Thanksgiving is upon us and for a one week, we’re back to a full slate of games. The NFL wraps up bye weeks next week, but for Week 13, we get a full slate of games. It opens with the Thanksgiving tripleheader, moves on to Raiders-Chiefs on Black Friday, 11 games on Sunday, and then Browns-Broncos to wrap things up on Monday Night Football.
This week marks the first time this season we’ll have playoff clinching scenarios on the menu. The Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, and Detroit Lions all could punch their ticket to the postseason with a win and some help this weekend. The Bills are the simplest as they clinch the AFC East with a win and a Dolphins loss. The Chiefs clinch a wild card berth with a win and either a Dolphins loss/tie, Broncos loss, Chargers loss + Broncos tie, or if the Chiefs tie and the Dolphins lose. The Lions need a win and help from various combinations of the 49ers, Cardinals, Seahawks and either Bucs or Commanders and Falcons.
But enough of that. Let’s talk about my weekly NFL picks. Last weekend was an ugly one for my Week 12 picks. I actually changed three of picks for a confidence pool I’m playing in, but since I didn’t change them here, I’ll take the Ls to my overall record. I finished 6-7 with the article picks, and 9-4 with what I swapped out in my confidence pool.
And so, here’s my full list of picks for Week 13. A game with three asterisks (***) after it indicates a game where I’m picking the betting underdog to get the win.
High confidence (25-13)
Lions over Bears
Chiefs over Raiders
Commanders over Titans
Bills over 49ers
Medium confidence (63-22)
Packers over Dolphins
Cowboys over Giants
Texans over Jaguars
Buccaneers over Panthers
Rams over Saints
Ravens over Eagles
Broncos over Browns
Low confidence (30-27)
Falcons over Chargers***
Colts over Patriots
Seahawks over Jets
Bengals over Steelers
Cardinals over Vikings***
