NFL Divisional Weekend

As we enter Divisional Weekend of the Wild Card games we have some intriguing matchups on tap.   Teams in the AFC are heavy favorites but the NFC teams aren’t so lucky.

Picks:
1)   The Houston Texans come off a game in which they let a lot of opportunities slip away and were lucky to win the game, but it shouldn’t have been as close as it was.  The Texans travel to New England to face the Patriots this weekend who come off a bye week and have an explosive offensive, Rob Gronkowski did not play the last time these two teams met.  I’ll pick the New England Patriots (-9.5) who may score enough points to run circles around their opponent to beat the Houston Texans who could barely score enough points to beat the Bengals at home last week.  New England Patriots -9.5  
2)   The Baltimore Ravens who won an emotional game with Ray Lewis playing his last home game, last week.  Now the Ravens travel to Denver to Face Peyton Manning and the Broncos.  I don’t see the Broncos loosing in the playoffs, they’re a near complete team led by Manning and the altitude in Denver is no easy place to win a playoff game.  I’ll take the Denver Broncos (-9.5) over the Baltimore Ravens in Denver.  Denver Broncos -9.5           
3)   The Green Bay Packers travel west to take on a San Francisco 49er team that comes off a bye.  Aaron Rodgers and the packers have all their weapons back while the 49ers might be coming in to this game a little banged up, with place kickers and star players.   I’ll take the Green Bay Packers (+3) on the road in San Francisco.  Green Bay Packers +3 4)   The Seattle Seahawks won the best of the four games last week in Washington.  Seattle now has to come east two weeks in a row this time to face the Atlanta Falcons.  Atlanta doesn’t have a good track record in the playoffs, I do like them with Tony Gonzalez and Julio Jones but Matt Ryan has to show me he can lead a team to a playoff win.  I’ll pick the Seattle Seahawks (+3) with their speed, especially on the outside and dynamic ability over the Atlanta Falcons, who have run into a bad matchup.  Seattle Seahawks +3