NFL Picks Week 13: Playoff-Caliber Teams That Will Protect Their House

The 2011 NFL season is winding down. It’s time to put up or shut up. Home teams can’t allow their opponents to steal victories on their home turf. Here are a few playoff-caliber teams that will protect their house.

Houston Texans

Houston defeating the Atlanta Falcons with T.J. Yates at quarterback seems like a pretty difficult task. However, when it comes down to winning one game, teammates have a way of working together to play their best football in that one game.

The Texans want to prove that they are a great team regardless of who their quarterback is.

Houston’s defense has been great this season. They are second in pass defense (176 yards per game) and fourth (93 yards per game) in rush defense.

Half of the Falcons losses this season have come on the road. Two of their three away victories have come against Indianapolis and Seattle.

Something isn’t clicking for Atlanta this season. It doesn’t feel like the same team. Matt Ryan is one part that isn’t clicking on his normal level. He does have 18 touchdowns but he also has 10 interceptions. He had nine interceptions all of last season.

Houston makes a couple of plays on defense and somehow finds a way to pull off the victory.

Texans win 24-20.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh is coming off a disappointing performance against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 12. They won 13-9.

A win is a win, but they will need to play much better to defeat Andy Dalton and the Cincinnati Bengals. Dalton has put up some great rookie numbers. His team is 7-4 and he has 16 touchdowns on the season. The interception bug has caught up to him in his rookie campaign. He has thrown 12 picks.

In three of the four losses for the Bengals this season, Dalton has thrown at least two picks. When Dalton has played a top-tier defense (San Francisco, Denver, Baltimore, Pittsburgh) they are 0-4.

When Cincinnati plays quality competition we see who they really are. They are a team on the brink of success, but they are just a year or two away.

Pittsburgh wins 20-17.

New Orleans Saints

New Orleans has placed their stamp as the second-best team in the NFC. San Francisco has a gripe about that argument, but New Orleans definitely has the offense to keep up with Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers—therefore I put them ahead of the 49ers.

Detroit comes to town, on Sunday Night Football, without their best defensive player Ndamukong Suh. He is serving a suspension for repeated violent and overly aggressive behavior.

Detroit has the ability to stay with New Orleans, but Drew Brees will be able to put more points on the board to squeeze by with the victory.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford has thrown for 3,119 yards and 26 touchdowns in 2011. He should be able to go toe-to-toe with Brees and the Saints because of New Orleans' 27^th ranked pass attack.

But the difference in the game will be New Orleans’ offense against the Lions defense. Surprisingly, the Saints carry the ninth best rushing attack in the league. As a team, New Orleans has 1,380 total rushing yards.

Darren Sproles has been a huge difference maker to the Saints. He has given them the explosiveness that they needed. He has scored five offensive touchdowns this year while racking up 878 yards of total offense.

New Orleans proves to have too much on offense for Detroit. They claim the victory 31-17.