The computer models that pick NFL games have made their picks for Week 13

Cork GainesNov 30, 2018, 00:24 IST

Maddie Meyer/Getty

Elo and Cortana have made their picks for Week 13.
Cortana leads the overall race, correctly picking 68% of the games this season.
The computers disagree on two games this week.

Week 13 of the NFL season is here, and Cortana is back to make picks in a head-to-head showdown with Elo.

We looked at two popular systems used to pick NFL games: Cortana, Microsoft's digital assistant, and Elo, the modeling system used by Nate Silver's data-journalism site, FiveThirtyEight.

In both cases, the computers are picking outright winners and not against the spread. However, each gives a likelihood that a team will win - which, in theory, could help measure the strength of certain lines.

Cortana is off to a strong start this season, correctly picking 68% of the games overall, including an 11-4 record in Week 12. Elo has nailed 63% overall and 12-3 last week.

Here are the picks for Week 13, with each team's percent chance of winning in parentheses. Point spreads are for reference, via Vegas Insider as of Thursday morning.

See The computer models that pick NFL games have made their picks for Week 13 >>

"Thursday Night Football"

New Orleans Saints (-7) at Dallas Cowboys — SAINTS (Elo 64%, Cortana 70%)

Sunday-afternoon games — early window

Indianapolis Colts (-4) at Jacksonville Jaguars — COLTS (Elo 51%, Cortana 66%)
Baltimore Ravens at Atlanta Falcons (-1.5) — FALCONS (Elo 53%); RAVENS (Cortana 57%)
Denver Broncos (-5) at Cincinnati Bengals — BENGALS (Elo 52%); BRONCOS (Cortana 55%)
Los Angeles Rams (-10) at Detroit Lions — RAMS (Elo 68%, Cortana 74%)
Arizona Cardinals at Green Bay Packers (-14) — PACKERS (Elo 73%, Cortana 75%)
Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins (-4) — DOLPHINS (Elo 58%, Cortana 66%)
Chicago Bears (-4) at New York Giants — BEARS (Elo 69%, Cortana 66%)
Carolina Panthers (-3.5) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers — PANTHERS (Elo 59%, Cortana 64%)
Cleveland Browns at Houston Texans (-6) — TEXANS (Elo 77%, Cortana 64%)

Sunday-afternoon games — late window

New York Jets at Tennessee Titans (-8) — TITANS (Elo 78%, Cortana 69%)
Kansas City Chiefs (-14.5) at Oakland Raiders — CHIEFS (Elo 83%, Cortana 79%)
Minnesota Vikings at New England Patriots (-5) — PATRIOTS (Elo 67%, Cortana 67%)
San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks (-10) — SEAHAWKS (Elo 83%, Cortana 75%)

"Sunday Night Football"

Los Angeles Chargers at Pittsburgh Steelers (-3.5) — STEELERS (Elo 62%, Cortana 63%)

"Monday Night Football"

Washington Redskins at Philadelphia Eagles (-6.5) — EAGLES (Elo 69%, Cortana 64%)

Now check out this week's power rankings.

NFL POWER RANKINGS: Where all 32 teams stand going into Week 13

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