Week 13 kicks off with on Thursday night with a huge matchup of second-place teams as the slumping Seattle Seahawks (6-5), expected to be without a key offensive player, visit the Dallas Cowboys (8-3), who have been historically good at home and put a 13-game overall winning streak at AT&T Stadium on the line. The Cowboys are -9 on the SportsLine consensus with a total of 47.5. It's the second straight Thursday game for both.

This game is quite important for the the NFC wild card race as Seattle sits two games behind first-place San Francisco in the NFC West, and the 49ers already hold the head-to-head tiebreaker (they play again in Week 14 in Santa Clara) and have a 3-0 division record compared to a 1-3 mark for the Seahawks. There's no such thing as a lock in sports, but unless the Niners lose Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey and others to injury, they will repeat in the West. That's not exactly breaking news as San Francisco is -4000 at DraftKings to win the division and Seattle is +2000. 

The Seahawks currently sit sixth in the NFC, a half game up in the loss column on the No. 7 Vikings. The Packers, Rams and Saints are all 5-6. DK lists Seattle at +120 to reach the postseason again and -150 to miss. The Seahawks have a notably difficult remaining schedule: at San Francisco, vs. Philadelphia, at Tennessee, vs. Pittsburgh, at Arizona. Seattle's updated over/under win total is 8.5, with both at -110. It was 9 to start the season, which is how many games Pete Carroll's team won in 2022 to earn the NFC's final wild card spot. 

Seattle will be wearing its 1990 throwback uniforms for the second time this season. The are royal blue jerseys with the classic silver helmet and matte grey pants. The team is 1-0 in them in 2023, rallying to beat visiting Cleveland by a score of 24-20 in Week 11 on a late Geno Smith touchdown pass. 

This is a massive week for the Cowboys as they try to avoid a wild card spot by winning the NFC East and get at least one home playoff game, considering the team's dominance of late at JerryWorld. East-leading Philadelphia (10-1) could easily lose at home Sunday to San Francisco as a 2.5-point underdog. If the Eagles do lose, their divisional lead would be down to one (if the Cowboys win on Thursday, as they should). Philly visits Dallas next Sunday night. The Cowboys are -3 for that game on the lookahead line. That game will draw incredible ratings and betting action.

To win the NFC East, the Eagles are -1100 and Cowboys are +700. To make the playoffs, Dallas is a ridiculous -20000 and +2500 to not. The Cowboys' updated season win total is a very high 11.5 (was 9.5 to open), but Philly's is 14.5. The only NFL team that can clinch at least a wild card spot in Week 13 is Philadelphia. 

The Cowboys are 0-2 against teams currently .500 or better. They are the fifth team in NFL history and first this century with at least eight overall wins and zero victories vs. teams at .500 or better through Week 12. 

We'll take you through every aspect of the Seahawks-Cowboys game that you need to know before you lock in your bets, including SportsLine expert picks, props, trends, injury information and everything else that will help you know which plays are worth making for the primetime matchup.

Who wins Seahawks vs. Cowboys in the Week 13 Thursday night game, and what critical X-factor makes one side of the spread hit HARD? Join SportsLine right now to see everything you need to know about the game in the Thursday night matchup to kick off Week 13 of the 2023 season!!