What to Watch For: Thanksgiving Week

Bill Belichick often says you truly don’t know the identity of your team until after Thanksgiving. Well, tomorrow is ‘Turkey Day’ and it kicks off Week 13 in the NFL. A week full of games with many playoff implications.

At 10-1, the Patriots still remain the betting favorite to hoist the Lombardi Trophy in February. However, the odds change daily and that’s why it is important constantly keep track at Sports Betting Dime’s odds to stay up to date with any changes. Especially with teams like Baltimore and San Francisco breathing down the Patriots necks.

Playoffs in reach

Baltimore can’t clinch a playoff spot this week, however, the aforementioned Patriots, 49ers, can as well as the New Orleans Saints.

Here are the clinching scenarios:

• Patriots: A win and loss/tie from the Raiders or Steelers
• 49ers: A win and a Rams loss to the Cardinals
• Saints: Can win the NFC South with win

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Can the Titans continue their surge to the playoffs?

Just five weeks ago, the Titans looked dead in the water as they benched their franchise quarterback, Marcus Mariota, for former Dolphins’ starter Ryan Tannehill. Well, since then they have gone 4-1 and Tannehill is completing 71 percent of his passes with 10 passing touchdowns and three on the ground. His 114.9 quarterback rating is third-best in the league during that time.

With the Texans set to play the Patriots this week and the Titans facing off against the Colts, a win for Tennessee and a Texans loss would put both at the top of the AFC South with a 7-5 record and two games remaining against each other in the final four.

Super Bowl Preview?

Every so often, you get a special late in the year showdown by two of the very best teams in the league. Last year we saw a classic between the Rams and Chiefs that saw 105 total points scored. The Rams held up their end of the bargain and made it to the Super Bowl but the Chiefs did not. However, at the time they were widely considered the two best teams in the league.

This year, it just so happens the game is between perhaps the best team in each conference, or, at the very least, the hottest two teams.

Fresh off a 45-6 dismantling of last year’s NFC Champion Rams, the Ravens get set to face off against the NFC’s best team THIS year, the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers come in off their won blowout of the Packers, who some consider one of the other better teams in the NFC. Both teams have experienced a resurgence as of late after a bit of some downtime following their meeting in Super Bowl 47. Not surprisingly, each team features young franchise quarterbacks in Jimmy Garoppolo and Lamar Jackson and they both have strong defenses with really good coaching.