Welcome to the weekly Wednesday version of my “Tuley’s Takes Today” column in which we go over the full NFL Week 13 schedule.
We love to hear from readers that we’ve helped have a successful football season. Last week another winning one as we started with the Lions and Giants covering on Thanksgiving. Sunday was close to break even as my top plays went 1-3 ATS (losers on the Texans, Bears and Falcons, but a big win on the Raiders) but we swept all of our 2-team, 6-point teasers on the Panthers +8.5, Titans +7.5 and Eagles -1, plus had live teasers to the Steelers +8.5 on Monday Night Football. Then, in Monday’s version of this column, we added Steelers +8.5/Over 33 for those who hadn’t jumped on the teaser gravy train yet. That win improved our record on our regular appearance on “The Greg Peterson Experience” (12:15 a.m. ET/9:15 p.m. Sunday nights) to 25-12 ATS (67.6%) this season and 12-3 ATS (80%) with our plays we give out on the show, most of which have been NFL early lines for the next week. We’ve also been killing it with our daily Best Bets here across all sports as we won with the Kraken (+105) Tuesday night in a 9-8 OT win at the Kings to improve to 20-9 ATS (69%) the first 29 days of November, including 16-6 ATS (72.7%) the last 22 days. Let’s get to the full NFL Week 13 schedule. Even if we don’t have a Best Bet on a game, we still offer our “pool play” strategy, especially for those in contests where you have to make a pick in every game. (Note: at the end of this column, we’ll have an abbreviated edition of our regular daily column with our recaps of Tuesday’s betting action and a Best Bet for Wednesday to close out the winning month.Buffalo Bills (-4) at New England Patriots
This is the first meeting this season between these AFC East rivals. The Bills (8-3) are tied for the division lead with the Dolphins while the Patriots (6-5) are a game out of the last AFC wild-card spot. I’ve had a lot of success fading the Bills (just 4-6-1 ATS) this season, including in their two recent losses to the Jets and Vikings and the non-cover at the Lions, so it’s tempting to take the Patriots here as home underdogs. However, this line is too short for my liking. I love to have a play on the Thursday night game each week, but I have to pass in this case.
Best Bet: Pass (pool play: Bills in all of my rare SU and ATS contests that use TNF games).
New York Jets at Minnesota Vikings (-3)
The Vikings (9-2) continue to roll on in their dream season, but this game means a lot more to the playoff-hopeful Jets (7-4) as the Vikes have opened up a five-game lead in the NFC North on the second-place Lions (yes, you read that right). The Jets have had a roller-coaster of a season as their No. 5 defense helped them win games in spite of starting QB Zach Wilson. Coach Robert Saleh made the move to Mike White (22-for-28, 315 passing yards, 3 TDs) in Week 12 and it paid off in a 31-10 rout of the Bears. It shouldn’t necessarily get harder for White against a Minnesota defense that is No. 31 in yards allowed per game. The Vikings have a good enough offense to overcome the Jets’ defensive strength with Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson, etc. After suffering just their second loss of the season (a 40-3 no-show vs. the Cowboys in Week 11), they bounced back nicely in their 33-26 win vs. the Patriots on Thanksgiving night. Jets backers were able to grab +3 .5 on Sunday, but the line has settled at Vikings -3. We no longer like it at that number but would jump back in if it goes back to 3.5 (especially in contests.
Best Bet: Pass for now, waiting for Jets +3.5 (pool play: Jets 55/45 in ATS contests – higher at 3.5, flip to Vikings at 2.5 – but Vikings 60/40 in SU pools.
Denver Broncos at Baltimore Ravens (-8.5)
We actually jumped the gun a little by giving this out as Broncos +8 on “The Greg Peterson Experience” and in these early week columns as it’s actually been bet up to 8.5 at most books as of this writing late Tuesday night. But I’m willing to bet this again at the highest number we can get. Granted, the Broncos have been a dumpster fire on offense this season, ranking No. 25 in yards per game despite the off-season acquisition of Russell Wilson while the No. 5 defense has kept them in several games. But this is more of a bet against the Ravens as they’ve led by 9 points or more in every game so far this season; however, they blew their fourth fourth-quarter lead of the season in Sunday’ 28-27 loss to the Jaguars and are just 5-6 ATS as they tend to let teams stick around. Besides, if looking for a common opponent, the Broncos beat the Jaguars 21-17 in Week 8, so we see no reason they can’t stay within a TD of the Ravens.
Best Bet: Broncos +8.5 (pool play: ).
Pittsburgh Steelers (-1) at Atlanta Falcons
We’ve actually seen a change of favorites in this game as the Falcons were -1.5 on the advance line last week at the Westgate SuperBook and -1 when it reopened its Week 13 lines on Sunday afternoon. However, after the Steelers beat the Colts 24-17 on Monday Night Football, this has flipped to the Steelers -1. I’m going to wait to see if the line continues to move in that direction, at which time we’ll probably add it to our teaser portfolio, but I’m going to play the Falcons regardless as short home underdogs. Steelers (4-7) coach Mike Tomlin is trying to avoid his first losing season while the Falcons (5-7) have overachieved all season as they only trail the Buccaneers by half a game in the NFC South and are 7-5 ATS. The Steelers are No. 27 in yards per game while the Falcons are No, 28; however, Falcons have been far more efficient averaging 22.7 points per game compared to just 17.6 for the Steelers with RB/WR Cordarelle Patterson a threat to break off a huge run at any time (5.2 yards per carry) and with Marcus Mariota spreading the ball around to his receivers (or running himself).
Best Bet: Falcons +1 or higher (pool play: ).
Tennessee Titans at Philadelphia Eagles (-5)
The Eagles continue to roll along with the NFL’s best record at 10-1, but after starting 3-1 ATS, they’ve been middle of the road at 3-3 ATS their last six games – and that includes a cover by half a point after closing as 6.5-point home favorites in a 40-33 win vs. the Packers on Sunday night. They’ve failed to cover in wins over the Lions, Cardinals, Texas and Colts in addition to their upset loss to the Commanders in Week 10, so I have no problem fading them against the Titans, who continue to get disrespected in the betting market despite overcoming an 0-2 start to stand at 7-4 SU and an even more impressive 8-3 ATS. And that includes losing 20-16 to the Bengals this past Sunday. Derrick Henry continues to set the tone as he’s second in the NFL with 1,048 rushing yards to make things easier for Ryan Tannehill’s play-action passes. I also trust Tennessee coach Mike Vrabel to have a scheme to contain Philly QB Jalen Hurts and keep the Titans i n a one-score game if not pull the outright upset.
Best Bet: Titans +5 (pool play: Titans 67/33 in ATS contest, but still Eagles 60/40 in SU pools).
Jacksonville Jaguars (-1.5) at Detroit Lions
The Lions have been very good to us the past two years (11-6 ATS last year, 7-4 ATS this season including four straight covers), so there’s a decent chance I’m going to bet them as short dogs here or use them in my contests. But I feel even stronger about them to kick off our teaser discussion for this week as we can use 6-point teasers to move them up through the key numbers of 3 and 7. Except for the two-game slump on either side of their Week 6 bye week in blowout losses to the Patriots and Cowboys, the Lions have not lost by more than 4 points in any other game and are perfect when teasing the spread by 6 points (9-2 overall on season). The only thing giving me pause is that the Jaguars have certainly improved this season under coach Doug Pederson and Trevor Lawrence coming into his own, including rallying to beat the Ravens 28-27 on Sunday with many clutch throws. However, we’ll note that the only times the Jaguars have been put in the unfamiliar favorite&rs quo;s role this season was when they were upset by the Texans 13-6 in Week 5 as 7-point home chalk and upset 21-17 by the Broncos in Week 8 as 1-point home chalk. The teaser options are plentiful this week, so take your pick among Giants +8.5, Browns -1, Seahawks -1.5 and Raiders +8. My favorite 2-point, 6-point teaser in Sunday’s early slate of game is Lions +7.5/Giants +8.5
Best Bet: Lions +7.5 in teasers and probably also +1.5 (pool play: Lions 60/40 in all SU and ATS contests).
Washington Commanders (-2.5) at New York Giants
Speaking of the Giants’ teaser . . . .the only reason I’m not taking the Giants on the regular spread is it’s a little short for my liking due to the Commanders being on a 6-1 SU and ATS run, mostly due to Taylor Heinicke taking over for Carson Wentz. Well, there’s also the fact that the Giants were “doing it with mirrors” with their own 6-1 run to start the season and have been exposed a little bit lately, including losing three of their last four games with the only win in that stretch being against the lowly Texans. They did end up covering in their 28-20 loss as 10-point road underdogs at the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, so they should be able to stay within one score of the Commanders.
Best Bet: Giants +8.5/Lions +7.5 among other teasers. (pool play: Giants 55/45 in all SU and ATS contests).
Cleveland Browns (-7) at Houston Texans