NFL Week 13 Picks: Underdogs Set for Upset Wins on Sunday

Whether a team is looking to move closer to a playoff bid or just get more wins in the record book, anyone is capable of surprises at this stage of the year.

Fans might be rooting for their own team to lose at this point in an effort to secure a great draft pick. Of course, these are usually the same fans who have been rooting for and seeing losses for many years in a row. Still, this doesn't mean the players are going to give up with their jobs on the line.

At the same time, the squads hoping to finish the year strong and possibly contend for a Super Bowl know that they can win any game, regardless of the opponent or location. This confidence will help create some exciting battles and hopefully a few upsets to keep us on our toes.

Here are predictions for each game with a breakdown of some underdogs looking to win outright.

Away	Predicted Score	Home	Pick ATS*
Oakland Raiders	17-21	St. Louis Rams	OAK +7
Cleveland Browns	14-20	Buffalo Bills	BUF -3
New Orleans Saints	24-31	Pittsburgh Steelers	PIT -4.5
San Diego Chargers	23-20	Baltimore Ravens	SD +7
Carolina Panthers	21-27	Minnesota Vikings	MIN -2.5
New York Giants	28-34	Jacksonville Jaguars	JAX +3
Washington Redskins	10-31	Indianapolis Colts	IND -10
Cincinnati Bengals	24-13	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	CIN -3.5
Tennessee Titans	14-24	Houston Texans	HOU -7
Arizona Cardinals	20-7	Atlanta Falcons	ARI -1
New England Patriots	35-31	Green Bay Packers	NE +3
Denver Broncos	28-20	Kansas City Chiefs	DEN -1
Miami Dolphins	23-6	New York Jets	MIA -7

Upset Alert

Jacksonville Jaguars (+3) vs. New York Giants

AJ Mast/Associated Press

The Jaguars might be 1-10, but the schedule has been tougher than people realize. Each of the last five games and nine of the 11 overall were against opponents that currently have a winning record.

With four of the last five games against opponents currently under .500, Jacksonville has a chance to surprise people before the start of the year.

Meanwhile, Giants head coach Tom Coughlin believes the Jaguars are a scary team to face (via Paul Schwartz of the New York Post):

Of course, let's not act like New York has been that much better. Eli Manning and company have lost their last six games to fall to 3-8 on the year, thanks mostly to a defense allowing the second-most yards per game this season.

Odell Beckham Jr. might be exciting to watch, but he can't carry a team by himself. Unfortunately, no one else has stepped up around him.

Look for Jacksonville to play with confidence against someone it knows it can beat, while Blake Bortles finds success against one of the worst defenses in the league. As long as he avoids turnovers, this should be a win for the Jaguars.

San Diego Chargers (+7) at Baltimore Ravens

Lenny Ignelzi/Associated Press

Even though the Chargers have won the last two games, they weren't exactly convincing victories against the Oakland Raiders and St. Louis Rams.

Philip Rivers started the year with 15 touchdowns and just two interceptions in his first six games as the team posted a 5-1 record. He has struggled lately, though, especially in the past three starts where he has just two touchdowns and four interceptions.

At first glance, it would be understandable to see him struggle against the Ravens after they recently earned a tough road win against the New Orleans Saints.

However, Rivers ended the previous game as well as possible, according to Michael Gehlkin of U-T San Diego:

He will try to keep that momentum going into Week 13 against a defense currently ranked 29th in the NFL against the pass.

With San Diego's defense keeping opponents out of the end zone and ranking seventh in the league in points allowed per game, Baltimore could struggle to run up the score. Rivers will then be able to do enough to help his team earn a narrow win.

New England Patriots (+3) at Green Bay Packers

The main storyline in this game will be the quarterback battle. Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are two of the best in the sport and are quickly moving up the list of the best of all time.

While this is certain to create a lot of excitement for television viewers, the play of these two stars is not going to define the game. In reality, this matchup will come down to the rushing attack.

Green Bay has improved its run defense in the past few weeks, but it is still among the worst in the NFL. Whether LeGarrette Blount or Jonas Gray or Shane Vereen or anyone else Bill Belichick picks up off the street comes in, the Patriots should be able to move the ball on the ground.

On the other side of the ball, Aaron Rodgers could struggle to get it to his top targets with Darrelle Revis patrolling the secondary. Andy Benoit of Sports Illustrated notes the cornerback hasn't lost his ability:

Finally, the Patriots have consistently beaten some of the top teams in the NFL recently, as illustrated in a recent tweet by NFL on ESPN:

After a long string of success, Brady and the rest of the Patriots should be able to come through with another impressive win.

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