NFL 2019 Week 13 results and Week 14 picks

Home teams showed up better than I expected, and mangled my "mostly road team" week of picks.  Second worst week of picks in the season.  Oh well.

New Orleans became the first team to clinch their division, and the current top seeds in each conference changed - New Orleans for San Francisco in the NFC and Baltimore for New England in the AFC.  Things are getting interesting at the top.  The bottom is now tightening up as Cincinnati won their first game of the season.

Power Rankings [Last week's rank]
1.  Baltimore Ravens (10-2) [1]
2.  San Francisco 49ers (10-2) [2]
3.  New England Patriots (10-2) [3]
4.  Kansas City Chiefs (8-4) [8]
5.  Minnesota Vikings (8-4) [4]
6.  New Orleans Saints (10-2) [6]
7.  Buffalo Bills (9-3) [7]
8.  Seattle Seahawks (10-2) [9]
9.  Green Bay Packers (9-3) [10]
10. Houston Texans (8-4) [12]
11. Tennessee Titans (7-5) [11]
12. Dallas Cowboys (6-6) [5]

Divisional ranks [Last week's rank]
1.  NFC West [2] : They recapture the lead with both the Rams and Seahawks gaining big wins
2.  NFC North [1] : Green Bay's struggles, and a Vikings loss, hurt them, although they don't trail by much
3.  AFC South [3] : Despite a large gap between #2 and #3, Houston and Tennessee keep this division competitive
4 (tie). AFC East [4] : The Patriots are showing vulnerabilities that could pull down this division, although Miami's win this week gives them some new life
4 (tie). AFC North [4] : Mostly helped by Cincy's first (and quite impressive) win
6.  AFC West [6] : KC is really the only bright spot
7.  NFC South [7] : The fact that New Orleans has already won the division shows how weak the rest of the division is
8.  NFC East [8] : With Dallas' fall, there really isn't any team outstanding here

Division races
New Orleans' clinch made me add this section, but we still have four weeks, so it's a bit early.  I will discuss a couple close enough to clinch:
AFC North : Baltimore can capture the crown this week with a win over Buffalo combined with a Steelers loss
AFC West : KC is only two games ahead of Oakland, but a Chiefs win this week and Raiders loss puts them one week away from clinching

Thursday night
Dallas Cowboys at Chicago Bears : Two weeks ago I would have picked the Cowboys immediately.  Now, their offense is floundering, and the Bears tough defense will just make the situation worse.  The Bears offense isn't much better, so it comes down to which defense and/or special teams squad can make a score that the offense can't.  Believe it or not, that sounds like Chicago.  BEARS, 17-13

Sunday early games
Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills : The Ravens are on a hot streak right now.  The Bills are finally starting to make believers out of people, and a loss here will hurt that, but I think the Ravens are just too tough for them.  RAVENS, 30-20

Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons : In a case of "too little, too late", the Panthers should get up the strength to beat the Falcons.  PANTHERS, 26-24

Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns : The Bengals won their first game last week, but they will have to wait for their second.  The Browns have not been pretty, but their offense is definitely working better than the Bengals' has.  They have the edge in defense, too, which be important in the fourth quarter to hold back a Bengals surge.  BROWNS, 23-17

Denver Broncos at Houston Texans : If the Texans can avoid an emotional letdown after beating the Patriots last week, they should win this game fairly easily.  TEXANS, 27-17

Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings : The Vikings have not played well against NFC North teams, but the Lions have been dismal.  VIKINGS, 28-20

Indianapolis Colts at Tampa Bay Bucs : Wow, this should be a close game!  Statistically very even, we have a stronger defense on the Colts side against a wide-open Bucs offense.  Defense often wins in these bouts, so I'll pick the Colts, but it really could go the other way.  COLTS, 26-24

Miami Dolphins at New York Jets : These battles are always interesting, moreso this year for the lackluster performances of both teams in the early part of the season, and recent spurts by each.  The Jets, despite a loss to Cincy last week, has certainly shown that they have gotten themselves together better, so I like their chances in this one.  JETS, 30-27

San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints : The 49ers are out for blood!  They lost their division leader last week to Seattle, and lost the top seed in the conference to these same Saints.  They want a chance to reclaim both.  While they may have to wait for the Seahawks, their defense gets a shot to slow down the Saints.  49ERS, 30-27

Washington Redskins at Green Bay Packers : Dwayne Haskins is too inconsistent to count on, although recent performances by the Packers offense haven't instilled a great deal of confidence, either.  However, the Packers are used to having late season problems (usually due to injuries), so I think they'll have the difficulties better.  PACKERS, 24-20

Sunday late games
Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots : Here's another game that is likely to be close, and could go either way.  Truthfully, given how the Patriots have played over the past three weeks, I'd like to pick the Chiefs, but the Pats at home have a definite advantage.  Still, the Chiefs could give the Patriots a second consecutive loss.  PATS, 27-24

Los Angeles Chargers at Jacksonville Jaguars : The Jags have to be the worst 4-8 team of the bunch, and they can't seem to settle on a QB.  That's not good.  CHARGERS, 26-20

Pittsburgh Steelers at Arizona Cardinals : Baltimore would love the Cards to beat Pittsburgh, but I don't think that's going to happen. STEELERS, 24-20

Tennessee Titans at Oakland Raiders : Win or lose, the Chiefs get a break as the offensively tricky Titans play the slightly bewildered Raiders.  TITANS, 27-20

Sunday night
Seattle Seahawks at Los Angeles Rams : Seattle gets to maintain their lead over the 49ers, and their unbeaten divisional record, by giving the Rams fits.  The Rams would like nothing more than an upset, so their offense will make it interesting, but in the end the Seahawks will prevail.  SEAHAWKS, 27-24

Monday Night Football
New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles : Neither team is doing great, but the Eagles defense should give the struggling Giants offense enough problems for them to prevail.  EAGLES, 24-17