The Once-Over: Week 13

With attention spans dwindling, we forgo full game-by-game previews to give you the essentials you need to know about every contest this glorious NFL weekend. We call it The Once-Over.

New England (7-4) at Miami (5-6): All Tom Brady MVP talks and any conversations involving the Patriots being the best team in the NFL have ceased after last Monday night's beat down handed out by the Saints. This team is going to have to regroup on both sides of the football as Brady looked extremely ineffective at times in Week 12 and the defense had holes like a colander.

At 5-6, Miami is in desperate need of a win this weekend to stay in the playoff hunt. Unfortunately, they are facing a Patriots team that is clearly better and coming off of an embarrassing loss that Bill Belichick will want to put far behind him. Ricky Williams is doing a superb job as the sole runner, but the team still misses Ronnie Brown. And there is no way that Chad Henne can carve up the Patriots secondary like Drew Brees did last week.

Pick: New England

New Orleans (11-0) at Washington (3-8): The Saints are coming off of one of the most convincing wins of their season. They didn't blow the Patriots out of the water, but they did show, as they've done 11 times this season, that this Saints team is far superior option to anyone in the NFL.

The Redskins pass defense is superb -- and it will slow Brees and the passing attack on Sunday -- but don't expect miracles. Washington is ranked 25th against the run, and even though the Saints rushers are all banged up, they will find at least one option that can explode in Week 13. This game will be closer than expected, but the Saints aren't going to be stopped just yet.

Pick: New Orleans

Oakland (3-8) at Pittsburgh (6-5): Bruce Gradkowski attended high school in the Pittsburgh area, so this is coming-home game for the quarterback running the show in his third time as a starter. The Steelers rank second in the league with 35 sacks, so Gradkowski is going to need his offensive line to step up and give him time to shine in front of his "home crowd".

The Raiders rank 31st in the league against the run. This is fantastic news for Pittsburgh for two reasons. Ben Roethlisberger is listed as probable and will likely play on Sunday. But, if he's not as effective as usual, the team will need Rashard Mendenhall to carry the ball a lot. Since taking over as the starting running back in Week 4, Mendenhall has shown that he can do just that.

Pick: Pittsburgh

Denver (7-4) at Kansas City (3-8): With a win last week, the Broncos stopped the skidding vehicle that was careening out of control after a hot start to the season. Denver should have no trouble staying on track as they travel to Kansas City. Watch Brandon Marshall on Sunday. The Chiefs are a porous pass defense and Marshall could take advantage, When the passing game has opened up running lanes, Denver will look to expose the Chiefs 27th-ranked run defense too.

This will be the first time that Matt Cassel and Josh McDaniels meet as adversaries since both player and coach moved out west. The Chiefs just don't have the weapons to put up much of a fight against a Denver team with better personnel. Cassel may begin to wish that McDaniels had been able to bring him into Denver as quarterback.

Pick: Denver

Houston (5-6) at Jacksonville (6-5): The Texans find themselves in a situation that nobody figured they would be in this season. At 5-6 they are fighting for their playoff lives and enter Jacksonville who is missing a key piece to its secondary; Rashean Mathis. Jacksonville has been giving up serious passing yards with Mathis out, and Matt Schaub can air it out better than any of the teams racking up passing yards in the previous weeks against the Jaguars.

Maurice Jones-Drew can beat teams single-handed, he showed that in Week 3 when he put up 119 yards and three touchdowns against Houston. Brian Cushing will likely play this Sunday after resting most of the week. He will provide an interesting matchup to Jones-Drew and will need to stop the runner often if the Texans want to stay in the game.

Pick: Houston

Tennessee (5-6) at Indianapolis (11-0): Since Week 8, when Vince Young took over as quarterback, the Titans have won five straight games. That streak is amazing, but not quite the longest one out there when you look at the 11 games Indianapolis has won in a row. I'm not sure two defenses working together with 22 men on the field could stop Chris Johnson, so look for the Colts' efforts to be placed on stopping Young.

Nobody reads defenses better than Peyton Manning. On Sunday when he's looking out over the Titans' secondary, you have to wonder if he's asking himself which one of his receivers will be open. It's hard to imagine that the Titans will be able to cover Dallas Clark, Reggie Wayne and Austin Collie all at once -- and that's before you even worry about a running back.

Pick: Indianapolis

Detroit (2-9) at Cincinnati (8-3): It looks as if Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson will both be playing this Sunday, but you have to wonder if this Detroit offense that ranks 26th in the league in yards gained and scoring can put up enough points to challenge the Bengals.

With Cedric Benson rejoining the backfield there may not be enough rushing attempts to go around. That's especially true when you consider just how much the Bengals might throw against this weak Lions pass defense. Detroit is the only team in the league to have already given up 3,000 yards passing against them.

Pick: Cincinnati

St. Louis (1-10) at Chicago (4-7): There aren't too many reason to look at this one-win St. Louis team and predict a win at Soldier Field. The only chance the Rams have is for Steven Jackson to completely go off on Chicago's 24th-ranked run defense. If that happens, and the Rams can find a way to force a few mistakes out of Jay Cutler and the Bears, they may find their second win.

Seventeen of Cutler's 20 interceptions have come on the road. If there is anyone who is happy to be playing in Chicago, it's Cutler. Consider his success at Soldier Field and the fact that St. Louis ranks 22nd with 226 yards per game given up through the air and you'll see why Chicago has to win this game.

Pick: Chicago

Tampa Bay (1-10) at Carolina (4-7): Tampa Bay's defense looked better last week after Raheem Morris took over and ran the Tampa-2. Look for more of the same this week and hope the defense can keep lots of points off of the board because rookie quarterback Josh Freeman is facing the second-best pass defense in the league.

Matt Moore will be starting for injured Jake Delhomme and you can bet that this is an audition to see if Moore is ready to take this team over for the rest of the season. If he does well, Delhomme won't be back under center anytime soon, if at all. Here's the problem -- Carolina's star backfield is dinged up at best, maybe even missing DeAngelo Williams. If Jonathan Stewart can take this team on his shoulders he needs to prove it on Sunday as Moore might not have the full playbook at his disposal yet.

Pick: Carolina

Philadelphia (7-4) at Atlanta (6-5): Circled at the beginning of the season, this game was supposed to be billed as the "Return of Michael Vick". Since Vick isn't much more then a role player, his return is sort of anti-climactic. Even the sub-heading for this game disappeared. Week 13 was supposed to pit the new franchise quarterback versus the old. We know Vick won't play much and turf toe will cause Matt Ryan to miss the game entirely.

Michael Turner hasn't practiced all week and likely will not play against the Eagles in this must-win Week 13 game. Jerious Norwood is going to have to carry the load and backup Chris Redman will need to find Pro-Bowlers Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez early and often.

Pick: Atlanta

The Late Games

San Diego (8-3) at Cleveland (1-10): San Diego has won six straight games and is 5-0 against teams with losing records this season. A resurgent LaDainian Tomlinson is also running against the 29th-ranked run defense Phillip Rivers gets to throw against the 24th-ranked pass defense.

The Browns lost Jamal Lewis last week for the rest of the season and Brady Quinn just isn't living up to his first round draft status. At least it may be cold and snowy on Sunday, which seems like the only thing going for the Browns.

Pick: San Diego

San Francisco (5-6) at Seattle (4-7): Alex Smith has given this 49ers fan base something to cheer for even if it comes by using the spread offense that Smith says he'd rather not move to full-time. He'll need to come up big to his new favorite targets, Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree, if San Francisco plans to beat Seattle.

The only game in which the Seattle defense has given up 100 yards or more to a running back was in Week 2 against the 49ers. Frank Gore broke off 209 yards rushing and two touchdowns in Week 2, but it's the Seattle running game that will need to show up on Sunday to insure a win. How the Seahawks handle the return of Julius Jones and subsequent demotion of Justin Forsett will be something to watch.

Pick: San Francisco

Dallas (8-3) at New York Giants (6-5): Miles Austin could have a big game on Sunday. The Saints and the Eagles both tore up the Giants secondary with deep threat receivers. Austin fits that bill and the question now is can Tony Romo feed him the ball regularly now that it's December.

The Giants have lost five of their last six games and last week's swoon in Denver shows that this team still may not be headed in the right direction. Injuries on the defensive side of the ball are killing New York and Eli Manning's mysterious foot injury is a problem to concern yourself over.

Pick: Dallas

SNF

Minnesota (10-1) at Arizona (7-4): No matter who is throwing the ball for Arizona, Minnesota is planning to get after them with their top-rated pass rush. On the other side of the ball, MVP candidate Brett Favre should love facing the 29th-ranked pass defense on Sunday night.

The decision to play Kurt Warner or Matt Leinart will be made sometime on Sunday. Whoever passes the ball will have to do it effectively as the Vikings have the second best run defense in the league. it could be a long night in the desert for Cardinals fans.

Pick: Minnesota

MNF

Baltimore (6-5) at Green Bay (7-4): It's pretty easy to think of the leading rusher in Baltimore -- it's Ray Rice. But, do you know who's leading the team in receptions and receiving yards? Believe it or not, it's also Ray Rice. Since Week 7 the Ravens haven't been able to put two wins together. If they want to do so on Monday night, they'll need Rice to be a huge factor.

Aaron Rodgers has been error-free over the last three games as he's thrown six touchdown passes and no interceptions. This Baltimore defense is tough against both the run and pass, and the unit is ranked seventh in interceptions. Rodgers has limited his mistakes all season -- only throwing five picks -- and he'll need to continue doing so on Monday Night Football.

Pick: Green Bay