Divisional Playoff Round

I thought playoff betting was supposed to be easier. Turns out it is not easier, it just entices me to make stupid prop bets that I would never make on a regular season game. This means the Super Bowl will likely be littered with dumb prop bets made by me, but that’s a story for another time.

Last Week: 2-2
Home team in CAPS

PATRIOTS (-7) over Ravens

It seems like because the Ravens pulled off one upset in the playoffs a lot of people think this is suddenly the same team that won the Super Bowl two years ago and that Joe Flacco is invincible if he finds his way into the playoffs. That is not the case. The Patriots secondary should make things much tougher for Flacco than the Steelers did and Brady will find a way to abuse the Ravens porous secondary.

The only time the Pats did not cover at home this year was in Week 17 when they had nothing to play for against the Bills. All signs point to a big Patriots win, but take heed, the Patriots have found ways to lose games as favorites in the playoffs nearly every year since their last Super Bowl win.

Final score prediction: Patriots 34, Ravens 20

SEAHAWKS (-11) over Panthers
Earlier this season these two met and Carolina kept things close before falling 13-9, so it is not unrealistic to expect a close, low-scoring battle but it is wrong. Since that game in October, Seattle has found their form again, winning their last six games by double digits. Granted, the Panthers have improved since October as well, but they are still a severely flawed team. If the Cardinals had a quarterback and/or punter that functioned at a league average level, they might not have made it out of the first round. This might stay close for the first half, but Seattle will pull away

Final score prediction: Seahawks 27, Panthers 13

PACKERS (-5.5) over Cowboys

Green Bay is 8-0 at home, Dallas is 8-0 on the road. That stat will be mentioned a lot. And yes, Dallas beat some good teams on the road – Philly and Seattle, but that was during the Seahawks slump and the Packers are simply much better at home than the Eagles. But it simply comes down to this, I refuse to believe that Dallas is good enough to win a January game at Lambeau. They might be even be properly built for it with a strong line and running game, but I’m not buying it. One quarterback will be a game changing mistake at one point this game and I’ll bet on that being Tony Romo over Aaron Rodgers ten times out of ten.

Final score prediction: Packers 30, Cowboys 21

BRONCOS (-7) over Colts

The only way the Colts keep this game close is if noodle arm, cold weather, playoff Manning shows up and looks terrible. There is a real chance of this happening, but in all other facets of the game the Broncos are twice as good as the Colts.

Final score prediction: Broncos 26, Colts 17


Note – One underdog always wins this weekend. It is never the top four seeds in the conference championship, so despite picking all the favorites to cover, I believe that one underdog will probably win outright.