Five outrageous predictions for Week 13 of the NFL season

With so much on the line during the first week of December football, there is reason to believe that seasons will change on a dime as teams prepare for the stretch run.

Can Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints play the role of spoiler against an undefeated Carolina Panthers squad? Are the Washington Redskins legitimately prepared to take over sole possession of first place in the NFC East?

These are among the five games we cover in providing you with some outrageous predictions for the NFL's Week 13 slate.

1. New Orleans Saints hand Cam Newton and Co. first loss of the season 

At 11-0 on the season and with the tough part of their schedule behind them, the Carolina Panthers are thinking about an undefeated campaign. This is when teams generally hit that danger zone, overlooking an inferior opponent.

Everything seems to be set into motion for Carolina to hand the Saints their fourth consecutive loss. With an average of 34 points over the past five games, the Panthers should be able to expose a Saints defense that ranks dead last in scoring (30.8) and 31st in total yards (418.6).

That's all fine and dandy, but we need to realize just how much of a different quarterback Drew Brees is at home compared to on the road.

This season alone, Brees has put up 14 touchdowns and four interceptions while leading the Saints to a 3-2 record at home. He's posted six touchdowns and six interceptions en route to losing four of five road starts.

With two games against the fledgling Atlanta Falcons and two more against sub-.500 teams after this week, Carolina's best chance at losing a game is on the road come Sunday. Expect that to happen.

2. David Johnson goes for 150-plus yards and two scores against the St. Louis Rams

With Chris Johnson likely lost for the season and Andre Ellington ruled out of Sunday's game, this rookie running back will likely get a vast majority of reps at running back for the Arizona Cardinals.

That's pretty darn good news for an Arizona team that has a gem ready to take over the primary ball-carrier duties.

Despite finding himself in Bruce Arians' doghouse throughout the season, Johnson has been electric with the ball in his hands. He's averaging nearly six yards per touch in 64 opportunities this season. The former Northern Iowa star has also added eight total touchdowns on the season.

While the Rams have generally performed well on defense this season, they do rank in the bottom 11 of the NFL against the run and have yielded 140-plus rushing yards in three of their past four games.

The expectation here has to be that Arizona will pick Week 13 as the time to display its secret weapon. If so, Johnson should have himself a huge game.

3. Russell Wilson gets held without a touchdown pass

While everyone continues to slobber all over Wilson following his five-touchdown performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers last week, one thing is getting lost in the equation.

Pittsburgh boasts the league's third-worst pass defense. Heck, this is a unit that allowed both Colin Kaepernick and Johnny Manziel to put up 350-plus passing yards on it.

It sure didn't hurt that Seattle found itself in a shootout with a high-flying Steelers offense in the friendly confines of CenturyLink.

None of this is going to be a reality come Sunday against the Vikings in what promises to be a winter-like atmosphere in Minnesota.

In addition to boasting the NFL's fourth-best pass defense, the Vikings are yielding less than 18 points at home this season. Meanwhile, Wilson has thrown six touchdowns and six interceptions on the road this year compared to an 11-to-1 split at home. You can do the math from there.

4. Oakland Raiders snap the Kansas City Chiefs' five-game winning streak 

What we have seen from Kansas City over the past month-plus is nothing short of outstanding. Alex Smith has gone nearly 300 pass attempts without an interception en route to helping the Chiefs avoid a single turnover during their five-game winning streak.

During this span, Kansas City is averaging 32 points per game while winning the turnover battle by a ridiculous 14.

At 5-6 on the season, Oakland can remain in the AFC playoff race should it earn a home win against the red-hot Chiefs on Sunday. In this, the primary key here will be winning the turnover battle.

The good news for fans in Northern California is that Derek Carr simply doesn't turn the ball over. Including his rookie season, the second-year quarterback is averaging one interception per 54.3 pass attempts. That number swells to one per 63 attempts this year.

Overall, the Raiders have gone without a turnover in three of their past six games and have given the ball away eight times in five home dates.

Considering how much success Carr is having through the air and with the vast amount of weapons at his disposal, a turnover-free game would likely lead to a Raiders' home win come Sunday. At this point, we have no real reason to question him.

5. Washington Redskins find themselves alone in first by week's end

It's pretty clear that Washington is a completely different team at home this season. Taking on a Dallas Cowboys squad that will be starting Matt Cassel on Monday night, there is no real reason to expect this to change.

Washington boasts a 5-1 record at home and has won its past five at FedEx Field after losing to the Miami Dolphins in the season opener.

For his part, Kirk Cousins has continued to show Redskins fans that he can be a darn good quarterback when playing in front of the faithful. In six home dates this season, Cousins has thrown 11 touchdowns compared to two interceptions.

With the Giants taking on a tough New York Jets team, there's a darn good chance Washington will find itself in sole possession of the NFC East lead at 6-6 following Sunday's action. That's about as absurd as it gets.

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