NFL Schedule Week 13: preview and predictions
By Chris Lacey
With only a couple of weeks left in the NFL season, we are nearing the finish line. There are still some teams trying to secure a playoff spot, while other teams like the Washington Redskins and Atlanta Falcons are looking for the nightmare to end.
The good selection of games to watch starts off with the New England Patriots on the the road against the Houston Texans. New England is fresh off an impressive overtime win last Sunday night against the Denver Broncos. They face a Texans team that’s in a tailspin losers of nine straight games. One odd thing about the Texans is that their defense leads the NFL in giving up just 290.4 yards per game, but are 26th in points allowed surrendering 26.3 per game.
The Arizona Cardinals and the Philadelphia Eagles also provide an interesting match up. These teams are second in their respective divisions and both need a victory to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The defense for the Cardinals has played well this season especially against the run. They’re only allowing opposing teams 81.3 rushing yards per game. They will definitely be tested in this game as the Eagles have a great rushing attack with them averaging 150.6 per game.
Another game to keep an eye on is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road battling the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers are rolling right now winning seven straight games and their defense is coming up huge for the team, only allowing teams to score 13.6 points per game.
Tampa Bay with their current three-game win streak might just be enough to save Head Coach Greg Schiano from being fired. The team seems to be playing better recently and the results don’t lie.
We will also be keeping a close eye on the Denver Broncos, as the offense will play against the Kansas City Chiefs defense for the second time in three weeks. Denver, led by quarterback Peyton Manning, has an explosive offense leading the league in points, total yards and passing yards per game.
Kansas City is doing a great job at limiting opposing teams from scoring, as indicated by them giving up 16.3 points per game. The only drawback is them giving up 350.9 yards per game to the opposition.
In the final game of the week, the New Orleans Saints put their successful offense on the field against a dominant Seattle Seahawks defense.
Saints QB Drew Brees is running the offense to near perfection with them scoring 27.7 points and averaging 415 yards per game. They will be challenged in this game as the defense for Seattle only allows 16.3 points and 293.3 yards per game.
What game are you looking forward to watching? Sound off in the comments section below with your thoughts and predictions for this week.