With only 91 of the 544 National Football League (NFL) regular season games left to be played, the jostling for play-off positions kicks into high gear this weekend, and from hereon in, there will be shifts in the postseason seeding every week. The play-offs for the 2023/24 NFL season is slated to begin on Saturday, January 13, 2024, but if the play-offs started today, a couple of teams with winning records would not be in it — specifically, the Houston Texans and Denver Broncos.

Last weekend, the Atlanta Falcons and Indianapolis Colts rose into play-off position following victories over the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, respectively. The Falcons climbed six spots in the National Football Conference (NFC) play-off standings, moving to the No 4 position, following the results of Week 12, while the Colts rose two spots to occupy the seventh and final play-off position in the American Football Conference (AFC).

As it stands, the game with the most impactful play-off implications in Week 13 takes place at NGR Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The Texans (6-5) welcome the Broncos (6-5) onto their turf for an ultra-important ingredient in the AFC wild-card hunt. With the Buffalo Bills (6-6) off this weekend, both teams are looking to secure a win in the chase for the seventh spot, which currently belongs to the Colts.

The odds of making the play-offs will swing the most on the result of this game. The Broncos and Texans are currently evenly placed, and due to the head-to-head tiebreaker, one of these teams will be in bad postseason shape with a loss. In their last five matchups, Denver has won four, scoring 135 points while surrendering only 74, but in total they have met only nine times, with Houston winning only three, which is why it is surprising that this is now considered a colossal game in the play-off picture.

Whichever way this game turns, the storyline of one team will continue, while that of the other will face an uphill task. Will it be the impressive play of Texan rookie quarterback (QB) CJ Stroud, or will the Broncos, after starting the season 1-5, make this their sixth-straight victory? JustBet offers the Broncos as heavy underdogs, based mainly on their low rankings in offence and defence (No 25 and 27, respectively), but with recent wins over the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, and Cleveland Browns, this will not be a cakewalk. JustBet may have it right, but these teams are playing for their play-off lives, and they know it — expect a blockbuster.

In the marquee event of Week 13, the San Francisco 49ers (8-3) march their fourth rated defence and their fifth rated offence into Lincoln Financial Field to tackle the league-leading Philadelphia Eagles (10-1) on Sunday afternoon. The 49ers are returning to the site of last season’s NFC Championship game where QB Brock Purdy tore the UCL in his throwing elbow on their first offensive drive, and the game was lost before it really got started.

The San Francisco locker room would be convinced that they would have won that game had Purdy not been injured, and this may be their opportunity to convince everyone else. The Eagles will be without Fletcher Cox in their defensive line-up, but Lane Johnson is slated to return, after missing the Buffalo clash last week, so the Philadelphia faithful will rest a bit easier. However, the Eagles have a lot less to lose than the 49ers which is maybe why JustBet have them going into the weekend as underdogs.

Speaking of the clash with the Bills last week — the nail-biting, overtime encounter saw the first game in NFL history where both QBs had at least two passing and two rushing touchdowns. Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts threw three touchdown passes and rushed for two more, while Buffalo’s Josh Allen had two in the air and two on the ground. And at the end of the instant classic, Hurts became the first QB with consecutive 10-plus rushing touchdown seasons — 13 last season and 11 so far this year.

The Eagles showed their mettle by coming from behind to defeat the defending champion Chiefs two weeks ago, then did the same to the Bills last weekend in dramatic fashion. They face an opponent this weekend with a lot more firepower and a top-ranked defence, for the 37th meeting of these teams (including two postseason games). The Eagles have won 15 of those games and the 49ers have 20 under their belt, with one tied game in the mix.

If JustBet is right, now that they have the 49ers as favourites to win the Super Bowl (with the Eagles and Chiefs as joint close second favourites), San Francisco should win this game and crawl closer to the top of the league. They started the season convincingly, winning their first five games before going on a three-game slide just prior to their bye week. The 49ers have since returned to their stride and are on a three-game win streak going into this weekend, and a lot is expected from (arguably) the most balanced team in the NFL.

The Eagles last played on Sunday (November 26), while their opponents have had a longer rest, having played last week Thursday (November 23), and this may become a factor nearing the latter part of the game. For sure, the 49ers need this win more than the Eagles do since they still harbour ambitions to top the league, and if forced to make a call, the money would be on the visitors due to their impressive numbers on every side of the ball. Unless there is something really important on your calendar, do not miss this one……Are you ready for some football?

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Super Bowl LVIII Champion

TeamOdds

San Francisco 49ers5.20

Philadelphia Eagles5.40

Kansas City Chiefs5.40

Baltimore Ravens8.00

Miami Dolphins9.60

Dallas Cowboys10.00

Detroit Lions16.00

Jacksonville Jaguars17.00

Buffalo Bills35.00

Pittsburgh Steelers60.00