NFL Predictions Week 13: Every Game's Odds, Lines and Score Predictions

As the calendar changes to December, NFL players and fans can no longer coyly deny watching the scoreboard and monitoring playoff scenarios.

Five weeks remain in the season, and everyone has formed a general idea of the league's true contenders and afterthoughts. The teams hunting for a playoff bid know their enemies and what it will take to conquer them.

Running down Week 13's schedule, most matchups contain some postseason implications. (Hey, the Jacksonville Jaguars could still plausibly win the AFC South.) Here's a look at early betting lines, courtesy of Odds Shark, and predictions for all 16 games.

Away	Home	Spread	O/U	Prediction
Green Bay Packers	Detroit Lions	GB -3	46.5	27-20 GB
Houston Texans	Buffalo Bills	BUF -3	41.5	24-23 BUF
San Francisco 49ers	Chicago Bears	CHI -7.5	43.5	26-16 CHI
Cincinnati Bengals	Cleveland Browns	CIN -7	--	28-14 CIN
Baltimore Ravens	Miami Dolphins	MIA -4	43	23-17 MIA
Seattle Seahawks	Minnesota Vikings	EV	41.5	23-17 SEA
New York Jets	New York Giants	NYJ -1	45	30-27 NYJ
Arizona Cardinals	St. Louis Rams	ARI -7	43	31-13 ARI
Atlanta Falcons	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	TB -1	46	28-23 TB
Jacksonville Jaguars	Tennessee Titans	TEN -1	43	22-20 JAX
Kansas City Chiefs	Oakland Raiders	KC -2.5	44	27-21 KC
Denver Broncos	San Diego Chargers	DEN -4	43	23-20 DEN
Carolina Panthers	New Orleans Saints	CAR -7.5	49.5	32-24 CAR
Philadelphia Eagles	New England Patriots	NE -10.5	49	30-20 NE
Indianapolis Colts	Pittsburgh Steelers	PIT -7	--	37-27 PIT
Dallas Cowboys	Washington Redskins	WAS -4.5	42	24-16 WAS

Seattle Seahawks (Even) at Minnesota Vikings

Ted S. Warren/Associated Press

An unlikely candidate for game of the week, the Seattle Seahawks will look to continue their climb up the wild-card ladder against the Minnesota Vikings, who have upshot their expectations to seizing the NFC North.

Two weeks after losing to the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota has another chance to cement its legitimacy. In a battle between the league's top two rushing offenses, the Vikings will need a huge outing from Adrian Peterson.

Ranked No. 1 in rushing and No. 31 in passing, the Vikings are leaning heavily on the NFL's leading rusher. This is a problem against Seattle, which allows 3.8 yards per run. Over the past month, the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers exposed the usually stingy defense with a vertical passing game and deep receiving corps, but the Seahawks have remained steadfast to halting the ground game.

Teddy Bridgewater, playing the dutiful role of game manager, has only exceeded 300 passing yards once this season. If the Seahawks can successfully contain Peterson, Minnesota's offense is doomed.

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

Seattle's defense is receiving considerable attention for struggling against two elite passing units, but the offense has quietly caught fire. It has scored 100 points over the past three games, led by nine passing touchdowns from Russell Wilson.

Yet Thomas Rawls' emergence should especially concern the Vikings. The rookie running back has registered 611 rushing yards in five games without Marshawn Lynch, and Minnesota has surrendered 4.3 yards per rush. 

Even without Jimmy Graham—who will miss the remainder of the season, per Seahawks.com's John Boyle—the reigning NFC champions holster a more balanced offense along with a top defense whose struggles are overblown because of prolific competition.

Kansas City Chiefs (-2.5) at Oakland Raiders

Lenny Ignelzi/Associated Press

Not overreacting to recent results or ignoring the Oakland Raiders' home-field advantage, the Kansas City Chiefs are minor favorites to extend their winning streak to six. Given their hot hand coalescing with Oakland's regression to the mean, the spread has room for growth before Sunday.

The Chiefs' 1-5 start shouldn't vanish from everyone's memory, nor should Oakland's 4-3 opening. Yet looking at the full picture, Kansas City was never as bad as the early outcomes suggested. After losing to four teams with winning records, it now sports the NFL's fifth-best point differential:

Rank	Team	DIFF (+)
1	New England Patriots	135
2	Carolina Panthers	127
3	Arizona Cardinals	126
4	Cincinnati Bengals	104
5	Kansas City Chiefs	67
6	Green Bay Packers	47
7	Denver Broncos	45
8	Seattle Seahawks	45

Oakland, meanwhile, holds a minus-16 scoring margin following a 24-21 victory over the 2-9 Tennessee Titans. Quarterback Derek Carr has made excellent progress during his sophomore campaign, but the Raiders have obtained their victories against squads with a combined 17-38 record.

Meanwhile, Kansas City's conservative offense has scored 32 points per game during its winning streak. Despite all their running back injuries, the next man up keeps performing, giving head coach Andy Reid's club enough weapons to damage Oakland's No. 28 defense.

Before locking in this prediction, keep an eye on Kansas City's injury report. Offensive tackle Eric Fisher and linebacker Justin Houston both exited Sunday's victory over the Buffalo Bills early. Missing both stars would mitigate its edge at least enough to warrant the small line. 

Washington Redskins (-4.5) vs. Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys should be done. Playing out the final five games should be no more than a mere formality to soar higher up the 2016 draft board. Instead, they go into Monday Night Football with the opportunity to keep their season on life support. 

A victory over Washington, which leads the NFC East at 5-6, would close their deficit to one game if the New York Giants also lost to the New York Jets. For some reason, the Vegas oddsmakers are presenting an upset as a feasible outcome.

Without Tony Romo, Dallas went 0-7 while scoring 17 points per game. After the quarterback fractured his left collarbone on Thanksgiving, the team must backpedal to backup Matt Cassel, who said all the right things to DallasCowboys.com's Rob Phillips.

“That’s part of what you embrace when you become a quarterback. You have to step in and try to fulfill that role,” Cassel said after Dallas' Week 12 loss. “Hopefully the guys rally around you. You have to move forward. I have confidence in myself and I have confidence in this team. We have to start getting back to work.”

Brandon Wade/Associated Press

Sounds nice, but the veteran's 78.8 quarterback rating doesn't look as good. A 3-8 team playing a second-string quarterback on the road usually earns more than 4.5 points for the other side, but either the big market or lack of respect for Washington has muddled the early spread.

The line would make sense with the game in Texas. Washington, however, has won five of six games at home, where quarterback Kirk Cousins has enjoyed much greater success:

Stat	Home	Road
GP	6	5
YPG	272.0	270.2
CMP %	74.7	61.9
YPA	8.24	5.95
TD	11	5
INT	2	8

Dallas' defense isn't a pushover like the Giants or New Orleans Saints, but the Cowboys don't have the offensive firepower to take Washington's patchwork defense to task. Even if it's not a legitimate playoff team, Washington may be the best a horrible division has to offer.