated Press

The Jaguars are once again underdogs in Week 13 as they host the Giants, but one of the smallest spreads they've faced all season will see many folks going with the G-Men Sunday in Jacksonville.

A huge reason why would be the Giants' performance Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys, in which they took a late lead only to fall victim to more late Tony Romo heroics. Eli Manning's maligned Giants actually outgained the mighty Cowboys in yards and first downs.

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

Rashad Jennings has had a tempered return to action against the San Francisco 49ers and Cowboys, but he will be running wild against the Jaguars' 28th-ranked run defense. Jacksonville allowed 175 rushing yards last week to Indianapolis—one of the most pass-happy teams in the NFL.

It's not hard to see that New York will follow suit, and rushing dominance will cause the Jags defense to come up and allow Manning to go over the top.

Prediction: Giants win, 31-20

Seattle Seahawks (+1) over San Francisco 49ers

Those who devote their entire Thanksgiving Day to watching pigskin will be in for a late-night treat as the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers battle in an NFC title game rematch.

This one is going to have that type of feel to it, too. Believe it or not, the loser will fall to 7-5 and out of the playoff picture for the moment with both still looking up at Arizona in the NFC West.

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

The Niners will be close favorites playing at home, but their recent three-game win streak has been far from dominant. Each have come by the skin of their teeth against sub-.500 teams, and they were preceded by two defeats to Denver and St. Louis.

Meanwhile, the Seahawks are feeling as confident as they have all season after drubbing the Cardinals 19-3 at home.

San Francisco has allowed 100-yard rushers in two of its last three, and Marshawn Lynch will be in for a big day to push the Seahawks to 8-4.

Prediction: Seahawks win, 24-20

All team stats courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.