NFL Playoff Picks & Weekend Bowl Picks

Wildcard weekend start tomorrow, so here are the picks for the weekend:

2 points for each game

CIN at HOU (-3)
5 on CIN (MR, GR, SS, GT, JH)...11 of us on HOU. This was a tough one, but the difference for me was HOU getting healthy (Johnson back at WR) and their defense. I've been a believer in the HOU D all season and playing their 1st ever playoff game at home will surely have everyone ready to go. CIN is a decent little club that actually looks a lot like HOU, but the way they backed their way into the playoffs doesn't give me very good vibes.
CALL: HOU WINS 23-17.

DET at NO (-11)
Split 8-8 on this one. 8 Kitty backers are as follows: JG, AW, RO, TN, GT, CP, LW, MO. Obviously, I hate giving this many points to a team that can score like DET, but nobody is playing like NO right now. If NO was on the road I would be scared, but in the Katrina Shelter they are almost unbeatable. They say you should only take the dog if you think they can win outright...well, I don't.
CALL: NO WINS 41-28.

ATL at NYG (-3)
This was the toughest pick of the week for me. It ended up being very lopsided for FC purposes with only 4 on ATL (GR, MH, JH, MO). What led me to take NYG was a couple of things. 1)Matt Ryan vs. Eli...give me Eli every day of the week. Ryan has not played a quality playoff game yet in his career home or road. 2) ATL on the road in the NY cold will not be nearly the team they are at home. I'm scared because every time I think the Giant have it together they flop and lose, but for some reason I feel like the playoff game will be different. If the NYG win, I feel like it sets up 2 really good games in the NFC next week with all 3 lower seeds having a chance against GB...and that's what I'm pulling for!
CALL: NYG 27-20.

PIT at DEN (+8)
Pretty even split here as well with 7 on PIT and 9 on TEBOW. PIT backers include AW, GR, MH, SS, GT, LW, JH. For me, this was the easiest pick of the week. I like DEN for a lot of reasons...1)PIT is banged up and doesn't score well enough to cover large lines like this. 2)Nobody is giving DEN a chance after the horrible end to the season, a large home dog who nobody is giving a chance...that's my kind of pick (SEA in 2011). I think this will be extremely low scoring and a really close game.
CALL: PIT 10-9.

Not real creative for me this week, picking the 4 home teams to cover and the 4 favorites to win outright. I'm not expecting a 4-0, but the numbers and the circumstances point me in this direction so we'll see what happens.

BOWL GAMES

I gave you the winnings scenarios yesterday, but here are how the picks shake out for the next few Bowl Game this weekend. Remember, these games are just as important as the Playoff games because all accumulated points go into the same bucket to determine the overall Post-Season Champ ($250).

KST vs. ARK (-7.5)
I really liked KST earlier on this one, but I ended up going with ARK. Most of you did the same thing as only 4 guys are on KST in this 2-pt game. JG, AW, RO, MO are backing old Bill Snyder and the Cats tonight. KST has thrived in the underdog role all year, but ARK isn't like the dregs of the B12. I think the Hogs out-athlete them and cover this number easily. Some extremely large cash came in yesterday on ARK that moved the line a full 2 pts from -7.5 to -9.5, so someone else must like them as well!

SMU vs. PITT (-5.5)
SMU has been a disappointment this year, and PITT has the revolving door at head coach. We have only 5 Mustang believers (MR, AW, MC, CP, MO). I took PITT, but if I bet it today I would take SMU. PITT just has so much turmoil with another coach abruptly leaving I can't see them getting up for this one. SMU can score a lot of points, so an unmotivated D could really get torched by them.

ARKST vs. NILL (+1)
Only 5 ARKST backer, and I am one of those. MR, TN, MT, LW join me on this one. I thin their D is far superior to NILL, which in my mind gives them a big edge. ARKST is actually a really good team, but the only tough part is that they lost their coach between the end of the season and the bowl game. But I think this team will be ready to handle the potent NILL attack, and anyone who watched NILL on a TUES/WED/THUR game this year knows that they will probably give up 50 without blinking.

We'll save the Title Game for Monday.

Good Luck to everyone this weekend!!