NFL Week 13 Picks: Predicting the Week's Biggest Losers

It's never easy taking a loss and especially when it occurs this late in the season. With playoff implications seemingly on the line each week, one more loss could doom a season.

That being said, the biggest losses aren't always blowout, they're the losses that effect the rest of the season. So, here are the four biggest losers from Week 13.

New York Giants (vs Packers)

The Giants are on a three game skid and host the Packers in Week 13. In other words, "yikes" if your a Giants fan.

Green Bay may be just as susceptible to New York's solid passing attack however, the cheese are also masters at picking off passes, as evidence by their NFL leading 22 INTs compared to just six by the Saints.

Also, for as prolific as New Orleans offense is, Green Bay is just as much, if not better than The Big Easy. Make no mistake about it, Titletown is coming into The Big Apple with a purpose because they know New York is a formidable opponent.

Expect Green Bay to be in full attack mode from kickoff—they want to keep the tempo moving against a Giants defense that allows over 380 total yards per game. The Packers will most likely allow quite a bit of yards too, but that won't be before they pick off Eli Manning at least twice.

Not to mention, the Giants have no rushing game to slow the tempo down, so the question remains as to whether Eli can play consistently well at a high pace. He lit up the Saints, but that was in garbage time.

Can he start off fast and match Aaron Rodgers all game long? No.

In turn, the Giants fall even further back of Dallas in the NFC East and virtually have no shot at making the postseason.

Packers over Giants.

Houston Texans (vs Falcons)

Despite having arguably the NFL's best defense and rushing offense, the Houston Texans will fall this week to the Atlanta Falcons.

The Dirty Birds come in knowing that Houston needs a win just as badly (Tennessee lurking), and their balanced offense will be needed to keep the Texans defense honest. Therefore, don't expect a pass or rush-heavy game plan from Atlanta.

As for Houston, their injuries are killing them and because of that, the Falcons opportunistic defense will capitalize. The Falcons may have lost to the Saints and Packers at home, but they held both to under 30 points which is impressive.

Playing against a banged up Texans team shouldn't be a problem as they will stack the box and force T.J. Yates to beat them. Not only is that Atlanta's best chance against Yates, but it's their best chance no matter who's under center for Houston.

Offensively, RB Michael Turner will be crucial because although a balanced attack is key, that doesn't happen without establishing the run. And they will as Turner has produced very well all season.

If there's a weakness on the Houston defense, it's defending the run (however, they are still very good at it).

Heading into next week the Texans find themselves just one game up on the Titans who they still have to host in Week 17.

Falcons over Texans.

Detroit Lions (at Saints)

The Lions may have a solid passing game to keep pace with the Saints, however, New Orleans also has the ability to run the ball at-will on an effective basis.

In hindsight, that means New Orleans will control the game tempo like a thermostat because Detroit has no other way to effectively move the ball other than to air it out.

And if the Packers can shred them, well, then so can New Orleans.

Not to mention the game is in The Superdome where the Saints rarely lose. So, anticipate a quick and early aerial show from Drew Brees and Co., and then a ground and pound in the crucial short yardage situations.

Make no mistake about it, the Lions will move the ball and score. However, since they have no ground game to build from, New Orleans will blitz often, play man coverage underneath and double-team Calvin Johnson all game long.

To that end, this loss will ruin the Lions season as they drop to 7-5, and even further back in the playoff race. In addition, they still have to play at Oakland and at Green Bay.

Saints over Lions.

Cincinnati Bengals (at Steelers)

If you're a Broncos fan, you have to be rooting for the Pittsburgh Steelers in this game. Why? Because Denver has the head-to-head tiebreaker over Cincinnati and are just one game back of the Bengals.

To that end, expect Pittsburgh to win this game as Cincinnati is still just a few steps behind the Steelers and Ravens. The Bengals offense has improved, but The Steel Curtain still ranks No. 3 and No. 6 against the pass and run.

As for Cincy's defense, they become a bit more susceptible in defending the pass which is Pittsburgh's offensive forte. Now, Pittsburgh will still run the ball as the Bengals defense is good enough to halt the Steelers attack.

But if Pittsburgh can start off balanced and then strike a few times down the field to WR Mike Wallace—as no Bengals DB can match his speed—the Steelers gain a major edge. Defensively, they need to put pressure on Andy Dalton and force him into throwing before he wants to.

He's still a rookie so rookie mistakes will still happen. All this said, provided that the Broncos beat the Vikings, Denver takes over the No. 6 seed in the AFC.

Steelers over Bengals.

Follow John Rozum on Twitter @ Sportswriter27