NFL Odds Week 13: Betting Tips after Friday’s Injury Reports and Practice News

The Dallas Cowboys escaped the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night in a 41-35 thriller. While the Seahawks did cover, it’s fair to wonder if they would have won outright with a healthier backfield.

Starting running back Kenneth Walker III was out with an oblique injury. Rookie Zach Charbonnet played admirably in his stead, but he averaged just 3.3 yards per carry before exiting late with a knee injury. In a close game, Seattle failed to convert on fourth down three straight times to end the fourth quarter.

Injuries can and do impact the outcomes of games, and that will likely continue during the rest of Week 13. Below, we’ll dive into the updated injury reports and practice news to identify a few bets we like heading into rest the weekend.

According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, the status of Tyreek Hill is “somewhat up in the air” because of an ankle injury. Hill was a limited mid-week participant in practice because of it.

However, as Rapoport noted, Hill also finished Week 12 with 102 yards and a touchdown. The more impactful injury might be the knee injury safety Jevon Holland suffered late in last Friday’s game.

Miami also lost pass-rusher Jaelan Phillips to a torn Achilles in Week 12.

While the Dolphins will be at less than full strength and on the road, they should still handle the Washington Commanders. Washington’s defense was already shaky before trading pass-rushers Montez Sweat and Chase Young at the deadline. The Commanders outlasted the New England Patriots in Week 9 but haven’t won since.

No team has allowed more points per game this season than Washington.

The Commanders fired defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio during the week, but that isn’t likely to have a huge impact on such an underwhelming unit. The Dolphins have become adept at rolling over lesser teams, and they should do it again this week.

Los Angeles Chargers star wide receiver Keenan Allen has been out of practice with a quad injury, which is a huge problem for Justin Herbert and Co. Los Angeles already lost wideout Mike Williams earlier in the year to a torn ACL.

If Allen can’t go or is at less than 100 percent, the Chargers will likely struggle to move the ball consistently. That might not be enough for the two-win Patriots to pull the upset, but it would make this a low-scoring game—and it already could be.

While the Patriots haven’t been very good, they’ve had their moments defensively. They’ve surrendered just 40 points over their last three games, and they can limit what has been an inconsistent Chargers offense.

The Patriots offense, meanwhile, is a mess. Whether it’s Mac Jones or Bailey Zappe—or someone else—under center, New England just doesn’t have the receiving talent to take advantage of L.A.’s 32nd-ranked pass defense.

The Chargers haven’t topped 20 points in their last two games. The Patriots have only topped 20 points once all season. Expect the under to come in here.

It would be a shock to see the one-win Carolina Panthers pull off the outright upset on the road against the scrappy Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Panthers haven’t been good on either side of the ball this season, and they fired head coach Frank Reich after their latest loss.

However, as Buccaneers (and former Panthers) quarterback Baker Mayfield noted, that could give Carolina an edge.

“Having been in that spot before, everybody rallies around it, honestly,” said Mayfield. “It’s one of those things that brings people together,” Mayfield said, per Scott Smith of the team’s official website.

Tampa could also be without several key players, including Lavonte David, Jamel Dean, Devin White and Chris Godwin.

The other factor to consider is that Carolina’s defense has been fairly solid against the pass, while the Buccaneers can’t find a consistent ground game (3.3 yards per carry).

Even with the injuries, the Buccaneers are still the better team in this matchup. However, everything is aligned for the Panthers to make it an extremely close and competitive game.

*Injury information via NFL.com unless otherwise noted.

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