Week 13 NFL Betting Odds Picks: Rams, Falcons, Raiders Top Week Plays

This is a big week for struggling NFL playoff contenders who will be playing tough divisional games and are looking to remain in the postseason picture.

Among those teams are the Atlanta Falcons (6-5), Oakland Raiders (5-6) and St. Louis Rams (4-7), who will likely have to win out in order to make the playoffs as an NFC Wild Card team.

The Rams are 3-0 against the NFC West and handed the division-leading Arizona Cardinals (9-2) their first loss 24-22 back in Week 4 as seven-point road underdogs.

With Arizona running back Chris Johnson sidelined for the rest of the regular season due to a broken leg suffered in last week’s 19-13 road victory against the San Francisco 49ers, St. Louis can focus more on pressuring quarterback Carson Palmer again and holding his receivers in check.

The Rams may not pull off the victory, but they will cover the spread as 5.5-point home underdogs at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark. The underdog is 6-2 against the spread in the past eight meetings.

The Falcons will be looking to break a four-game losing streak and have failed to cover seven straight heading into a critical NFC South matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-6), who also hope to stay in the playoff race.

It is hard to believe that Atlanta started the season at 5-0 considering how poorly the team has played lately. However, the Falcons have won 10 of the past 14 meetings with the Bucs according to the Odds Shark NFL Database, and have gone 4-0 straight up in their last four games as underdogs, so they are the play here.

Finally, the Raiders will be trying to stop one of the hottest teams in the league in the streaking Kansas City Chiefs (6-5), who have won and covered five in a row following a five-game skid.

Oakland is a three-point home underdog and has gone 5-2 SU and ATS in its last seven games under that scenario. Keep in mind, Raiders first-year head coach Jack Del Rio was the architect of the Denver Broncos defense that helped beat Kansas City six consecutive times when he was there the previous three seasons.

Take Oakland to keep its postseason dreams alive with a surprising upset win.