Brett Atkins
25 Dime NFL Playoff Money Maker - ARIZONA CARDINALS
The Cardinals have been here before. Last year they got put on the spot and had to go play Carolina and went in there and demolished the Panthers. Arizona looked great in the first half against the Packers last weekend, then their defense disappeared. Luckily the offense was clicking on all cylinders and pulled out the 51-45 win at home when the defense made a play in overtime. New Orleans has been dead for the last five weeks. Three ugly games to end the season (0-3 SU and ATS) and then two weeks off. Their offense isn't going to be able to just flip a switch and keep up with the high-flying Cardinals. Arizona is 5-0 ATS in the playoffs and 23-9 ATS as underdogs, includign 6-0 ATS as road 'dogs. Grab the points play the Cardinals today!
10 Dime NFL Power Play - INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
QB Peyton Manning made all the right moves this season and he was rewarded with his fourth NFL MVP award. He threw for 4,500 yards, 33 TDs and 16 INTs and he's got a plethora of receivers that have had great seasons, including Dallas Clark, his favorite target. Baltimore's offense has been up and down all seson and they aren't going to keep up with the Colts. Baltimore is on ATS slides of 1-4 against winning teams, 3-7 in January and 4-12 as a road 'dog of 3 1/2 to 10 points. The Colts are 10-5 overall and 3-1 against winning teams. I have no problem laying the chalk with Indy today. This one is going to be a blowout!
Charley Sutton
250 Unit Ravens
50 Unit Cardinals
RAVENS - When the Colts and Ravens hooked up back in November, Baltimore hung with Indy, losing 17-15 and holding the Colts to just 3 second-half points. In tonight’s rematch, the Ravens are catching about 6 1/2 points and will not only cover, but also flirt with the outright victory. Coming into this game the Ravens have gone 4-1 SU and 3-1-1 ATS their last 5 games, including last week’s 33-14 outright victory at the Patriots as a 3 1/2 point underdog. Now they battle a Colts team that went 0-2 SU and ATS its last 2 games of the season and hasn’t played a meaningful game in a month. Also, the Colts have lost each of their last two postseason games SU and ATS and are 0-3 SU and ATS after first-round byes in the Peyton Manning era. I’m not advising you to play the Money Line, but do take the points and take Baltimore on the road.
CARDINALS - Has there been a more schizophrenic team in the NFL this season than the New Orleans Saints? The team started a perfect 13-0 SU, but lost each of its last 3 games in the regular season. And after starting the year 6-0 ATS, the team went 2-8 ATS to wrap up the season and comes into today’s Divisional Playoff game on a 5-game ATS losing streak. Now they get set to battle a Cardinals team that’s coming off a huge 51-45 victory over the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round in a game Arizona was installed as a 2 1/2 point underdog at home. Consider, too, when catching points, going back to last year, the Cardinals are on a 10-0 ATS run. In the postseason, Arizona is 4-0 ATS when installed as an underdog and the team is 6-0 ATS when catching points on the road in the playoffs. Overall, Arizona is on a 5-game ATS winning streak and will make it 6 in a row today as they flirt with the outright victory at New Orleans.
Chuck O'Brien
30 DIME: SAINTS
15 DIME: Saints-Cardinals UNDER
BREAKDOWN: The Arizona Cardinals went 6-2 SU and 5-3 ATS on the road this year. You know how many of those eight teams finished with a winning record? Zero. You know how many of those road games were played in a dome? Two: Detroit and St. Louis – not exactly going to the Superdome to face the rested and explosive Saints, is it? The Arizona Cardinals are 4-1 SU and 5-0 ATS in the playoffs going back to the start of last year’s postseason. You know how many of those five games were played in an opponent’s stadium? One. That would be the second-round game at Carolina last year. Would you compare Carolina’s homefield advantage with New Orleans’? Of course not. And whatever homefield advantage the Panthers had evaporated immediately in that game with the piss-poor six-turnover performance by Jake Delhomme. You think Drew Brees will pull a Delhomme today? Please. … Fact is, this is THE toughest, most raucous venue the Cardinals have played in this year, and the most deafening hostile playoff environment any of the Arizona players have ever experienced.
The Cardinals and (and QB Kurt Warner in particular) are in for a rude-awakening today, and frankly, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the Saints’ blitzing defense overwhelms the Cardinals’ protection schemes (which will be slow off the ball because of the crowd noise), gets to Warner and knocks him out of this game – which would mean a Matt Leinart sighting! … Love the fact that the entire betting world is on Arizona in this game, too. It’s the typical “remember what we saw last” syndrome (meaning they watched the Cardinals upset Green Bay last week, and they haven’t seen the Saints play a solid game in more than a month). Brees is going to carve up the Cardinals’ defense even worse than Aaron Rodgers did last week, and New Orleans win this thing going away.
Cardinals-Saints UNDER
BREAKDOWN: Playing the percentages here, as this is THE highest total ever for an NFL playoff game. It’s this high because of that Packers-Cardinals 51-45 shootout last week, which automatically inflated this number by a good three points (if not more). … Prior to last week, the Cardinals had played just one game all year that had more than 55 combined points (41-21 at Chicago). Meanwhile, the Saints’ last three games had final scores of 24-17 (home), 20-17 (home) and 23-10 (road). Also, only one of New Orleans’ last nine games had more than 55 combined points (and that was a wild 33-30 overtime game at Washington that had a fluke play for a TD). … The Saints’ defense got criticized down the stretch, but the fact is if you take out the Redskins game, it gave up 24 points or less in each of its final eight games. Also, New Orleans stayed under the total in its last four contests and six of the last seven, and prior to last week, Arizona had been on a 6-1 “under” run. … This is another go-against-the-public play – much the same as I went against the public in that Monday Night Football game between the Patriots and Saints in New Orleans several weeks ago. I told you that night the 57-point total was inflated by three points. Final score: 38-17 New Orleans. I predict the EXACT same score in this one!
Jay McNeil
30 Dime - Cardinals
NOTE: With the line likely to stay at 7 for this game, buy the half-point up to 7 1/2 to protect yourself against New Orleans winning by a touchdown.
Arizona QB Kurt Warner is locked in right now and last week torched a Green Bay defense that was ranked second in the NFL in yards allowed, and Beanie Wells should be able to run against a New Orleans defense that has allowed an average of 166.3 yards on the ground over the last three weeks. The Saints haven't covered the spread in five games since beating New England on Nov. 30, and also are on ATS slides of 1-4 at home, 0-4 as a favorite and 1-4 as a home favorite, while the Cardinals are on ATS streaks of 5-0 in playoff games dating back to last season, 15-7 overall, 23-9 as an underdog and 6-0 as a road 'dog.
15 Dime - Ravens
NOTE: With the line likely to stay at 6 1/2 for this game, buy the half-point up to 7 to protect yourself. Buy the half-point even if the line moves to 7, though.
Baltimore has a solid running game and is strong against the run, both of which translate to postseason success, and I expect Joe Flacco to capitalize on play-action fakes and find open receivers downfield. The Ravens are 7-2 ATS in their last nine playoff road games, and it could take Indianapolis some time to get going in this game after essentially taking the last two weeks off.
Joel Tyson
500♦ - New Orleans Saints
200♦ - Arizona-New Orleans OVER
This is a sucker line, as I feel sure the Saints 3 straight losses to end the year coupled with the Cardinals high-scoring win at home over "chic" Green Bay will have the public lined up at the ticket window for a play on the Cards.
Not me!
The Cardinals went to the well last week in overtime in that win. Keep in mind they were the late game last Sunday, and now they are the early game on Saturday, and on the road.
New Orleans was the team to beat when they were 13-0, and I have a feeling the off-week helped not only to heal the injuries, but to help Sean Payton devise some new wrinkles that will pierce this reeling Cardinals defense.
The Saints have a better defense than the Cards, and in the end that will make the difference in this one.
Saints by 10 points.
As for the total, it is hard to imagine this game staying UNDER the total especially after what we witnessed last week in the Green Bay-Arizona game.
Arizona has played playoff OVERS in 5 of their last 6 postseason games, while New Orleans is 3-0-1 OVER the total in their last 4 playoff affairs.
There is just too much offense on the field, and with this game being contested in a dome, I just do not see this one holding UNDER the posted total.
Play the OVER!
500♦ - Baltimore Ravens plus the points
200♦ - Baltimore-Indianapolis OVER the total
Week 11, Indy 17-15 win and cover over the Ravens. Another near-miss for this Baltimore team that sports 5 season losses, 4 of them by 6 points or fewer, and ALL 4 coming against playoff teams this year!
Baltimore WILL BE THERE plus the points.
The Ravens should have won the regular season meeting, but a late Flacco interception cost them the chance at the win. Flacco wasn't the only one to throw an interception in that game, as Manning threw a pair. With Ed Reed back in action, Manning might be good for another costly pick tonight.
In the past the # 1 seed hasn't been Indy's cleanest path to deep in the playoffs, and I feel sure this one will be a lot tighter than the pointspread suggests.
Baltimore is 3-1 straight up on the postseason road since last year, and while they may not get the outright, I definitely feel the cover is in order.
As for the total, I also like the OVER in the late game.
With last week's OVER in New England, Baltimore is on a 5-1-1 OVER run their last 7 games as a road underdog, while the Colts have played HIGH their last 4 games overall, and 4 of their last 5 when favored.
I have the feeling this one will be a sweat as far as the over-under is concerned, but in the end I feel a little more comfortable on an indoor game going OVER the total.
All 4 playoff games last week went HIGH, both on Saturday go HIGH as well.
Pete Angelo
500♦ DIVISIONAL WINNER
Arizona Cardinals
As I said last week, these are still the same Cardinals that won the NFC last season - if not better.
After winning the way it did last week, I know I was right when I said this team is playing with too much pride this postseason. The fact this could be the final season for Kurt Warner tells me he is not going to just let his team bow out by a huge margin.
This will be a tight game the whole way. New Orleans hasn't impressed me in quite some time, and I don't think it knows what it is about to come up against.
Take the road pup today.
PPP
4% New Orleans
4% Indy
Black Widow
6* Widow Wiseguy 2010 NFC Playoffs GAME OF THE YEAR on Arizona Cardinals +7
The Arizona Cardinals catching a touchdown is an absolute gift in this contest with New Orleans. The Saints are doubting themselves after losing their final 3 games of the season. The Cardinals couldn't be more confident after everyone wrote them off again this season, and after they made a Super Bowl run last season. Their experience is huge in this game. Plus, after facing the high-powered passing attack of the Packers last week, their defense will know what to expect when they face another explosive passing team in New Orleans on Saturday. The Cardinals are 9-1 ATS (+7.9 Units) vs. good passing teams averaging 7 or more passing yards/att. over the last 2 seasons. This team has always been at their best when counted out, or overlooked. With this line set, the Cardinals are being counted out again. Arizona is 6-0 ATS as an underdog this season. Take the Cardinals and the points.
4* Texas A&M +14.5
4* Oregon State +6
3* Old Dominion -13
3* St. Joseph's +7.5
3* Memphis -13
OC Dooley
2 Units West Virginia -4
When Bob Huggins took the coaching job back in 2007 he immediately talked about bringing big games to the West Virginia Coliseum and today he gets his wish as Syracuse enters with a #5 national ranking. It is actually dangerous to bet against the Orangemen considering that they have successfully covered the spread in 10 of 13 overall opportunities so far, but for the most part Jim Boeheim’s crew has been a favorite. One of the keys to this selection is that today marks just the second time that Syracuse has actually traveled outside the state of New York which means a very young squad is going to be severely tested. It is a good thing that Syracuse has for the most part played close to home so far this campaign as they needed to adjust after losing 3 key players (Jonny Flynn, Paul Harris, Eric Devendorf) from last year’s squad that made it all the way to the NCAA “Sweet Sixteen” round. For those of you who may not be aware West Virginia is UNDEFEATED this season (11-0) when holding an opponent to below 50% shooting from the field. I bring up that statistic because the last time Syracuse faced a hard-nosed defensive opponent, Pittsburgh ended up with an OUTRIGHT upset and make no mistake the Orange once again will be dealing with a physical opponent. It was exactly one week ago in a foreign environment that West Virginia impressed me by climbing out of a massive 22-point hole at Notre Dame and nearly won the contest which was decided by a TWO point margin. For those of you who watch today’s early ESPN televised affair keep an eye out for Mountaineers forward Kevin Jones who has scored “double figure” points in 14 of the past 15 outings. Getting back to the subject of Syracuse I will admit that they have faced some tough competition (California, Memphis, North Carolina) but those were tournament games played at New York’s Madison Square Garden where the Orangemen had a big edge with support in the stands. I did some research and found that Syracuse has LOST the past six attempts (0-6/ROAD) against opponents who have a Top-10 ranking and the Mountaineers check in today at #10 nationally. Here is a whopping 84-PERCENT SYSTEM (31-6 past dozen years) which plays ON home favorites of 3’-to-9 points like West Virginia after a blowout victory of 15+ points in margin, against an opponent off 3 consecutive blowout wins of 15+ points. That 84% system favors West Virginia in today’s early ESPN televised tilt
Don Wallace Sports
New Orleans -7
Indianapolis -6.5
Colt/Ravens Under 44
Saints/Cards Under 57
Indiana -1.5
Miami +4
WAYNE ROOT
4* Wyoming
how about charlie picks he is on fire... 8)
Please don't post requests for picks. If they are available they will be posted. You have made 2 posts here and they both were exactly the same.
Posts like these contribute nothing and bog the site down for others who are trying to get on to contribute.
And he's not on fire....Do people post this stuff to drum up business for themselves??
SEABASS
100 Louisville
100 Syracuse
100 Oklahoma
100 Purdue
100 Sac Kings
300 Oklahoma City
50 SMU
50 Ohio St.
50 Butler
California Sports
4½* Washington U
4* Long Beach St
4* UCLA
4* Pepperdine
3* Baylor
3* Nebraska
3* Miami Oh Under
R.A.W. FOOTBALL
4* Best Bet - New Orleans
3* - Indianapolis