Top 10 matchups for Week 13 of the NFL season

Half of the games on this week's NFL schedule pit two teams with playoff aspirations against one another.

The biggest game, at least in terms of playoff implications, has to be the Indianapolis Colts traveling to Pittsburgh to take on a high-flying Steelers squad.

Almost as important, Alex Smith leads his Kansas City Chiefs to Oakland to take on a surprising Raiders squad in the teams first meeting of the season.

Within each of these games there is an individual matchup that will help decide the outcome, and most likely who ends up playing meaningful January football.

These are among the top 10 matchups for Week 13 of the NFL season.

1. Adrian Peterson vs the Legion of Boom

Peterson has quietly put up one of the best seasons of his already Hall of Fame career. He's on pace for nearly 2,000 total yards and has his Vikings in first place in the NFC North at 8-3 heading into Week 13.

Coming off a dazzling 187-yard performance against the Atlanta Falcons last week, Peterson and the Vikings will host a Seattle Seahawks team that's in desperate need of a win to stay in the thick of the NFC Playoff picture.

Despite yielding an average of 432 total yards in its past three games, Seattle's defense still ranks fifth in the NFL against the run at just under 93 yards per.

If Seattle can find a way to contain Peterson, it will force the Vikings to put the ball in the air with a second-year quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater who has regressed from his rookie campaign. If not, Minnesota could be looking at nine wins in its first 12 games while sending Seattle back to .500 on the year.

2. Antonio Brown vs Vontae Davis

Assuming Ben Roethlisberger is ready to go on Sunday after suffering a concussion last week, Brown should see a nice amount of targets against the Indianapolis Colts.

Brown was targeted 12 times against Richard Sherman and Co. last week, coming down with just six receptions for 51 yards. It was the first time since Week 6 when Landry Jones and Michael Vick shared quarterback duties that Brown failed to catch more than 50 percent of the passes thrown in his direction.

With 427 yards on 27 receptions in his two games prior to last week, Brown will be looking to get back on track. And in reality, he's going to need to do this in order to keep Pittsburgh ahead of a bunch of teams in the AFC Playoff race.

It's not going to be easy against a corner that's allowing less than 50 percent of the passes thrown in his direction to be completed this season. One of the best cover guys in the NFL, Davis will be more than up for the task in this one.

3. Seantrel Henderson vs J.J. Watt

This isn't as much a tremendous matchup as it is one of the biggest mismatches on the Week 12 NFL schedule. It will, however, help dictate who is really in the thick of the AFC Playoff race when all is said and done Sunday.

Over the course of the past 18 quarters, the Houston Texans have yielded a total of two touchdowns to opposing offenses. The primary reason for this has been Watt, who continues to prove himself to be the best all-around player in the league.

Watt has tallied nine sacks and 19 quarterback hurries in the Texans' past five games. He's also played in all but seven of the team's defensive snaps during that span.

Meanwhile, Henderson has been one of the major disappointments on a mediocre Buffalo Bills team. Pro Football Focus grades the former Miami (F) standout as one of the worst pass-protecting right tackles in the NFL. According to their metrics, he's yielded a whopping 14 quarterback hurries in 11 games.

It goes without saying that Buffalo will have to throw double and triple teams Watt's way come Sunday. That could come in the form other offensive linemen as well as fullback Jerome Felton chipping away at the second level.

Either way, the Bills need a plan for Watt in order to come out on top in this all-important early December game.

4. Amari Cooper vs Marcus Peters

Two ultra-impressive rookies taking on one another in a huge matchup of AFC West playoff contenders in what will likely be the first of many one-on-one battles.

Going up against the best receivers the NFL has to offer this season, DeAndre Hopkins and A.J. Green included, Peters has held his own for the Kansas City Chiefs.

He's yielding less than 60 receiving yards per game and has four interceptions to his name. That's good enough for a solid 84.0 opposing quarterback rating.

Considering Peters was thrown into the fire immediately as a rookie, this is pretty darn impressive. Corners tend to struggle more than any other defensive position when making the transition from college to the pros.

Meanwhile, Cooper has also been outstanding on the season. Coming off a 115-yard performance against the Tennessee Titans, the Oakland Raiders receiver is on pace for 84 receptions and 1,238 yards.

With Kansas City one game ahead of Oakland for one of the two wildcard spots in the AFC, this first matchup between the division rivals is going to be huge.

If the Raiders are able to hold court at home, it could very well set up a do-or-die Week 17 game in Kansas City. In this, Cooper vs Peters becomes that much more important.

5. DeAndre Hopkins vs Stephon Gilmore

Hopkins may be coming off a less-than-stellar five-catch outing against the hapless New Orleans Saints, but his performance thus far this season is a thing of legends. Through 11 games, he's averaging seven-plus receptions, about 100 yards and nearly one score per.

Hopkins may not be as important as J.J. Watt to the Texans' recent success, but he's clearly their only truly elite offensive player.

Taking on a corner in Gilmore that's rapidly progressing towards upper-echelon status, it's going to be important for Hopkins to provide Brian Hoyer with that consistent presence in the passing game.

If that doesn't happen, Houston's narrow hold on one of the two wildcard spots in the AFC may slip away come Sunday.

6. Matt Ryan vs Jameis Winston

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers absolutely stunned a then 6-1 Atlanta Falcons squad in the Georgia Dome back in Week 8. At that point, it seemed that the Buccaneers' performance was nothing more than a mirage.

A few weeks later, and the rematch has wide-ranging playoff implications. Tampa Bay has gone 2-2 since that meeting and is right in the thick of the NFC Playoff race at 5-6 on the year.

Meanwhile, the Falcons have lost all three of their games since then and are currently in the midst of losing five of their past six.

Atlanta is currently in a virtual tie with the Seattle Seahawks for the last playoff spot in the conference. Behind them are the Buccaneers, Washington Redskins and Chicago Bears at just one game back.

If Tampa Bay is able to hold court and win at home come Sunday, it will remain in the NFC Playoff picture heading into Week 14 while putting one more nail in the Falcons' coffin. If not, what has been a surprising season for Lovie Smith and Co. likely won't end in playoff contention for the stretch run.

As we have seen throughout the recent history of the NFL, quarterback play is usually one of the deciding factors when two evenly matched teams play. Whoever performs better under center in Tampa on Sunday will likely come out on top.

7. Odell Beckham Jr. vs Darrelle Revis

We won't know until late in the week whether Revis will actually suit up after missing last week's game with a concussion. If he does, this promises to be one of the best individual matchups of the entire 2015 season.

Proving to everyone that his rookie season wasn't a fluke, Beckham Jr. is in the midst of a four-game streak of 100-plus receiving yards. The 2014 Offensive Rookie of the Year has tallied 30 receptions for 481 yards and five touchdowns during that span.

For his part, Revis was playing at a relatively high level prior to suffering said concussion. In 10 games this season, the future Hall of Famer has allowed a ridiculously low 58.7 quarterback rating when targeted.

Despite the excellence that Revis has displayed throughout his career, there are some who think OBJ will absolutely destroy the six-time Pro Bowler should they meet on Sunday.

Per Manish Mehta of the NY Daily News:

"The Jets obviously believed that the nine-year veteran had at least 2-3 years of top-end cornerback play left when they guaranteed him $39 million as part of a 5-year, $70 million deal, but that doesn't seem to be the case. The 30-year-old cornerback has been visibly slower this year. His decline was inevitable, but it's surprising that his skills appear to be eroding at this rate."

Mehta went on to reference multiple scouts and coaches around the NFL indicating that Revis doesn't stand much of a chance against the second-year Giants receiver.

In and of itself, tape tells us a story of a savvy veteran that has overcome a loss of skill over the past year or so. However, stats tells us that Revis is still able to help lead a good secondary. After all, the Jets still rank in the top 12 of the NFL against the pass.

Either way, it will be interesting to see how this one turns out if Revis is able to actually suit up come Sunday.

8. Kansas City Chiefs run game vs Oakland Raiders run defense

The Chiefs have put up 100-plus rushing yards in seven of their past eight games. During their five-game winning streak, the Chiefs are averaging 152.2 rushing yards per outing.

This past week saw third-string running back Spencer Ware put up 114 yards and a touchdown on 19 attempts in a huge win over the Buffalo Bills. He did so after being forced into the lineup with Charcandrick West out due to a hamstring injury.

What made the Chiefs' performance on the ground so interesting is that they did it against a Bills defense that came into the game in the top 10 of the NFL against the run.

We covered how important this game is for the AFC Playoff race above. And in reality, it might very well come down to the trench battle.

Kansas City heads into the game with a top-six rushing attack. It will be taking on a Raiders defense that has struggled in this category recently.

After yielding an average of 83.4 rushing yards in their first seven games, the Raiders have given up an average of 152.3 yards on the ground in their past four outings.

As much as Derek Carr and Alex Smith might help decide the outcome here, it will likely come down to whether Oakland is able to stop one of the best rushing attacks in the NFL.

9. Philip Rivers vs Denver Broncos pass defense

As has been the case all season, the Broncos are going to have to rely on their dominating secondary to stop a top-end quarterback. This time it comes against a struggling San Diego Chargers team that has absolutely nothing to lose.

Marred by injuries to skill-position players on offense, the Chargers head into Week 13 3-8 on the season and in last place in the AFC West.

That doesn't begin to tell the story here.

Despite their lack of success as a team, the Chargers boast NFL's second-ranked passing attack at just under 310 yards per game. This is an indication that Philip Rivers will put pressure on Denver's secondary to continue its all-world play.

Interestingly, Denver took on the league's best passing attack last week — a game that resulted in Gary Kubiak's team handing the New England Patriots their first loss of the season.

With no running game to speak of and not much more working this season, San Diego will once again be relying on Rivers to put up some huge numbers. That's the only way the Chargers will be able to pull off the upset in this one.

10. Russell Wilson vs Minnesota Vikings pass defense

Wilson put up a career-high five touchdowns to go with 345 passing yards in a shootout win over the Pittsburgh Steelers last week. That's fine and dandy, but Sunday's game against a top-five pass defense in Minnesota will be a bigger test for Wilson and his Seattle Seahawks.

Remember, Wilson's performance last week came against a Steelers defense that ranks 30th in the NFL and has yielded over 700 passing yards in two combined games against Johnny Manziel and Colin Kaepernick — two quarterbacks currently riding the pine.

Minnesota will likely sell out against the run in this one, forcing Wilson to beat its secondary over the top. If the Super Bowl winning quarterback is able to do that, it will likely be in a Seattle victory. If not, the Vikings will grab their ninth win of the year.

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