2013 NFL Week 13 Report

The National Football League has become a part of many people's Thanksgiving holidays and having the games on is as much a part of the tradition as turkey and pumpkin pie. It doesn't matter if the games are good match-ups or not, which is probably a good thing this year, as none of the three Thanksgiving contests are ones that you be disappointed if you missed them.

The Games

We'll get right to the games this week and I'll have a few more write-ups than normal, not because I necessarily like more games, but I do realize that many of you will have wagers on all three Thanksgiving games, especially those of you who are forced into going to the in-laws, along with the usual Sunday and Monday action.


Oakland at Dallas: The Cowboys are at home, as always, and face the Raiders, who will be stick with rookie quarterback Matt McGloin. The Cowboys did a good job against Eli Manning last week, but putting together consecutive good efforts has been a problem for Dallas, who are 0-9 their last nine attempts as a favorite after a victory.

Non-conference games have been going over the total at an extremely high rate this season and I'd lean to this one to go over the total, which is up to 47.5 at most sportsbooks as of Wednesday night.

Pittsburgh at Baltimore: Both teams are 5-6 and are in dire need of a victory. The Steelers have been playing well since losing to Minnesota in London, when Big Ben claimed they were the worst team in the league, while the Ravens have been up and down all season.

This game will be played with playoff intensity and believe it will stay under 41.

Atlanta at Buffalo: As mentioned above, non-conference games have been going over the total and we'll ride that trend here with the over 47.

Denver at Kansas City: These teams get back together for the second time in three weeks and the Broncos are 5.5-point road favorites and I have to believe the Chiefs will keep this one closer than the first meeting between the two. Not a strong opinion, mind you, but I'd lean to the Chiefs if forced to play the game.

Chicago at Minnesota: The Vikings are favored by one point and they shouldn't be favored by anybody at this point of the season. Their coaching staff is outmatched on a weekly basis and they have quite the circus going on at quarterback. Christian Ponder is competent, but that's about it. The Bears are the better team and would lean that way.

New England at Houston: The Patriots are flying high off their comeback win over the Broncos on Sunday and now travel to Texas to take on the disappointing Texans, who have lost nine games in a row. The Patriots are favored by 7.5 points and I believe that's too many to give a team that has some talented players.

The Texans can't go any lower after consecutive home losses to Oakland and Jacksonville and will no doubt be looking at this game to salvage a bit of pride, especially since it was the Patriots who knocked them out of the playoffs last year.

New Orleans at Seattle: The Minnesota Vikings should look closely at the New Orleans Saints or the Kansas City Chiefs to see what a good coach can do with a roster that has some talent. Sean Payton has the Saints at the top of their game and these two teams are pretty equal. When you think of the Saints you think of their offense, but the Seahawks have actually scored one more point this year. Seattle's defense is what comes to mind when you think of the Seahawks and the Saints are allowing just 1.3 more points per game than Seattle.

This will be a good game to watch and I'd be inclined to take under 47, as I think both teams might play it a bit conservative in case they meet down the road in the playoffs.