NFL Weekend Week 13 Betting Preview
With the Thanksgiving Day appetizer out of the way those doing any NFL sports betting can get to the real main course with a dozen games on the league’s schedule for Sunday.
And highlighting that slate is a potential AFC barnburner between the Denver Broncos and the New York Jets at Giants Stadium (4:15pm ET). Brett Favre and the Jets served notice that they are for real this season last week when they knocked off the previously-unbeaten Tennessee Titans by a final score of 34-13. Favre went 25-of-32 for 224 yards passing in that contest, with two TDs and one INT. Thomas Jones rushed for 96 yards.
The Broncos should be in a foul mood this weekend, as they’re coming off an embarrassing 31-10 loss to the Oakland Raiders in their own stadium. Jay Cutler was ineffective in that contest, completing 16-of-37 pass attempts for 204 yards with an INT.
Denver has allowed 302 points on the season heading into Sunday’s matchup, second-worst in the conference. Meanwhile, the Jets have scored an AFC-leading 323 points through 11 games. That has the total for the contest pegged at a high 47.5 points on the BetUS NFL odds, while the Jets are favored by 7.5 points at home. New York is 8-3 straight up and 7-4 ATS on the season, while Denver is sitting at 6-5 SU and 3-7-1 ATS.
The New England Patriots will be hoping that the Jets stumble on Sunday, which would give them a chance to move into a tie for top spot in the AFC East standings. The Pats, though, will have to get past the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium (4:15pm ET) in order to add to their win total. New England pounded the Miami Dolphins 48-28 last week, with 415 yards and three TDs from Matt Cassel, and three TDs from Randy Moss.
The Steelers won their second straight game last time out, holding off the Cincinnati Bengals for a 27-10 victory. Ben Roethlisberger was good on 17-of-30 pass attempts for 243 yards that day, with one TD strike. Willie Parker was held to 37 yards on 14 carries.
The oddsmakers at BetUS have the Patriots listed as slim 1-point home favorites for Sunday’s game, with the total at 39.5 points. New England sits at 7-4 SU and 6-5 ATS on the season to date, while Pittsburgh is 8-3 SU and 5-6 versus the betting line so far.
The other two AFC East teams get cupcake opponents this weekend, as the Dolphins are 9-point road favorites against the St. Louis Rams, and the Buffalo Bills are giving up 6.5 points at home versus the San Francisco 49ers. Those games both start at 1pm ET.
Other early-afternoon games for Sunday include Baltimore (-7) at Cincinnati, Carolina at Green Bay (-3), New Orleans at Tampa Bay (-3.5), and the Giants (-3.5) at Washington. As well, the Indianapolis Colts are pegged as 4.5-point road favorites against the Cleveland Browns, with Brady Quinn out for the rest of the season with a finger injury.
The other late afternoon games are Kansas City at Oakland (-3), and Atlanta at San Diego (-4.5). At 7-4 (7-4 ATS) the Falcons are still in the hunt for both the NFC South division title and an NFC Wild Card spot, and they impressed with a 45-28 win over the Panthers last weekend. The Chargers (4-7 SU, 4-6-1 ATS) are only a couple of games back of the Broncos in the AFC West heading into this game despite their poor record, but they’re coming off back-to-back losses to the Steelers (11-10) and the Colts (23-20).
Finally, this week’s Sunday nighter (8:15pm ET) sees the Minnesota Vikings pegged as 3-point home favorites against the division-rival Chicago Bears, with the total at 42 points. Those teams both enter this game with 6-5 straight-up records (Minnesota is 4-7 ATS, Chicago is 5-5-1 ATS), and they’re both coming off wins. Chicago had no trouble with St. Louis last week, winning 27-3. Minnesota beat Jacksonville by a score of 30-12.
