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

With pressure mounting on Jason Garrett, the Dallas Cowboys can't afford a second straight loss to an AFC East squad. 

After falling to the New England Patriots, Dallas welcomes the Buffalo Bills to AT&T Stadium in the only Thanksgiving Day matchup featuring two sides in the playoff picture.

Since the start of the decade, the Cowboys have not won back-to-back annual holiday home games, and if the trend continues, they will drop to .500. 

Buffalo's first Thanksgiving game since 1994 carries significance in the AFC wild-card race. It is two games ahead of a slew of contenders, and a victory would do wonders for its postseason hopes. 

Thursday's nightcap is important to home-field advantage in the NFC. New Orleans needs to beat Atlanta to set up a Week 14 home clash with San Francisco for the No. 1 seed. 

NFL Week 13 Schedule

All Times ET

Odds via Caesars; predictions against the spread in bold

Thursday, November 28

Chicago (-1) at Detroit (12:30 p.m., Fox) 

Buffalo at Dallas (-7) (4:30 p.m., CBS) 

New Orleans (-6.5) at Atlanta (8:20 p.m., NBC) 

Sunday, December 1

Washington at Carolina (-10) (1 p.m., CBS) 

New York Jets (-3.5) at Cincinnati (1 p.m., CBS) 

Tennessee at Indianapolis (-3) (1 p.m., CBS) 

Cleveland (-1) at Pittsburgh (1 p.m., CBS) 

San Francisco at Baltimore (No Line) (1 p.m., Fox) 

Tampa Bay at Jacksonville (-1.5) (1 p.m., Fox) 

Philadelphia (-7.5) at Miami (1 p.m., Fox) 

Green Bay (-7.5) at New York Giants (1 p.m., Fox) 

Los Angeles Rams (-3.5) at Arizona (4:05 p.m., Fox) 

Los Angeles Chargers (-2) at Denver (4:25 p.m., CBS) 

Oakland at Kansas City (-9.5) (4:25 p.m., CBS) 

New England (-3.5) at Houston (8:20 p.m., NBC) 

Monday, December 2

Minnesota at Seattle (-3) (8:15 p.m., ESPN) 

Picks

Buffalo (+7) at Dallas

Adrian Kraus/Associated Press

Dallas enters Week 13 with zero victories against teams with winning records. 

After the loss to New England, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones delivered a brutally honest take on his team, per ESPN.com's Todd Archer. 

"It was a significant setback for our team," Jones said. "We need this win. We needed a win against an opponent like this, and we haven't had one."

The Cowboys need to reverse course with Philadelphia facing a much easier schedule down the stretch in the NFC East title race. 

Before their Week 16 clash, Dallas faces Buffalo, Chicago and the Los Angeles Rams, while the Eagles square off with Miami, Washington and the New York Giants. 

The Cowboys are 3-2 at home with their defeats coming to Green Bay and Minnesota, and in those two games, Ezekiel Elliott was held under 65 rushing yards. 

In fact, Elliott has been limited under 100 yards in four of the five defeats and in his last three outings. 

Sean McDermott's team is coming off a win over Denver in which it allowed 134 total yards and 2.9 yards per play. 

The Bills also rank in the top five in points conceded per game, while Dallas averaged 16.8 points per contest versus teams currently in playoff positions. 

The key battle could be Josh Allen versus Dallas' linebackers. The second-year quarterback has 331 rushing yards and seven scores to complement his 2,175 passing yards and 13 touchdowns. 

If he eludes Jaylon Smith while escaping the pocket, Allen could prolong drives and keep the Bills within seven points. 

Cole Beasley could be the X-factor in his return to Dallas, as he has emerged as a No. 2 threat behind John Brown with 19 receptions in the last three weeks. 

If Allen hits Dallas' secondary over the top with Brown and carves up the middle by connecting with Beasley, the visitors may win outright. 

Buffalo's top asset could be its secondary, since Dak Prescott has thrown six of his nine interceptions in defeats. 

If it puts constant pressure on the Dallas quarterback through Jordan Phillips, Jerry Hughes and Shaq Lawson, Buffalo may force turnovers or quick possessions that Allen and Co. can benefit from. 

New Orleans (-6.5) at Atlanta

Butch Dill/Associated Press

As we witnessed Sunday, the NFC South can be treacherous to navigate from a betting perspective. 

The Saints sneaked out a three-point home win over Carolina as a 10-point favorite, while Atlanta lost on home soil to underdog Tampa Bay. 

The Falcons' Week 10 win at the Superdome is another example of underdogs thriving in divisional matchups. 

But the Saints are capable of bucking the trend after posting 34 points in back-to-back NFC South clashes. 

A healthy Alvin Kamara could be the difference, as he has 224 total yards in the last two contests.

Two weeks ago, the running back was returning from a month-long absence and only picked up 24 rushing yards. Since then, he has 24 carries and caught all 19 of his targets from Drew Brees. 

An effective Kamara combined with another 100-yard game from Michael Thomas, who hit triple digits for the fifth straight game Sunday, could be too much for the Falcons to handle. 

Atlanta was gashed for 313 passing yards by Jameis Winston Sunday, and it allowed at least 200 yards through the air in all but one home game. 

Struggling to establish a rushing attack through Brian Hill and Qadree Ollison could also hurt versus the league's third-best run defense. 

Since the Week 9 bye, the Falcons have not had a leading rusher go over 70 yards, and the pair managed 34 yards on 17 carries Sunday.

If the Saints blaze through the Atlanta defense and make the home side one-dimensional on offense, they could cover the 6.5-point spread.  

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90

Statistics obtained from ESPN.com