What are your predictions for Wild Card weekend?

[MightyGiants]

Saturday, Jan. 11
No. 5 Los Angeles Chargers at No. 4 Houston Texans, 4:30 p.m. ET (CBS, Paramount+)
No. 6 Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 3 Baltimore Ravens, 8 p.m. ET (Prime Video)

Sunday, Jan. 12
No. 7 Denver Broncos at No. 2 Buffalo Bills, 1 p.m. ET (CBS, Paramount+)
No. 7 Green Bay Packers at No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles, 4:30 p.m. ET (FOX, FOX Deportes)
No. 6 Washington Commanders at No. 3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 8 p.m. ET (NBC, Peacock, Universo)

Monday, Jan. 13
No. 5 Minnesota Vikings at No. 4 Los Angeles Rams, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN/ABC/ESPN+/ ESPN Deportes; ManningCast-ESPN2/ESPN+)

[MightyGiants]

My picks:

Chargers
Ravens
Bills
Eagles
Commanders
Vikings

[uconnjack8]

Bills
Eagles
Bucs
Rams
Chargers
Steelers

The Steelers are my upset pick.  They have lost 4 in a row and haven't looked good and the Ravens have won 4 in a row and have looked very in sync.  This will be the 37th meeting of Harbaugh and Tomlin as HCs, the 2nd most in history.  They trail only the matchup of Curly Lambeau and George Halas. 

I could have that game all wrong, but I think the Steelers D gets it back together and they win another close game with the Ravens.

[Gman329]

Since you ask......

Chargers 27
Texans 20
Texans leaky OL and injured WR's Dell & Diggs too much for Stroud to overcome.  Chargers OL keeps Herbert clean.

Ravens 27
Steelers 19
Steelers slow Jackson for a while, hang around in a tight game but Ravens put it out of reach with a late TD.  Steelers settle for too many FGs.

Bills 34
Broncos 24
Entertaining game, Broncos surprise Bills with early scores, Bills come back, pull away late.

Eagles 31
Packers 20
Late Packer score makes it look closer than it was.  Eagles cruise.

Bucs 31
Commies 27
Another entertaining game! Two good offenses, Bucs with just a little better D is the difference.

Vikings 27
Rams 17
Vikes show that 14 wins wasn't a fluke.  Pressure Stafford into a few turnovers, Jefferson reminds us how good he is.

[Bob In PA]

Texans
Ravens
Bills
Eagles
Commanders
Vikings

Never bet on pro sports, except if it's just for fun (i.e., small change).

Bob

[MightyGiants]

Texans
Ravens
Bills
Eagles
Commanders
Vikings

Never bet on pro sports, except if it's just for fun (i.e., small change).

Bob

You mean I shouldn't have bet my retirement savings on the Giants winning the Super Bowl next year? 

[Bob In PA]

You mean I shouldn't have bet my retirement savings on the Giants winning the Super Bowl next year? 

As the kid at the end of The Bad News Bears famously said, "oh yeah, well just wait until next year!"  Bob

[Gman329]

Texans
Ravens
Bills
Eagles
Commanders
Vikings

Never bet on pro sports, except if it's just for fun (i.e., small change).

Bob

Man, you got that right!  We run a pool all season that simulates betting with a bookie, wagering a fictional $100 every Sunday, as well as Monday and Thursday nights.  Straight plays, teasers, parlays, etc and we keep track of everybody's balance, figuring in the standard vig on losses. These are nine guys who are football fanatics and at least half of them finish deep in the red every year......and it's different guys every year - smart one year, dumb the next!  The ball is pointed at the ends and takes funny bounces!  Betting any substantial money on theses games is madness and will make you crazy! 

[MightyGiants]

Man, you got that right!  We run a pool all season that simulates betting with a bookie, wagering a fictional $100 every Sunday, as well as Monday and Thursday nights.  Straight plays, teasers, parlays, etc and we keep track of everybody's balance, figuring in the standard vig on losses. These are nine guys who are football fanatics and at least half of them finish deep in the red every year......and it's different guys every year - smart one year, dumb the next!  The ball is pointed at the ends and takes funny bounces!  Betting any substantial money on theses games is madness and will make you crazy! 

It's sort of funny.  I was so upset at the prospect of the Giants beating the Eagle's backups that I contemplated putting some money on the Giants to win so that at least I would have money to offset the pain of the loss.   Fortunately for me, inertia (i.e., laziness) prevented me from setting up the account and placing my wager (which was the closest thing to a sure thing for me)

[Gman329]

It's sort of funny.  I was so upset at the prospect of the Giants beating the Eagle's backups that I contemplated putting some money on the Giants to win so that at least I would have money to offset the pain of the loss.   Fortunately for me, inertia (i.e., laziness) prevented me from setting up the account and placing my wager (which was the closest thing to a sure thing for me)

We even have a name for that - a misery bet! Coined by a friend of mine years ago, started with the NY Yankees, who he hates.  If they reach the WS or even in the playoffs, he bets on them, so he's a little less miserable if they win!  I've used it myself in some situations!

[DaveBrown74]

Will give you my picks with the lines and a brief explanation:


Chargers -3 OVER Texans: Think Houston is a bit of a paper tiger this year and do not want to fade Harbaugh/Herbert in the first round.

Steelers +9.5 OVER Ravens: Sorry, but Lamar needs to show me he is a good playoff QB (which he flat out has not been) before I start spotting respectable teams like the Steelers large amounts of points with him in January.

Bills -9 OVER Broncos: Broncos have been a very nice story this year, but it comes to a crashing halt this weekend. Fading Allen at home in the freezing cold in January against non-elite teams is akin to setting your money on fire. Not worried about the nine points.

Pack +5.5 OVER Eagles: Really tough call here. I went back and forth on this one. At the end of the day I just can't get away from taking  points with this very solid Green Bay team. I can't say I have any confidence with this pick though. Philly is obviously tough and so is the venue.

Commanders +3 OVER Bucs: Neither team is very good. At the end of the day, do I want to lay points with Mayfield or get points with Daniels? The latter just seems a lot more appealing to me.

Rams +3 OVER Vikes: Give me McVay, Stafford, and a field goal over Darnold in is first playoff game, especially after the way he looked in a huge spot last weekend. The Rams are cagey and experienced and will know how to rattle him.

[LennG]

Saturday, Jan. 11
No. 5 Los Angeles Chargers at No. 4 Houston Texans, 4:30 p.m. ET (CBS, Paramount+)
No. 6 Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 3 Baltimore Ravens, 8 p.m. ET (Prime Video)

Sunday, Jan. 12
No. 7 Denver Broncos at No. 2 Buffalo Bills, 1 p.m. ET (CBS, Paramount+)
No. 7 Green Bay Packers at No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles, 4:30 p.m. ET (FOX, FOX Deportes)
No. 6 Washington Commanders at No. 3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 8 p.m. ET (NBC, Peacock, Universo)

Monday, Jan. 13
No. 5 Minnesota Vikings at No. 4 Los Angeles Rams, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN/ABC/ESPN+/ ESPN Deportes; ManningCast-ESPN2/ESPN+)

Chargers
Ravens
Bills
Packers (this is what my heart tells me to do )
Commanders
Rams

[MightyGiants]

Number of Correct


@Bob In PA - 5
@LennG - 4
MightyGiants- 4
@uconngiant - 3
@Gman329 - 3
@DaveBrown74 - 3  But in fairness, he did his vs the spread, so this is my best guess

[Bob In PA]

It's sort of funny.  I was so upset at the prospect of the Giants beating the Eagle's backups that I contemplated putting some money on the Giants to win so that at least I would have money to offset the pain of the loss.   Fortunately for me, inertia (i.e., laziness) prevented me from setting up the account and placing my wager (which was the closest thing to a sure thing for me)

I like it! It's the type of thing that has occurred to me, but I never tried it. Bob