NFL Week 13 Picks: Predicting the Winner of All 16 Matchups

Perhaps bettors should have taken the Oakland Raiders' massive upset over the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday Night Football in Week 12 as a sign. While the week didn't produce any other shocking conclusions, most underdogs performed well enough to cover their respective spreads.

This could be the start of a late-season pattern. After all, playoffs are just around the corner with only five weeks remaining in the regular season, and teams are beginning to take on a postseason mentality. This should be expected to lead to an increase in highly contested games.

Vegas oddsmakers certainly appear to believe we'll continue to see some very close contests going forward. After all, only one early Week 13 line is greater than a one-score margin. Will underdogs continue to flourish this week? Let's take a look at the full slate of games, their corresponding odds and picks against the spread, followed by some in-depth analysis for two upset alerts.

Matchup	Spread	Pick ATS	Reason
Chicago at Detroit	DET -6.5	Lions	Detroit's offense will get back on track against Chicago's porous defense.
Philadelphia at Dallas	DAL -3	Cowboys	Tony Romo has seemingly fixed his turnover issues, Mark Sanchez has not.
Seattle at San Francisco	SF -1	Seahawks	See analysis below.
Cleveland at Buffalo	BUF -1.5	Bills	The Bills front seven will give Brian Hoyer fits.
New Orleans at Pittsburgh	PIT -3	Steelers	The Steelers play well at home, and the Saints play poorly on the road.
San Diego at Baltimore	BAL -4.5	Ravens	San Diego's offense is slumping, and playing in cold weather won't help.
Carolina at Minnesota	MIN -2.5	Vikings	Even though he's still learning, Teddy Bridgewater is more consistent than Cam Newton of late.
NY Giants at Jacksonville	NYG -2	Giants	The Giants don' t have many wins, but they can put up points. Jacksonville can't.
Washington at Indianapolis	IND -9.5	Colts	Only one of these quarterbacks from the 2012 draft class is the future of his franchise. His name is Andrew Luck.
Cincinnati at Tampa Bay	CIN -3.5	Bengals	The Bengals offense is rolling and has a very favorable matchup against a bad Buccaneers defense.
Tennessee at Houston	HOU -6.5	Titans	Ryan Fitzpatrick was benched for his inability to move the offense. Now, he may be back under center.
Oakland at St. Louis	STL -7	Raiders	See analysis below.
Arizona at Atlanta	AZ -1	Cardinals	The Cardinals still have one of the league's best defenses. Atlanta won't score enough points to win.
New England at Green Bay	GB -3	Packers	It's really tough to go against the Patriots, but Green Bay looks unstoppable at home.
Denver at Kansas City	DEN -1	Broncos	The Broncos offense got back on track in Week 12. That's not good for a reeling Chiefs team.
Miami at NY Jets	MIA -4.5	Dolphins	The Jets don't have an offense capable of keeping up with Ryan Tannehill and Co.

All odds courtesy of Odds Shark and current as of November 24.

Early-Week Upset Alerts

Seattle Seahawks (+1) at San Francisco 49ers

Tony Avelar/Associated Press

This contest is sure to cap off a fantastic Thanksgiving Day slate. Both the Seahawks and 49ers are entrenched in a battle for the playoffs, as each holds a 7-4 record heading into Week 13. The winner may be playoff-bound, and the loser will be left with a tough road to the postseason.

The Seahawks weren't overly impressive earlier in the season, but this team is beginning to come alive on both sides of the ball. Seattle tormented the Arizona Cardinals offense in Week 12. Drew Stanton completed 14 of his 26 passing attempts for 149 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception for a passer rating of 54.8. Andre Ellington averaged just 2.4 yards per rush, gaining 24 yards on 10 carries.

Conversely, Arizona's stout defense couldn't contain Russell Wilson. The quarterback completed 17 of his 22 attempts for 211 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions for a passer rating of 121.6, hitting eight different receivers in the process. He also rushed 10 times for 73 yards. That kind of performance will help the Seahawks take down the 49ers.

Colin Kaepernick continues to be less of a playmaker than we anticipated this season. He's an average passer and hasn't been nearly as explosive on the ground as he should be. He completed 20 of his 29 passing attempts for 256 yards, one touchdown and one interception while rushing nine times for 14 yards against a bad Washington Redskins defense in Week 12.

The MMQB doesn't think the quarterback is quite as great as head coach Jim Harbaugh thinks:

If Kaepernick can't produce gaudy numbers against Washington, he'll have one tough time against Seattle. Don't expect a victory for the home team here.

Prediction: Seahawks 24, 49ers 17

Oakland Raiders (+7) at St. Louis Rams

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

Here we go with the Raiders yet again. This team delivered a solid performance against the Chiefs, and rookie Derek Carr capped it off by producing an impressive game-winning touchdown drive against a very good defense.

Carr has continued to improve throughout the season, and one of his most impressive attributes is his ability to take care of the football. He may not put up gaudy numbers, but he hasn't tossed an interception over his last two games—one resulted in a close loss, and the other earned the team its first win.

One player to keep an eye on this week is running back Latavius Murray. He lit up the Chiefs' run defense, gaining 112 yards and two touchdowns on just four carries. He left the game early with a concussion, and according to Steve Corkran of the Contra Costa Times, he wasn't a participant in an early-week practice:

If he does play in Week 13, expect him to light up a Rams defense that allowed 105 yards and one touchdown on just 12 carries to San Diego Chargers running back Ryan Mathews in Week 12.

St. Louis' defense isn't its only issue. While Carr protects the ball nicely for Oakland, Shaun Hill's costly turnovers doomed the Rams against the Chargers. Hill threw two picks and lost one fumble that was returned for a touchdown.

The Rams are still a better all-around team than this young Raiders squad, but Oakland's ability to produce a well-balanced offense and take care of the football will help keep this game close for its duration.

Prediction: Rams 26, Raiders 23