Week 13 NFL Picks: Latest Betting Odds, Vegas Spreads and Projections

Week 12 provided plenty of edge-of-your-seat action and down-to-the-wire finishes. While those close calls were extremely exciting for fans of the NFL, they caused many bettors to become nervous wrecks.

Due to a bevy of contests between teams fighting for spots in the playoffs, many games remained very close and wound up favoring underdogs capable of covering the spread. Going forward, that should serve as a lesson to us all: Beware of postseason implications.

Looking ahead to the slate of game set for Week 13, we have a couple of contests that pit playoff hopefuls against teams that appear to be in line for favorable draft picks. The early lines favor the better team in each instance, and we should be taking full advantage.

Before we delve into some analysis for those contests, let's take a look at all 16 Week 13 contests and their odds and pick a winner against the spread for each.

Matchup	Spread	Pick ATS	Reason
Chicago at Detroit	DET -6.5	Lions	Jay Cutler isn't poised for a good game on the road against a very solid defense.
Philadelphia at Dallas	DAL -3	Cowboys	Philadelphia's secondary won't be able to contain the Dallas passing attack.
Seattle at San Francisco	SF -1	Seahawks	Colin Kaepernick isn't playing well enough to get past a stout Seahawks defense.
Cleveland at Buffalo	BUF -1.5	Bills	Brian Hoyer has been inconsistent of late, and that will continue against a good Bills defensive front.
New Orleans at Pittsburgh	PIT -3	Steelers	Drew Brees won't fare well on the road in Pittsburgh's cold conditions.
San Diego at Baltimore	BAL -4.5	Ravens	Baltimore's defense will feast on a warm-weather team that's out of its element.
Carolina at Minnesota	MIN -2.5	Vikings	Minnesota's defense played well against the Packers, and now a struggling Cam Newton comes to town.
NY Giants at Jacksonville	NYG -2	Giants	Odell Beckham Jr. may have a career game against a poor Jacksonville secondary.
Washington at Indianapolis	IND -9.5	Colts	See analysis below.
Cincinnati at Tampa Bay	CIN -3.5	Bengals	See analysis below.
Tennessee at Houston	HOU -6.5	Titans	Zach Mettenberger is playing better, and Houston's pass defense isn't very good.
Oakland at St. Louis	STL -7	Raiders	The Raiders have confidence after notching a win, and they'll keep this one close.
Arizona at Atlanta	AZ -1	Cardinals	Atlanta's offense isn't good enough to move the ball against Arizona's defense.
New England at Green Bay	GB -3	Packers	The Packers get the nod here solely due to home-field advantage.
Denver at Kansas City	DEN -1	Broncos	Here's a game between two teams headed in opposite directions following Week 12.
Miami at NY Jets	MIA -4.5	Dolphins	Ryan Tannehill continues to play well, and he should light up a bad Jets secondary.

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

Early-Week Odds to Bet

Washington Redskins at Indianapolis Colts (-9.5)

AJ Mast/Associated Press

So, here's the thing about Washington. This team has some good players on both sides of the ball. Defensively, the Redskins are holding opponents to an average of 230.3 yards per game through the air and 100.7 on the ground. Those are some great numbers. However, the team can't keep opponents out of the end zone, allowing an average of 24.8 points per game.

Making matters worse, the team's quarterback is struggling in a big way, and he isn't capable of producing enough points to keep up with superior opponents. Robert Griffin III has been miserable lately. Here's a look at his numbers over his last two games:

Opponent	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	RAT
Buccaneers	23/32	207	1	2	73.3
49ers	11/19	106	0	0	73.6

That won't get it done against Andrew Luck and the high-flying Colts.

Luck has already thrown for 3,641 yards and 29 touchdowns this season, leading the league's most prolific passing attack. He was able to overcome six fumbles (three lost) against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 12 to earn a decisive 20-point victory.

Despite losing Ahmad Bradshaw for the season, the Colts remain balanced on offense due to the emergence of Daniel Herron. He looked good in Week 12, carrying 12 times for 65 yards and propelling the team to a total of 175 yards on the ground.

Indianapolis is a well-rounded squad, and the Redskins are having trouble getting out of their own way. This one won't be close.

Prediction: Colts 34, Redskins 20

Cincinnati Bengals (-3.5) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Ever since the Bengals were trounced by the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football, they've been playing like a team possessed. They traveled to New Orleans and defeated the Saints 27-10 and followed that up with a 22-13 victory over the Houston Texans.

Andy Dalton has been playing much better. He appears to have regained his confidence, and he's fully utilizing All-Pro wide receiver A.J. Green, who caught 12 passes for 121 yards in Week 12 against Houston. That bodes well for the Bengals, as a poor Buccaneers secondary is next on the slate.

ESPN's Coley Harvey also tweeted that Green is finally completely healed from a nagging toe injury that plagued him earlier in the season:

Adding to Cincinnati's offensive efficiency is its two-headed monster out of the backfield. Rookie Jeremy Hill has made a name for himself within the club, and he's become a great complement to Giovani Bernard. The duo combined for 132 yards and a touchdown on 35 carries in Week 12. Again, that's a great sign, as Tampa Bay also struggles against the run.

Needless to say, the Buccaneers will need to put some points on the board to keep up, but after what we saw from quarterback Josh McCown against the Chicago Bears, that's unlikely to happen. While the quarterback did throw for 341 yards and a score against a poor secondary, he was inconsistent, completing 25 of his 48 passing attempts, throwing two interceptions and fumbling twice, losing one.

The fact that Tampa Bay can't get a running game going—the team averaged just 3.0 yards per carry against the Bears—solidifies the notion that there isn't enough firepower on this team to keep up with the red-hot Bengals.

Prediction: Bengals 27, Buccaneers 18