Here are my NFL Wild Card Picks
(12-4 last week, 170-85-1 for the season)
Bye teams: none
Ari @ Car – Momentum is a crazy thing. It can carry you through a lot of games, no matter how many you have lost before. For the Panthers, the regular season no longer matters. They won at the end of the year, won on the road when it mattered in Week 17, and are riding a 4 game win streak in the playoffs. They’ll put the year behind them, take the momentum in hand, and try their best to go deep this postseason. I don’t like the Cardinals’ chances of stopping them, not with the QB injury problems they’ve had, not with their poor road record, and not with a losing streak going into the most important game of the year.
Bal @ Pit – These teams played each other twice this season, the Ravens winning big in Baltimore and the Steelers winning big in Pittsburgh. Both teams ended up making the playoffs, but only one could win the division and play at home. The Steelers are 6-2 in Pittsburgh, the Ravens 4-4 on the road, so the odds are in the favor of the home team here. Also, Big Ben has led his team on a 4 game win streak to finish off the season and will take that momentum into the postseason. Like with the Panthers, the roll you’re on right now is what counts, and the Steel Town boys should win a tough AFC North battle in this one.
Cin @ Ind – The Bengals have been an unpredictable team all year, losing to odd teams and taking care of business against some really good ones. The last time they played in Indy, Cinci lost 0-27. Not good. And it’s also not good that they lost their season finale, a game that would have given them home field advantage, at least for a week. So here they are on the road again, and I think the result is going to be the same. The Colts have not been playing lights out, but they’re 6-2 at Lucas Oil, they won their final game decisively, and should be able to take care of business in a matchup vs a streaky Andy Dalton.
Det @ Dal – For me, the whole Ndamukong Suh thing shadows this matchup. He’s the dirtiest player in the league, perhaps a complete sociopath, and shouldn’t be allowed to play in the NFL, let alone in this game. He won the appeal of his suspension for stepping on Aaron Rodgers, but look for the Cowboys offensive lineman to protect their QB here, perhaps taking a few shots at Suh preemptively. Putting that aside, the Cowboys are the better team. They can score with the best of ’em, while the Lions struggle to put up points. Dallas has the inferior defense and actually doesn’t play well at home, but I think it’d take a better team than Detroit to knock them off the great run the ‘Boys are on.