NFL Playoff Picks Wild Card Round

The playoffs are now upon us in what has turned out to be a crazy season. I ended up with a winning record picking all the games in the league through the first 15 weeks (with weeks 16 and 17 during the holidays I wasn’t able to find the time to get those done). So I look forward to seeing if I can continue that through the playoffs.

This year is another year in which there is a large turnover in the playoff teams. Newcomers this year are aplenty. The Texans, Bengals, Lions, Giants, and Broncos are all in the playoffs for the first time since at least 2008 (Giants) or much longer (like the Lions). The 49ers are also a new addition, but won’t play this weekend.

Here are the opening lines for this weeks games.

Date & Time Favorite Spread Underdog
1/7 4:30 ET At Houston -3 Cincinnati
1/7 8:00 ET At New Orleans -10.5 Detroit
1/8 1:00 ET At NY Giants -3 Atlanta
1/8 4:30 ET Pittsburgh -8 At Denver

Bengals (+3) at Houston

The Houston Texans have managed to cling on for dear life to get into the playoffs after they lost their quarterback for the season, and their second string quarterback for the season as well. They came out and played a good game against the Titans on Sunday, in a loss. The Bengals on the other hand have had a bit of an up and down season, but made it to the playoffs on the last day. Both teams will be starting rookie quarterbacks this weekend.

Right now the Bengals are 3 point underdogs, but I think they can win this game outright. I’ll have to watch the injury reports, but the Texans have been banged up lately. I think any other team I might take the other team, but both of these teams have rookie quarterbacks, except the Bengals rookie QB is slightly better. Should be a close game. I’ll take the Bengals to cover the spread of 3 as of Monday

Detroit (+10.5) at New Orleans

Detroit as already played at the Saints this year and got torched, which is why they are opening up as -10.5 underdogs at New Orleans. And that’s the key word here folks AT. New Orleans is unstoppable at home. On Sunday against backup Matt Flynn the Lions defense got torched. 10.5 points is a lot for a playoff game, but the Saints have a lot of playoff experience are looking to get over that terrible Seahawks loss, while the Lions are just getting acclimated to this kind of success. Drew Brees and that quick passing game are too much for the Lions to handle I think. I’ll say the Saints cover the 10.5 points, but that’s an awful lot of points. I’ll wait to see how this line moves throughout the week any more points and I’m going Lions any less points I’ll probably lock in the Saints.

Atlanta (+3) at New York Giants

I’m a bit surprised the Giants are opening up as favorites. The defense looks like it’s finally starting to come together, while the Giants offense has been really good much of the season. This offense they are facing however, are no slouches. The Falcons have the kind of balance that I think will give the Giants fits. The Giants have done OK against one dimensional offenses, but teams that can run and throw the football have given them way too many problems. And that’s the case this weekend. The Falcons can run the ball to keep the Defensive Ends from running right after the quarterback while the Falcons can go deep as well, another problem area for the Giants. The Giants have done a great job making it this far and are playing better especially on defense, but I like the Falcons right now today (Monday) to win this game outright.

Pittsburgh (-8) At Denver

I think the Broncos got the absolute worst draw they could hope for in the first week. The Pittsburgh Steelers are very physical defense that shouldn’t tire down by the Broncos run game. On the bright side the Steelers don’t have the kind of coverage cornerbacks who can play tight coverage and make Tebow be perfect with his throws. Still I don’t know if the Broncos can score enough to keep this game close. On offense the Steelers will have to contend with Miller and Dumervil with their average pass protection. They will also likely be without Mendenhall. I don’t’ think the Broncos will win this game at home, but I think it’ll be low scoring and maybe they stay within 8. I’ll lean towards the Broncos to cover the points, but want to see where this line goes from Monday.

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