Disappointing weekend in NFL betting tips last week as we hit on just 1/4 bets and heartbreakingly missed one bet by just 0.5 points. We’ll regroup heading into Week 13 of the NFL season, which features a fantastic slate of games getting underway on Friday with the Dallas Cowboys hosting the New Orleans Saints from 12.20pm.
We take a look at the key matchups of the weekend and give our betting tips below.
NFL Week 13 Betting Tips
New Orleans Saints at Dallas Cowboys (Friday 12.20pm AEDT)
The Saints continued their winning ways on Friday, downing the Atlanta Falcons 31-17 in a Thanksgiving clash to move to 10-1 on the season. The Saints lost their first game of the season but have gone on to win their next 10 in a row and currently have an equal best record in the NFL with the Rams. They sit atop the NFC South division and can all but secure home field advantage until at least the conference championship game with a win against Dallas on Friday.
The Cowboys have won their last three games in a row after defeating the Redskings on Thanksgiving 31-23. Mid-season recruit Amari Cooper was fantastic for the Cowboys, catching for 180 yards and two touchdowns in the win while Ezekiel Elliot continued his mid-season resurgence, rushing for 121 yards and a touchdown.
The Cowboys defence has been solid throughout the season so far but they will get their toughest test on Friday against arguably the best offence in the league. New Orleans has failed to score 30 points on just two occassions this season, and they were still able to win both of those games. They score 37.2 points per game, which is the highest mark in the league while Dallas sit in the bottom 10 in the league with just 21.3 points per game. It’s worrying that the Cowboys gave up 23 points to the Redskins without their starting QB last week. We think the Saints score big here on Thursday night football.
Minnesota Vikings at New England Patriots (Monday 8.25am AEDT)
The Vikings faced the Packers in a massive NFC North rivalry game on Monday and came away with a fantastic seven-point win to cement their chances as a wildcard threat in the NFC. They currently have a 6-4-1 record and sit 1.5 games behind Chicago in the NFC North. They have the difficult task of travelling to New England this weekend, who have won seven of their last eight games.
The Patriots bounced back after a disappointing road loss to the Titans in Week 10 to defeat the New York Jets after their bye week. Tom Brady was dominant in the win, throwing for 283 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions while running back Sony Michel had 133 rushing yards and a touchdown.
The Patriots might have lost three games this season but they still hold a perfect 5-0 record at home. They have proven almost impossible to beat at Gillette Stadium over the course of the last decade and even against the spread they are 4-1 at home this season. They start as 5.5-point favourites here, which we see them covering.
Los Angeles Chargers at Pittsburgh Steelers (Monday 12.20pm AEDT)
We had been waiting for the wheels to spring loose on the Chargers bandwagon for a few months and that looked to have finally happened when they went down to the Broncos at home in Week 11 to lose just their third game of the year and their first in seven weeks. However, they backed it up with a dominant performance over the Cardinals at home in Week 12, putting up 45 points as Philip Rivers threw three touchdowns to move to 8-3 on the season.
Pittsburgh might have suffered a calculated loss on the weekend as they travelled to Denver and went down by seven points. They had won their last six games in a row and a trip to Denver is tough at the best of times. They will welcome the return to Heinz Field this weekend, where they are 3-2 on the season so far.
Extremely tough game to call here. These teams are very similar in that they rely heavily on a few skill position players on offence and both of their defences are capable or being stretched heavily. The two teams havent played since 2015 but given the way both offences have looked this season, we think the total points line of 52 looks a little low.
Total points OVER 52
$1.91
Washington Redskins at Philadelphia Eagles (Tuesday 12.15pm AEDT)
The Redskins have a tough road ahead of them in 2018-19 after starting quarterback Alex Smith went down with a broken leg a few weeks ago. Backup Colt McCoy came in for the Thanksgiving game against the Cowboys and did as much as you’d expect from a player that has only played a handful of games over the past five years. The Redskins put up 23 points but looked stagnant throughout the game and McCoy threw three interceptions.
With both Dallas and Washington sitting on 6-5 wins atop the NFC East, the division remains wide open for the Eagles if they can turn their season around. Philly currently only sit just one game behind the division leaders, and a win here would see them likely draw level with the two teams given Dallas have a tough game against the Saints on the weekend. Philly have been able to capture back to back wins so far in 2018-19 but have a great chance this weekend against a struggling Washington team at home.
The Redskins earned a little bit of respect with the bookmakers last weekend given they kept the game close for a large portion and ended up putting up 23 points. However, a game on the road in Philly is a tough ask for a backup quarterback and we think this could get ugly.
