Early Betting Odds and Lines for NFL Week 13 (2020)

Sometimes it pays to get out in front of weekly NFL betting lines. Other times the week you thought you were getting ends up being completely flipped on its side.

That was the case in week 12, as COVID-19 reared its ugly head and disrupted Thanksgiving, and a litany of injuries completely changed the way we look at several matchups.

For instance, I may have had interest in the Broncos beating the spread at home against the Saints. That is, of course, until they were forced to start a wide receiver as their quarterback.

Yeah, week 12 was a live one.

As troubling as that development was for anyone who hopped on the Broncos ATS, anyone backing the Saints early got a better price than expected. It can clearly go both ways, but getting an early look at NFL odds – betting or not – isn’t a bad idea.

Whatever the case, I’m back again to take a look at the NFL week 13 odds. Let’s see how we might want to approach pro football betting this week.

I don’t know what we should be more impressed with; the Falcons completely dominating the Raiders, or New Orleans coasting to a win with Taysom Hill failing to clear even 80 passing yards.

For a second there (or the whole time?) it was brutal.

Taysom Hill and Kendall Hinton have combined for 5 TOTAL PASSING YARDS with 13:45 left in the 2nd quarter.

— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) November 29, 2020

Either way, we got a taste of what to expect in this matchup just two weeks ago, when a very good Saints defense kept Matt Ryan and the Dirty Birds under wraps.

Hill also did enough to generate offense in that game, and the Saints have been running the ball well sans Drew Brees.

This isn’t your New Orleans offense of old, so a wild shootout may not be in the cards. The Saints may still be the “don’t get cute” play here, but the Falcons at +165 as home dogs probably shouldn’t be overlooked so quickly.

Don’t look now, but we have a massive AFC clash in week 13 between the…Titans…and the Browns.

Tennessee has probably proven their worth over the past year, of course, and they certainly woke us all up with 45 points last week. Cleveland has also shown they can run the ball on anyone, and they may be the sneakiest 8-3 team of all time.

Even so, they’re not satisfied.

This one could really go either way, but my gut leans toward the more proven Titans at home.

They have Derrick Henry, after all.

Derrick Henry bulldozes the Titans into first place in the AFC South ?

? 27 rushes
? 178 yards
? 3 TDs pic.twitter.com/hwpnUECTAf

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 29, 2020

That said, Cleveland offers value across the board.

This game was supposed to be a fun battle between two promising young quarterbacks.

Instead, Joe Burrow is done for the year, and it’s unclear if Tua Tagovailoa will suit up, either.

The latter sat out of a 20-3 win over the Jets last week, while Brandon Allen tried to will the Bengals to a win against the Giants.

Cincinnati is in a tough spot without their franchise passer, but this spread is awfully thick. Miami is a strong favorite to win, but covering by 12 points will be easier said than done.

Considering the Bengals’ weak defense, this game total could be a bit low, as well.

This is a tough game to peg, as Minnesota has flirted with disaster in two straight weeks. They lost to Dallas two weeks ago, and probably should have lost last week to Carolina.

Dalvin Cook has been held in check to a certain degree in each of his last three contests, and not much about this current rendition of the Vikings tells us they’re a lock to win games easily.

That said, Cook is still a candidate to win the 2020 NFL MVP, and he’s a big reason why Minnesota will be expected to win here.

Jacksonville, meanwhile, got some spirited play out of Mike Glennon in a close loss to a quietly strong Cleveland team.

Could we have a surprisingly competitive and relatively high-scoring affair on our hands? I think it’s possible, which could mean the Jags ATS and the Over are trendy plays.

A lot is going to be made out of the Raiders’ atrocious week 12 effort, but after losing to the Chiefs after a near-perfect game, a major letdown wasn’t that shocking.

It was just troubling to see the manner in which it happened.

One to forget. pic.twitter.com/wAiCOAFA9Y

— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) November 29, 2020

A total drubbing by the hands of the Falcons is demoralizing, but nothing would take the wind out of their sails more than being the first team to lose to the Jets.

New York has put up a fight in recent weeks – and they might very well do so here – but Las Vegas has the offensive ability to dominate. I expect a much cleaner game for the Raiders, a bruising performance by Josh Jacobs, and a win.

The Jets ATS is still appealing just because you have to think they win one eventually, while the Over may be in play based off of two bad defenses facing off.

Indianapolis supposedly has an elite defense, but it has not looked great in consecutive weeks, with 76 total points allowed.

The Colts are still 7-4 with a chance to win the AFC South, but we suddenly need to ask if they’re legit. This question won’t go away unless they can go into Texas and take out the surging Texans.

Houston smoked the Lions on Thanksgiving Day, and at least offensively, has plenty of firepower to make this one interesting. The Over is absolutely in play, while Houston is very interesting as a +135 home dog.

The Rams and Cardinals both blew opportunities to hang with the Seahawks atop the NFC West, and this week 13 battle could send one of them down the standings.

Arizona is the most at risk here. They lost their second meeting with the Seahawks a couple of weeks ago, and are now looking at a potential three-game skid.

A loss here would be quite catastrophic for Arizona, so there is certainly incentive for them to pop up with one of their better efforts of the year. Maybe that gets bettors on their respectable pricing as the home underdog.

The most intriguing wager here is the total, though. The Rams tend to play ball control offense and defend well, but Arizona’s up-tempo play and explosive offense could change things.

Anytime I see these tight lines and it’s the Pats, I hesitate. You still see Bill Belichick on the sideline, but this just isn’t the same reliable New England squad bettors are used to.

Still, the Pats stole another one against Arizona this past week, and are still in the playoff mix. They could inch toward .500 with a big road win here, and you know L.A.’s history suggests they may oblige.

The Bolts had more poor game management last week, and Buffalo made Justin Herbert look human. The Chargers also won’t be able to stop the Patriots on the ground, so if New England can dictate the pace here and slow things down, they look like the easy bet.

Denver’s week 12 set pro football back about 50 years. They had no actual quarterbacks on the roster, and just didn’t stand a chance.

Kendall Hinton was a state championship QB in high school and played some QB in college. Against an NFL defense, he's 1/9 with 2 INTs.

Remember this the next time somebody on Twitter says they could accomplish anything in a pro sport other than immediately fall down.

— Zach Kram (@zachkram) November 29, 2020

That horrendous performance undeniably plays into this thick total, but even when they get Drew Lock back, it’ll be impossible to trust them.

Kansas City probably covers here, but you have to ask yourself if betting on a two-score win is really how you want to wager in week 13.

The Over might be a bit more appealing. Denver won’t contribute a whole lot, but at the rate the Chiefs are going, they may not have to.

This week’s MNF clash is actually pretty interesting, as the 8-3 Bills still have work to do to win the AFC East, and the hosting Niners are still in the playoff mix in the NFC.

Obviously the Bills are the better team at this point, but Josh Allen was not up to par last week, and San Francisco made Jared Goff look silly in week 12.

If those two realities clash on Monday Night Football, the 49ers could be a solid value at home.

As things stand, of course, bettors are actually getting the superior Bills at a pretty nice price. They also happen to be in great form, having one four of their last five games.

There are a lot of interesting spots to take advantage of when looking at the early week 13 NFL odds. Some thick point spreads and low totals stand out, while there could be a few underdog plays in their own backyard.

I’ll go over my NFL locks, upsets, and more as the week goes on. However, it’s good to check out the initial week 13 NFL odds, and how we may want to approach them.

It’s also worth noting that week 13 NFL odds simply aren’t out for some very intriguing battles.

Thanks to COVID-19 and some teams playing on primetime TV, we don’t have live odds (at the time of this writing) for games featuring the Steelers, Ravens, Seahawks, Bears, Packers, and Eagles.

Odds for those games will trickle out in the coming days, and you can hit up our NFL betting picks section for full breakdowns and predictions.