NFL Picks Week 13: 5 Things to Remember as You Make Picks in NFL's Age of Parity

Week 13 of the NFL season began with a triumphant Seahawks victory on Thursday Night Football.

The Seahawks fed off a raucous crowd in their defeat of the Philadelphia Eagles. This is a Seahawks team that recently lost to a Washington Redskins team led by Rex Grossman. The Eagles have offically hit rock-bottom. Enough said. 

Despite another Eagles collapse, what a way to start a week, that highlights several marquee matchups, including the Packers-Giants, Lions-Saints and last, but not least, the Chargers-Jaguars on Monday Night Football. 

What a joke of a matchup on Monday Night Football, but fans will have to stomach this game and move on. 

Returning to the positives, we'll have another annual Colts-Patriots matchup. Bad news, we'll have a quarterback matchup pitting Tom Brady against Curtis Painter. That should be interesting. 

As the leftover games approach on Sunday, teams will begin to understand their fates for the 2011 season. It should be entertaining football to say the least.

Before you decide to make a bet (hopefully legally) with your friends or whomever, you should remember the things that make the most difference between wins and losses.

Thats why I'm here. Here are five things to remember before you make your Week 13 picks. 

QB-Driven League

This is a quarterback driven league in an era where passing is becoming the norm. The rough and tumble days of running the football are long gone.

The is the golden era of passing where the quarterback is the difference maker. Several of the top quarterbacks-Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, etc. have led their teams to either perennial playoff berths or Super Bowl bids. 

Without a quarterback, a team has little to no chance of succeeding. Just ask the Indianapolis Colts. 

Pass Rush = Winning

A pass rush is a key ingredient that successful teams usually possess. Whether your team runs a 3-4/4-3 scheme, pass rushers are always needed. 

A successful pass rush can make up for the other various weaknesses a team may possess. An awful secondary can be remedied or aided with a fearful pass rush. 

With teams slinging the ball everywhere, an effective pass rush is needed more than ever. 

Unconventional Football Will Run Its Course

The Tim Tebow era will come to an end after the 2011 season. This is not a style of football a team can sustain for several years. Eventually, a team will come up with a strategy to expose the weaknesses of such a style just like the zone-blitz back in its day. 

An option offense is not sustainable in the NFL, and I expect this style to vanish as quickly as it appeared. 

Mr. Tebow will either adjust to a pro-style offense or change positions. 

Team > Individual Talent

The Philadelphia Eagles meltdown against the Seahawks on Thursday Night Football is proof of such a sentiment. 

The Eagles are a collection of individual talent and it has shown up to this point in the season. A lack of camaraderie and togetherness is missing from this talented Eagles team. An offseason of lavish spending backfired and has caused far more troubles than anticipated. 

This should be a lesson for any team thinking about taking the easy way out in building a team. This leads me to my next discussion...

Draft-Built Teams Are Winning

A successful team is built through the draft, not free agency. Free agency is meant to fill the necessary holes a team may possess if not properly addressed during the draft. Teams like the Eagles obviously did not get the message. 

Matt Maiocco's list of the best draft teams since 2006 showed that nine of the first 11 listed, played in a playoff game within the last two years. Of course, the defending champions, the Green Bay Packers, top this list, and without surprise, they continue to play great football.