NFL Week 13 Predictions: Early Vegas Odds Advice, Lines and Spread Picks

The Kansas City Chiefs have overcome their brutal start and have worked themselves back into playoff contention.

In fact, if the season ended after Week 12, the 6-5 Chiefs would have one of the two AFC wild-card spots. They have plenty of work to do if they are going to get there, and they will have a tough assignment when they take the field at the O.co Coliseum on Sunday.

The Raiders are not far behind, as they check in with a 5-6 record. The Raiders scored late in the fourth period in Week 12 to register a come-from-behind 24-21 win over the Tennessee Titans. Derek Carr and Co. should be a confident group when they come home.

However, the Raiders will have to be a lot better than they were against the Titans if they are going to beat the Chiefs. Kansas City has reeled off five straight victories, and Andy Reid has turned his team around.

Early in the season, the Chiefs couldn't cover any receivers and their secondary was getting torn up. Additionally, they lost running back Jamaal Charles to a season-ending ACL injury. The Chiefs could have mailed it in when they dropped to 1-5, but neither Reid nor quarterback Alex Smith would let that happen.

The Chiefs straightened out their defense, and they finally figured out that if they threw the ball to their wide receivers as well as their running backs and tight end Travis Kelce, they could get the job done on the offensive side of the ball.

That's where Jeremy Maclin fits in. The former Philadelphia Eagle took some time to fit in the Kansas City offense, but he has figured out his role. Maclin caught nine passes for 160 yards and a touchdown in the Chiefs' 30-22 win over Buffalo in Week 12, and he has caught 57-772-3 for the season.

This makes the Chiefs very difficult to stop. They are three-point favorites over the Raiders, according to Odds Shark.

Oakland will come out on fire and give the Chiefs all they can handle for 30 minutes. However, once this game gets into the second half, the Chiefs will take over and put this game away.

This should be a strong play on the Chiefs.

Game	Line	Selection
Green Bay at Detroit	Green Bay -3	Green Bay
Houston at Buffalo	Buffalo -3.5	Houston
San Francisco at Chicago	Chicago -7	Chicago
Cincinnati at Cleveland	No line	Cincinnati
Baltimore at Miami	No line	Miami
Seattle at Minnesota	Even	Seattle
N.Y. Jets at N.Y. Giants	Even	N.Y. Giants
Arizona at St. Louis	Arizona -6	St. Louis
Atlanta at Tampa Bay	Tampa Bay -1	Tampa Bay
Jacksonville at Tennessee	Tennessee -2.5	Tennessee
Kansas City at Oakland	Kansas City -3	Kansas City
Denver at San Diego	No line	Denver
Carolina at New Orleans	Carolina -7	New Orleans
Philadelphia at New England	No line	New England
Indianapolis at Pittsburgh	No line	Pittsburgh
Dallas at Washington	No line	Washington

Texans have turned it around at the right time

For the first half of the season, the Houston Texans were among the most disappointing teams in the NFL.

Despite a boatload of defensive talent, including J.J. Watt, Brian Cushing and Jadeveon Clowney, the Texans were not getting the job done on defense. They gave up 44 points or more on two occasions, and the offense could not make up for those defensive lapses.

But the Texans have turned it around. Brian Hoyer is proving to be a consistent starting quarterback, and he has developed an explosive rapport with wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. 

But the big turnaround came in Week 10, when the Texans walked into Cincinnati and held the previously undefeated Bengals to two field goals and came away with a 10-6 victory. 

The Texans have won four in a row, and they will try to make it five straight when they go to Buffalo on Sunday. The Bills are 5-6 and are coming off a tough loss at Kansas City.

The Bills are 3.5-point favorites, but their defense is not functioning the same way the Texans defense is. Go with the red-hot underdog in this matchup.

Mike McGinnis/Getty Images

Favored Bears should stomp lowly Niners

Head coach John Fox has done an excellent job at turning around the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos in his first years with both of those teams.

However, when he took the Chicago Bears' head-coaching position after he left Denver last year, few expected him to have the same kind of impact.

That didn't matter to Fox, as he is the kind of leader who doesn't care what others think. Fox brought in a staff of talented and experienced coaches, and they have had a positive impact on a team that was 5-11 last year and appeared to be going through the motions under former head coach Marc Trestman.

The Bears are coming off a Thanksgiving Night victory over the Green Bay Packers, and they have a respectable 5-6 record.

On the other hand, rookie coach Jim Tomsula appears to be in over his head with the San Francisco 49ers. The once-powerful Niners have fallen to 3-8 and are 0-5 on the road.

This game sets up well for improved Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler. Look for him to carve up the San Francisco defense, and look for the Bears to cover the seven-point spread.