NFC East Week 13 Preview and "Pick of the Week"

There finally appears to be some separation in the NFC East with the Eagles and the Cowboys both at 6-5 and two games ahead of New York, which fell to 4-7 after last Sunday's loss to Dallas. The Redskins sunk to 3-8 after getting pummeled by San Francisco 27-6 this past Monday night. My bold prediction for Washington is that it will not win another game this year as this team has already quit on its coach and its quarterback.

As is the case every season, the Cowboys will host an annual Thanksgiving Day game. This year they welcome the 4-7 Raiders to Big D which I would have to pencil-in as a win for the home team. That means the Eagles will have to get past the surging 7-4 Arizona Cardinals this upcoming Sunday at the Linc to keep pace in the title race. Dallas currently holds the tie-breaker on an earlier head-to-head win and it also has a better division record at 4-0.

The good news is that Philadelphia's home losing streak was snapped with the win over Washington in Week 11. The bad news is that even when the Cardinals were lousy back in the days when they were still in the NFC East, they had a way of beating Philly on the road. This will actually be a true test to see if the Birds are a legitimate playoff team. This is the kind of game they should win at home, especially coming off a bye. Much was made about Andy Reid's 13-1 record after a bye week (last season the Eagles lost to Atlanta to snap that winning streak). It is now Chip Kelly's turn to start his own winning streak with a victory this Sunday.

I stayed away from picking the Eagles this week as I still have one leg dragging on the ground off of this bandwagon, but I do like this game's chances to stay UNDER the 48.5-point total line. Arizona has been playing great on defense all season long and Philly's defense has not allowed more than 21 points in its last seven games. This Sunday's matchup has the feel of a grinder as the cold winds of December start whipping around the Linc.

To read my complete NFC East Week 13 preview and "pick of the week" as part of my ongoing series for Doc's Sports just click the link below.

NFC East Weekly NFL Betting Picks: Week 13