Saturday is for the Locks
Colts @ Bills (-6.5): O/U 51
Great battle here to kick off the postseason. The Colts will look to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball against the Bills who have simply been destroying teams of late. I don’t know if anyone can feel confident going up against Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs the way that they’ve been playing. If the Colts want a chance here, they need to establish the ground game and control the flow of the game that way, because the Bills shouldn’t be able to run much against them.
I’m going with the Bills laying 6.5 points. I have been so impressed with this team all season, but especially in the second half of the season. 6.5 is a lot of points, particularly in a playoff game, but I expect them to get it done. 31–24 Bills.
Picks: Bills -6.5 (Padlock), Over 51 (Padlock)
Rams @ Seahawks (-3): O/U 42
Playoff games are always great, but they’re especially great when it’s between two teams in the same division playing for the 3rd time in a season. These teams split the regular season series 1 win apiece. Both of those game were low scoring duels. I expect this one to be the same. Assuming Jared Goff plays, I expect this one to be close between two teams that know each other very well.
I like the Seahawks laying a field goal here. I think the Rams defense contains Russell Wilson, but their offense has done nothing to make me believe they’ll put up enough points to win this one. And the Seahawks defense has really been playing lights out the 2nd half of the season. 24–17 Seahawks.
Picks: Seahawks -3 (Deadbolt), Under 42 (Deadbolt)
Buccaneers (-9) @ Football Team: O/U 45
I may be alone here, but to me this is the game of the weekend. The Buccaneers were hyped up as Super Bowl favorites the second they got Tom Brady. All season long, everyone was waiting for things to click for this team, and that finally happened this last month of the season. They come into the playoffs with all of the momentum in the world. But I like the Football Team. Ron Rivera and Alex Smith provide more than just the storyline that everyone can root for; they’ve coached and played extremely well. And on top of that, this defense has played lights out all season. They have a defensive line that can get after Brady without blitzing, which has been the formula to beat him throughout his career. Don’t sleep on this game.
I’m going with the Football Team getting 9 points. I’m not sure how they’re going to score on the Buccaneers defense, but I expect their defense to put up just as good a fight on that side of the ball. In what I expect to be an extremely low-scoring game, 9 points becomes that much more magnified. 16–13 Football Team.
