Week 13 Predictions

San Francisco 14, Buffalo 30 - West Coast teams don't win traveling east. Especially not the dismal 3-8 49ers. The 0-14 stat for teams traveling west three time zones might be because of the time difference, or it might be more due to the fact that NFC teams are a combined 28-62 for the season. The Bills are looking to build on last week's trouncing of Kansas City and can still slip into the playoffs.

Baltimore 33, Cincinnati 20 - The Ravens figured out their offensive problems against the Eagles in the second half last week and got a little help from the defense. It figures to play out the same way against the Bengals who have lost half of their starting defensive lineup to injury and they weren't all that good to begin with.

New Orleans 17, Tampa Bay 27 - Always take the home team for NFC divisional games. A loss by last-place New Orleans would almost certainly put them out of the playoffs.

NYG 27, Washington 20 - In the season opener the Redskins offense looked lost, while the Giants were clearly sorting out their offense and the game ended in an underwhelming 16-7 finish. Washington traveled to Seattle and got an important win to stay in the playoff hunt, but the Giants have only given up that fluke loss to Cleveland and have otherwise looked like champions. The problem with the Giants is that they don't have any glaring weaknesses, and while the Redskins defense hasn't allowed more than 24 points all season the Giants have been virtually unstoppable on the road.

Miami 41, St. Louis 6 - The Rams are terrible. Amazingly they aren't the worst team in the league.

Indianapolis 31, Cleveland 20 - Brady Quinn's broken finger means we get to watch Derek Anderson and the Browns take on the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last year... at least in spirit. I almost wish they had won so the Browns would have gotten destroyed in the first round by a then-competent Chargers and the expectations wouldn't have been so high.

Carolina 17, Green Bay 30 - Carolina has not been playing well as of late, and traveling to Lambeau against the desperate Packers doesn't figure to be an easy game. A loss to the Panthers eliminates them from controlling their destiny with their best possible record being 9-7.

Atlanta 30, San Diego 38 - Turner the Burner returns to his old stadium against a weak but finally improving Chargers defense. Since the AFC West is so brutally awful, a Chargers loss doesn't eliminate them from playoff contention as the division winner, but it does mean they have to win every remaining game (including the season finale at Denver) while Denver can only win 2 of their remaining 4 games. Not out of the realm of possibility, believe it or not...

Denver 31, NYJ 37- The Jets have an extra long week to recover after thrashing the Titans in Week 12 in Tennessee. Now Brett Favre and the Jets newfound power running game gets to face a Broncos squad that is in the bottom 5 in the league in points allowed, total yards allowed, and rushing yards allowed. This should be a shootout.

Pittsburgh 17, NE 24 - A lot has been made about the recent success of Matt Cassel, but this is the money game for him. If the Cassel-led Patriots can pull off a victory against a Super Bowl-caliber defense, he's in for a huge payday in free agency. The Patriots have been playing well lately, while the Steelers have only been getting by as Ben Roethlisberger and the offense continue to flounder.

Kansas City 24, Oakland 13 - Oakland pulled out an impressive win over Denver last week, but it doesn't matter. It's still a mess, and the Chiefs have vastly improved since their week 2 meeting that resulted in a Kansas City loss.

Chicago 21, Minnesota 30 - So, anyone know why the Williams brothers (among other players) aren't suspended for using steroids yet? Me neither. The last time these two teams met the Bears won in a weird 48-41 shootout between Kyle Orton and Gus Frerotte. What are the odds of that happening again? Bernard Berrian has been quiet for the last couple of weeks, but the Bears pass defense recently took another hit with Nathan Vasher being lost for the season. Since the Bears (and any other team) have to make stopping Adrian Peterson a priority, Berrian and the Vikings receivers should be able to get open.

Jacksonville 24, Houston 34 - The Texans haven't won a division game yet, while the Jaguars' supposedly potent offense has been lackluster, scoring only 224 points so far on the season. Despite being ancient, Sage Rosenfels has been filling in ably for Matt Schaub while the Jaguars haven't been able to generate a pass rush. That's a bad sign when Andre Johnson and Kevin Walter are running through your secondary.