NFL picks for a stressful Week 13
A lot of tough decisions to make this week!
When I was a kid, I never understood why so many adults I knew would get stressed out during the holidays. Well, I totally get it now!
I had been hoping to get this newsletter out before the Thanksgiving slate, but after a long work week, followed by a long night of baking, followed by a long day of a clogged kitchen sink, I unfortunately couldn’t get my picks out until now.
In full disclosure, and I’m not just saying this because they all won, I would have taken the favorite in each of Thursday’s matchups. Then again, those were three of the easiest games to pick. I had several hard decisions to make the rest of the week.
Those picks are in bold below, listed alongside the odds from DraftKings.
Raiders at Chiefs (-13)
Texans at Jaguars (+3.5)
Titans at Commanders (-5.5)
Seahawks at Jets (+1)
Cardinals at Vikings (-3.5)
Steelers at Bengals (-3)
Chargers at Falcons (+1)
Colts at Patriots (+2.5)
Buccaneers at Panthers (+6)
Rams at Saints (+2.5)
Eagles at Ravens (-3)
49ers at Bills (-7)
Browns at Broncos (-5.5)
Christian’s picks are up at FTW, and he’s 3-0 so far too. Now let’s speed-run through the 13 games still left to be played.
Week 13 picks
Chiefs over Raiders
The Chiefs lost to the Raiders at home last season on a different holiday (Christmas), and they almost lost to the Panthers a week ago. This isn’t a gimme, but that doesn’t mean an upset is all that probable.
Texans over Jaguars
The Texans barely held off the Jaguars earlier this season and are coming off a loss to the Titans. It’s hard to have much faith in them … but that goes double for the Jaguars.
Commanders over Titans
The Commanders are riding a three-game skid, while Will Levis is fresh off a career performance. I can understand why it’d be tempting to take the Titans, but last week feels more like an aberration..
Seahawks over Jets
Geno Smith has never lost to the Jets, and the Jets haven’t had a winning season since Smith left New York.
Vikings over Cardinals
This one could go either way, but I kinda like the idea of almost every team in the NFC North having a No. 1 seed-caliber record (sorry, Bears) and every NFC West team hovering around .500.
Steelers over Bengals
If the Steelers hadn’t lost to the Browns last week, then I probably would’ve gone with the Bengals. But I think Pittsburgh will be extra motivated.
Falcons over Chargers
The Chargers look too one-dimensional on offense without J.K Dobbins.
Colts over Patriots
I think New England’s defense, which has regressed this season, could have problems with Anthony Richardson’s athleticism.
Buccaneers over Panthers
The Panthers are finally showing signs of growth, but the Bucs are finally getting a little healthier.
Rams over Saints
I literally flipped a coin for this one.
Ravens over Eagles
Perhaps the toughest decision of the week. When in doubt, though, I have to side with Lamar Jackson against an NFC team.
Bills over 49ers
The 49ers are still too banged up for me to pick them, and if the Bills do win as I expect, they’ll be the first team this season to secure a division title.
Broncos over Browns
I’d give the Browns more of a chance if Monday night’s forecast in Denver called for snow, but it doesn’t.