NFL Week 13 Picks: Wild-Card Leaders Who Will Lose Their Spot This Week

A wild-card team has gone to play in the three of the last six Super Bowls. Being in that position has proven that you have as good of a shot to win the championship as the No. 1 seed. 

Teams like the Cincinnati Bengals are barely hanging onto that final playoff spot. However after this week, they will find themselves out of the playoffs after a crushing loss. 

Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers

The Bengals sit at 7-4 and in sixth place in the AFC playoff race. With a loss this week, on the road in Pittsburgh, it will drop them into a tie with the red-hot Denver Broncos. With a Broncos win against the 2-9 Minnesota Vikings, it would give the Broncos the advantage in tiebreaker because of a loss to Denver in Week 2. 

However against the Steelers earlier this year, the Bengals were overmatched on offense and defense. That first game was at home for the Bengals. Now, they have to travel to Heinz Field. This year, the Steelers are 5-1 when playing at home. 

Cincinnati is a young team that will get better as they get older. They will fight for this sixth playoff spot. However when the Bengals lose this week, they will be passed over for Denver. 

Chicago Bears vs. Kansas City Chiefs 

The Bears and Falcons are in contention for the final two spots in the NFC with a 7-4 record. Last week against the Oakland Raiders, the Bears struggled to score with new quarterback Caleb Hanie. Haine threw for a respectable 254 yards and two touchdowns. However, Hanie threw three interceptions in a 25-20 loss. 

This week, against a Chiefs passing defense that ranks 12th in the NFL, he will struggle again. The Raiders had the 20th-ranked passing defense and Haine struggled with three interceptions. Against the Chiefs this week, he will struggle even more.

A loss this week will send the Bears to 7-5. They will get passed in the standings by the Detroit Lions, who will improve to 8-4 after a win against the New Orleans Saints. 

Atlanta Falcons at Houston Texans

Atlanta should win this game against Houston. The Texans are coming into this week’s game against a rookie quarterback in T.J. Yates, who had no plans on playing this year. Now with injuries to Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart, Yates is in charge of this Texans’ offense. 

Where Atlanta struggles this week is its inability to figure out the Texans defense. 

Yates will struggle this week against the Falcons, as the Texans will run the ball somewhere in the range of 40-50 times this week. 

However, the Texans defense will shut down Atlanta this week. Houston’s defense is giving up the least amount of points in the AFC. While they are the best defense against the pass. While only giving up 96 yards per game against run.

Houston’s defense will carry this team to a win this week, with the final score being 13-6. 

These three teams are barley hanging onto their position in the NFL playoffs. With a loss this week, they will see their playoff chances lessen. 

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