NFL Predictions Week 13: Last-Minute Picks and Advice for Sunday's Schedule

Thanksgiving football attracts a mythical allure, but Sunday provides four times the fun with a full slate of NFL action.

After that truly rare day of the year where people can eat food and watch football, deprived citizens around the country have had to wait two days until doing it again on Sunday. This time, there are 12 games to monitor rather than three.   

As dinner plates clear up to a healthier portion, the football helping multiplies during November's last taste of men chasing and hitting each other on a field. After that, only four weeks remain before the playoffs begin.

Let's take a break from shopping and take a look at this weekend's schedule.

Away	Home	Pick	Analysis
San Diego Chargers	Baltimore Ravens	BAL	Ranked No. 6 in both rushing offense and defense, Baltimore controls the ground game on both ends.
Cleveland Browns	Buffalo Bills	BUF	Having already won three games by two points or less, the Browns find themselves on the wong end of a coin-flip game.
Tennessee Titans	Houston Texans	TEN	Ryan Fitzpatrick, a shaky second and battered Arian Foster clear the way for a Titans upset.
Washington Redskins	Indianapolis Colts	IND	Don't expect another miracle from Colt McCoy at Lucas Oil Stadium.
New York Giants	Jacksonville Jaguars	NYG	The Giants are 0-8 against winning teams and 3-0 against losing teams. The Jaguars are 1-10.
Carolina Panthers	Minnesota Vikings	MIN	Carolina has scored 14.8 points per game since its Week 6 tie, and it won't get better against Minnesota's No. 7 pass defense.
New Orleans Saints	Pittsburgh Steelers	PIT	Le'Veon Bell torches New Orleans' exposed rushing defense in a shootout.
Oakland Raiders	St. Louis Rams	STL	See analysis below.
Cincinnati Bengals	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	CIN	A.J. Green outshines Mike Evans against a weak Tampa Bay secondary.
Arizona Cardinals	Atlanta Falcons	ARI	The Cardinals will escpae past the Falcons' league-worst defense before falling to earth in December.
New England Patriots	Green Bay Packers	NE	New England has won its last four games by a combined 92 points.
Denver Broncos	Kansas City Chiefs	DEN	C.J. Anderson will have a big day against a Kansas City defense that allows 5.0 yards per carry.

Sneakily Interesting Game of the Week: Oakland Raiders at St. Louis Rams

Ben Margot/Associated Press

Up until now, these poor teams couldn't catch a break. Unfortunately, only one of these western squads can capitalize on their most favorable matchup since September.

As the ignored little sibling from each division, the Oakland Raiders and St. Louis Rams must navigate through three playoff contenders twice this season. Were that not enough, Oakland has been fed to the NFC West while St. Louis encountered the AFC West.

Neither squad has faced a losing team since Week 2, when the Raiders lost to the Houston Texans and the Rams beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Yet both have fought valiantly against mountainous odds.

Before finally emerging on the win column at the Kansas City Chiefs' expense, the Raiders played the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots to single digits. As the ultimate underdog, the Rams have slayed three Goliaths (Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos) over the past six weeks.

Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

Both adversaries are looking at this scheduled bout thinking, "Finally, we get an easy opponent." Yet one will suffer the all too familiar feeling of an eluded victory. They're closer than the records indicate. In Football Outsiders' Weighted DVOA, St. Louis places No. 23, just two spots ahead of Oakland. 

The real wild card could have been Latavius Murray, who quickly made his presence felt with a 90-yard touchdown run during Oakland's upset over Kansas City. Forced to leave the game with a concussion, he made the most of his momentary showing, as shown by ESPN Stats & Info. 

Four carries into galvanizing the offense, Murray cruelly went down. Interim head coach Tony Sparano told ESPN.com's Michael Wagaman that he will not play this weekend after failing the league's concussion protocol.

"He did not pass the last part of the test," Sparano said. "I don't need to go into details but he's out."

Before getting ruled out, Murray expressed optimism to CSNBayArea.com's Scott Bair, declaring progress but respecting the NFL's stricter process to avoid head trauma. 

“I’ve felt fine, and I’m feeling better each day,” Murray said. “With these kind of things you have to take it one day at a time and follow the right procedures. I’m making sure to do that and listen to what the trainers have me doing.”

While the Raiders have allowed more rushing yards than the Rams, they relinquish 3.8 yards per carry to the Rams' 4.4. Since Murray can't suit up, Oakland's league-worst rushing offense will turn back to Darren McFadden, who has gained 84 combined yards in his last four games.

That lack of a ground game will have St. Louis' invigorated defensive line smelling blood, preying on rookie Derek Carr and his meager 5.54 yards per attempt this season. Murray injected Oakland's offense with life, but now it's right back to square one.

Was Murray able to play with a hefty workload, things would have gotten much more interesting inside the Edward Jones Dome. He's not, however, so St. Louis gets the slight edge in a game that will boil down to the wire.