NFL Week 13 Picks: Predictions for Vegas Odds Before Thursday Night
The NFL season is a long and grueling campaign, one that is never won in the early goings. Even at a stage as late as Week 13, there is still so much left to play for for the vast majority of NFL teams.
The Wild Card races are going to be as hectic as ever. Four teams are within one game of both the AFC Wild Card spots. In the NFC, it's four teams within a game of current sixth-seed Seattle.
A few teams are surging (Houston, Kansas City), some are in a tailspin (Atlanta, Philadelphia) and still others look like playoff material one week and cannon fodder the next (Buffalo, Tampa Bay).
TOP NEWS
NFL Draft Trades We Wish Happened 😭
RBs Who Could Win 1st Rushing Title in 2026 🏆
Biggest Questions Surrounding 2026 NFL Season After the Draft 🤔
Week 13 is unlikely to provide too many definitive answers about how the postseason race will eventually shake out, but it might at least clear up some of the fog in the playoff picture.
Here's the Week 13 schedule, odds and predictions each game. Odds are courtesy of Odds Shark and updated as of Thursday, December 3, at 7 a.m. ET.
| Time (ET) | Away | Home | Over/Under | Prediction |
| 8:25 p.m. | Green Bay (-3) | Detroit | 46.5 | GB 31-24 DET |
| 1 p.m. | Houston | Buffalo (-3) | 41.5 | HOU 24-23 BUF |
| 1 p.m. | San Francisco | Chicago (-7.5) | 43.5 | CHI 28-17 SF |
| 1 p.m. | Cincinnati (-10.5) | Cleveland | 43.5 | CIN 34-21 CLE |
| 1 p.m. | Baltimore | Miami (-4) | 43 | MIA 17-14 BAL |
| 1 p.m. | Seattle (even) | Minnesota (even) | 42 | MIN 20-17 SEA |
| 1 p.m. | New York Jets (-1) | New York Giants | 45 | NYG 22-19 NYJ |
| 1 p.m. | Arizona (-7) | St. Louis | 42.5 | ARI 21-13 STL |
| 1 p.m. | Atlanta | Tampa Bay (-1) | 46 | ATL 27-20 TB |
| 1 p.m. | Jacksonville | Tennessee (-2.5) | 43 | JAX 30-21 TEN |
| 4:05 p.m. | Kansas City (-2.5) | Oakland | 44 | KC 21-14 OAK |
| 4:05 p.m. | Denver (-4) | San Diego | 43 | DEN 17-16 SD |
| 4:25 p.m. | Carolina (-7.5) | New Orleans | 50 | CAR 31-24 NO |
| 4:25 p.m. | Philadelphia | New England (-11) | 49.5 | NE 28-23 PHI |
| 8:30 p.m. | Indianapolis | Pittsburgh | N/A | PIT 31-23 IND |
| 8:30 p.m. | Dallas | Washington (-4.5) | 42 | WAS 27-17 DAL |
Hot Teams On the Road in Week 13
Houston Texans (6-5) vs. Buffalo Bills (5-6)
The Houston Texans are winners of four straight and are right in the thick of the playoff race, both as a Wild Card or the potential AFC South champion.
J.J. Watt has been magisterial during the streak, registering 7.5 sacks and one forced fumble. DeAndre Hopkins is nearly impossible to shut down, and quarterback Brian Hoyer made a fairly triumphant return to action in Week 12 after missing one game due to injury. Hoyer completed 77.8 percent of his passes and threw for two touchdowns and one interception versus New Orleans.
The team should have a truckload of confidence heading into Buffalo, though the Bills are going to put up quite the fight as they look to keep their Wild Card hopes alive.
The Bills have lost their last two games to New England and Kansas City, both of them by one-possession scorelines. They have a cupcake schedule to close the season, but losing to Houston would put them in a bit of a hole with time running out.
Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor tossed three touchdowns against the Chiefs. Two of those scores found their way into the hands of Sammy Watkins. Taylor's ability to avoid pressure from Watt and find the likes of Watkins and Robert Woods will be put to the test against Houston, which has given up just 35 points on its four-game win streak.
The defense prevented the Saints from scoring an offensive touchdown in Week 12, something that hadn't happened in quite some time, per ESPN Stats & Info:
If the secondary proves itself quite nasty yet again, this game could swing on LeSean McCoy's fcontributions. McCoy has the ability to blunt the pass rush by establishing the running game. He also serves as a nifty checkdown option for Taylor, with at least three catches and 30 receiving yards in the Bills' last three outings.
Rookie running back Karlos Williams' availability is key to this one. The bruising back didn't practice on Tuesday with a shoulder injury, per BuffaloBills.com. His presence allows the Bills to really lean on the running game.
Buffalo's pass rush has been a major disappointment this year, with just 16 sacks on the season. This is good news for Hoyer, who can still make some baffling decisions when under pressure. Bleacher Report's Cian Fahey took note of his miscues on Sunday:
"Brian Hoyer has some spectacularly dumb throws for a "game manager"
— Cian Fahey (@Cianaf) November 29, 2015"
Without pressure, Hoyer should have no trouble hitting Hopkins, Cecil Shorts and Nate Washington. The running game is still very suspect, with Alfred Blue leading the way (3.3 yards per carry this season).
More snaps could go to Jonathan Grimes and Carlos Polk if Blue can't break in the second level. Buffalo will have to account for all three of them on Sunday.
Houston's defense is in brilliant form, and Hoyer is healthy and playing well, so the Texans should be able to pick up a fifth straight win; though, it will be close.
Kansas City Chiefs (6-5) vs. Oakland Raiders (5-6)
The Chiefs were essentially left for dead after a 1-5 start and Jamaal Charles out for the season due to injury in the team's fifth game. Against all odds, the team has righted itself and now has a great chance of making the playoffs, per ESPN Stats & Info:
Plenty of credit should go to the defense and the steady, mistake-averse hand of quarterback of Alex Smith (12 touchdowns, three interceptions). However, the truly remarkable thing about the Chiefs' rise has been the team's ability to plug-and-play running backs.
After Charles went down, Charcandrick West was first up. He promptly rewarded the team with touchdowns in three straight games spanning Weeks 7-10. When West succumbed to a hamstring injury against rival San Diego in Week 11, Spencer Ware coolly slotted into the lead role. He rushed for 96 yards and two scores against the Bolts, then followed that up with 114 rushing yards and another touchdown against the Bills.
Per the Kansas City Star's Terez A. Paylor, West practiced on Wednesday, and it looks like he could be ready for Sunday's game against rival Oakland.
The Raiders are giving up 108.3 rushing yards per game on a hefty 4.4 yards per carry, per ESPN.com. They did a fine job bottling up Tennessee's running backs in Week 12, but the Chiefs have far more talent in the backfield and on the offensive line. It doesn't help that Smith appears to have discovered the deep ball against Buffalo, per Pro Football Focus' Sam Monson:
"Smith wasn’t just more aggressive with the football; he was also more efficient in doing so. This season he has completed 50 percent of his deep attempts, but against Buffalo that figure was 80 percent. On passes over 10 yards in the air he has completed only 53 percent for the season, but was at 60 percent against the Bills.
Nobody has ever wanted Smith to be transformed into Palmer – a player whose deep ball is key to his success – but this game proves that he at least has the ability to use it as part of the weaponry at his disposal. The Kansas City Chiefs are flying at the moment, riding an impressive win streak with a defense that has been doing much of the heavy lifting.
"
Oakland's defense is in for a very tough task with a balanced attack coming its way. They can indeed fight fire with fire thanks to Derek Carr, who has twice as many touchdowns (24) as Smith this year. Carr torched the Titans for 330 yards and three touchdowns without a pick. Running back Latavius Murray has struggled as of late, so it could be all up to Carr to drive Oakland forward in Week 13.
The Chiefs' potent pass rush has flummoxed many a passer this season, but it could be without it's main instigator in Justin Houston this week.
Paylor reports that Houston (7.5 sacks) has a hyperextended left knee and head trainer Rick Burkholder calls him "day-to-day." If he's out or limited, it's up to Tamba Hali to create havoc coming off the edge while Dontari Poe and Co. man the middle.
Carr should be able to get his licks in with the home crowd backing him. The raucous Black Hole might also suck some of the energy from Smith in the passing game. That said, the Chiefs' running backs appear plenty capable of pushing the squad to a sixth-consecutive win.
Indianapolis Colts (6-5) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5)
The Colts are winners of three straight and lead the AFC South with a tiebreaker over Houston. It hasn't been easy getting to this point. Andrew Luck has been hurt and/or ineffective much of the year (he's currently the former).
Four of the team's six wins have come under the guidance of 40-year-old Matt Hasselbeck, who's proving that age is just a number, even in the NFL. Hasselbeck beat Tampa Bay for 315 yards and two touchdowns in Week 12.
He has a chance to pop off again in Week 13. Pittsburgh is allowing 284 net passing yards per game and has given up 22 touchdown passes while racking up just nine picks, per ESPN.com.
Hasselbeck could find himself in a mighty fine quarterback duel with Ben Roethlisberger, who practiced Wednesday after suffering a concussion in Week 12, per Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
When healthy, Roethlisberger has been one of the league's more potent passers this year. He threw for 456 yards against Seattle in Week 12 and 379 versus Cleveland two weeks before that. While the Seahawks' Richard Sherman did well to bottle up Antonio Brown in Week 12, Roethlisberger simply turned to Markus Wheaton in the passing game. Wheaton picked up nine receptions for 201 yards and a touchdown.
Martavis Bryant explained how Wheaton came to take advantage of the holes in Seattle's defense.
"We thought backside would be one-on-one coverage, which it was for a couple plays until I started running past the dude a little bit more and then they went two-safety high," Bryant said, via PennLive.com's Jacob Klinger. "Then the middle of the field came open."
The Colts can now count three wide receivers as threats in Week 13. Indy ranks 27th in the league in passing yards allowed per game, and cornerback Vontae Davis is in the midst of a down season.
The Colts have weapons of their own—but many of them are geriatric by NFL standards (Frank Gore, Andre Johnson and of course, Hasselbeck). Indianapolis doesn't appear capable of scoring more than in the mid-20s, while Pittsburgh is liable to pop off with Roethlisberger at the helm. Expect the Steelers to do so on Sunday.
.png?w=480)
.jpg?w=600 "Vid of Bills' New Stadium 👀")
.jpg?w=600 "Strength of Schedule for Every Team")
.jpg?w=600 "Old Teams Eyeing Clowney")
.jpg?w=600 "Walker Knew He'd Leave Seahawks")