Red Zone Returns – NFL Week 13

An exciting 2025 NFL season kicks into Week 13, and we’re diving into five of the best bets from around the league.

Green Bay Packers v Detroit Lions

Fading the Detroit Lions in a big spot has been a consistent trend here for a couple of season. There aren’t many bigger than a battle for NFC North supremacy against the Green Bay Packers.

Green Bay already claimed one victory over Detroit this season with the sweep equating to a two-game swing in the standings.

While the Packers haven’t been able to sustain their early-season form, they’re looking the better of the two teams right now. The Lions were lucky to escape with a win against the New York Giants in Week 12 and face a tough task in protecting Jared Goff against this Packers defence here. They’re just 3-3 when Goff takes 2+ sacks and the Packers pass rush is in fine form of late.

Jordan Love should have enough in him to lead Green Bay to points. He has been particularly effective in man-heavy coverage schemes with Detroit dialing them up on 52% of snaps in Week 1.

Neither team is particularly trustworthy, but there was more to like about the Packers than Lions last week.

Bet Now Green Bay Packers +2.5 @ $1.98

Los Angeles Rams @ Carolina Panthers

Week 11: “Just when you might have thought Bryce Young wasn’t ever going to kick on as an NFL quarterback, he throws for 448 yards – his most in a game by 120 yards – and leads the Carolina Panthers to an impressive 30-27 overtime victory ovr the Atlanta Falcons.”

Week 12: Just when you might have thought Bryce Young may have turned a corner in becoming an NFL quarterback, he throws for 169 yards – the 7th game this season with fewer than 170 passing yards – and two interceptions as the Carolina Panthers lost to the San Francisco 49ers.

Young is what he is at this point of his career. Somehow, he looks smaller every week, and when the defence dials up the pressure and he needs to see more of the field, he quite physically can’t do it. His vision is so poor that he missed a nailed on rushing touchdown before throwing what ended up as an interception in Week 12.

This week, the Panthers are coming up against the hottest team in the NFL. The Los Angeles Rams rank 1st in the league in both Offensive and Defensive EPA per play. They’re elite on both sides of the ball and should find success against the Panthers all the way up the field.

While Carolina have had their moments throughout the season, their loss to the 49ers felt like the sort that put a big dent in their confidence and exposed their biggest weaknesses for the opposition to exploit across the remainder of the regular season.

Bet Now Los Angeles Rams @ $1.97

San Francisco 49ers @ Cleveland Browns

Shedeur Sanders made his first NFL start in Week 12, and while a marked improvement on his horror show stint in Week 11 as a reliever, he left a lot to be desired. Pro Football Focus noted that his overall production relied heavily on four deep attempts and screen passes.

Robert Saleh has all week to cook up a plan against a rookie quarterback. We can expect him to use pressure with his front four while presenting Sanders with complex zone coverages. Sanders performed well against the blitz last week, but won’t have that luxury. Instead, he will be forced to process the entire field and run the risk of holding the ball too long leading to sacks and interceptions.

Meanwhile, Brock Purdy played out a shocker throwing three picks against the Carolina Panthers. It might feel natural to fade him just as much as we’re fading Sanders. However, Purdy has been here and done it all before. He has weapons in Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle to play himself back into form. Sanders, on the other hand, doesn’t have the experience nor the targets.

The Browns have been much better at home. Again, we can see that as an advantage as the punting public side with an encouraging underdog. We’re backing Kyle Shanahan and Saleh to produce the good against a team with little to play for, though.

Bet Now San Francisco 49ers -4.5 @ $1.90

Cincinnati Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens

There are a lot of questions around the quarterback position for both teams heading into this one.

Joe Burrow might return after 10 weeks on the sideline with a turf toe. Meanwhile, Lamar Jackson has been limited in practice across each of the last two weeks with knee and ankle injuries.

How the pair pull up and the best angle at the spread is anybodies guess. We can, however, reliably assume that at least one of the pair struggles to lead an offence.

Burrow has missed a lot of time as it is. Turf toe, in particular, has proven to sap a quarterbacks ability to drive the ball downfield and instead sees them rely on quick, short throws. On the other side, Jackson simply hasn’t looked his best for a little while now. He’s clearly carrying niggles which has seen him average only 5.75 carries per game. He’s averaging only 5.2 yards per carry on those he does attempt – his lowest in a season since his rookie year.

Baltimore’s defence has been their saving grace of late, limiting their opponents to only 10, 16 and 19 points throughout the last three weeks. With the forecast for cold weather to make it even more difficult to move the ball, expect this one to finish Under 51.5 points.

Bet Now Under 51.5 Points @ $1.93

Kansas City Chiefs @ Dallas Cowboys

Sure, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs haven’t looked their best through the first 12 weeks of the NFL season, but they showed signs of life in their comeback win over the Indianapolis Colts. They have a prime opportunity to continue on that trajectory against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 13.

While Mahomes isn’t putting up the MVP numbers we’ve grown accustomed to seeing, he’s presented with a Brian Schottenheimer defence that ranks 31st in points allowed at 29.3 points conceded per game. They’re 30th in yards allowed, too. They struggle to make stops and apply pressure to the opposition. Mahomes, in particular, is lethal when not pressured.

The Cowboys can score. Dak Prescott is arguably the best quarterback in the NFL right now. But if the Chiefs can control possession and consistently move the ball, Prescott and company won’t have a lot of opportunities to pile up points.

On a fast track inside a closed AT&T Stadium and with the pressure of making the playoffs hanging over him, expect Mahomes to guide the Chiefs to a comfortable victory in this one.

Bet Now Kansas City Chiefs -3.5 @ $2.00

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