0 Week 2 NFL Playoff Picks

Week 2 NFL Playoff Picks

Gambling on NFL games is one of the main reasons why the league is so popular.  People love betting on games and playing Fantasy Football.  We really should have been doing a picks column more often.  But without further ado here are our very uninformed picks for this weeks NFL playoff games:¹


Green Bay Packers at San Francisco 49ers (-2.5)

Marty:  Aaron Rodger is playing some of his best football of his career.  The Niners have a great D and the actual good Harbaugh coaching brother.  I read a stat a couple days ago that the Packers are ridiculously bad when they don’t force turnovers.  Lucky for them, the Niners replaced one of the best QBs in terms of taking care of the ball, Alex Smith, with a young unproven hotshot, Colin Kaepernick.  So take the points and watch as Green Bay pulls up the mild upset in San Fran.  Call it the curse of Alex Smith.

Sean: Gotta go with the home team only having to win by a field goal. The 49ers get Justin Smith back for this game, and he is the straw that stirs the defense’s drink. Mason Crosby earns a Bronx cheer every time he successfully hits a field goal. These teams played already in Green Bay, and the 49ers dominated the Packers. The home field crowd combined with the 49er running game and defense as well as the close point spread has me picking the 49ers. Of course, this means the Packers are probably winning the Super Bowl.


Seattle Seahawks vs. Atlanta Falcons (-3)

Marty:  So I’m probably a bit of a degenerate when it comes to fantasy sports.  I have multiple football teams and I spend way too much time on my reigning champion baseball team, Mrs. Jon Warner. And after saying how much that I hate fantasy football all season I signed up for a playoff fantasy football league in which each player in the playoffs is allowed to get picked twice.  Once your player’s team loses, you are done getting points for him.  Because I picked nearly last in the first round and all the good QBs were gone I decided to go all in Seattle, which means my team consists of 2 Marshawn Lynchs, 1 Russell Wilson, 2 Seattle D’s and 2 Seattle kickers.  So obviously I have to go with Seattle.  Plus, besides my bias, Seattle has some of the best advanced stats, is on a really hot run at the right time and Atlanta has a history of not showing up in the playoffs. Of course with my fantasy football luck that means Seattle is getting blown out this week.  

Sean: Matt Ryan has been heaped with scorn and false praise for his inability to win in the playoffs. I think this game has Ryan getting that monkey off of his back. The Seahawks are not a dominant team when playing  on the road without the Qwest field (or whatever it’s called now) advantage at home, and if RG3 was playing on two legs instead of one, the Seahawks would not have advanced out of the wild card round. The Falcons will throw the ball 50 times in this game and if Matt Ryan can be kept clean, they Seahawks are in for a long day. Unfortunately for the Seahawks, they just lost their best pass rusher, Chris Clemons, to a torn ACL. The Dirty Bird will be making a comeback this week, and the Falcons will advance to the Divisional Championship round. I hate even point spreads, and this line feels like a push to me.²


Houston Texans at New England Patriots (-9.5)

Sean: No one is giving the Texans a chance in this game after their dumpster fire of a game in November in Foxboro (or is it Foxborough?). In that game, the Patriots did not have Gronk playing and blocking (which is one of his more underrated skill sets) and still dominated the Texans in every facet of the game. I think the Texans will be up for this game, due to their prior embarrassment by the Patriots and they will run the ball and play better defense.  Also, if you look at who the Patriots played this year, they lost to 3 NFC West teams, with two of those games being at home. The Patriots beat up on bad teams like the Jets, the Titans, the Dolphins, and the Bills, but have a problem when they have to play teams with real defenses, like the Seahawks, the Cardinals, and the 49ers. The Texans defense was exposed by the Patriots, but I think Wade Phillips will have the Texans better prepared to play. I think the Patriots still win, but I am taking the points.

Marty: New England.  No question about it.  Texans have no D and limped their way into the playoffs.  The Texans also were in one of the worst divisions in football the AFC South.  On the other hand, the Patriots have one of the best offenses of all time with the second best QB of all time,³ a great coach and the best offensive coordinator in the game.  So yeah, I’d say the Patriots are a lock to win and should cover even though the point spread is pretty high.  


Baltimore Ravens at Denver Broncos (-10)


Sean: Woof. 10 points. The Broncos have won 11 games in a row, which seems shocking, and their only losses have been to playoff teams (The Falcons, Texans, and Patriots). They seem like a juggernaut, with a running game that keeps on plugging in backs, two awesomely nicknamed wide receivers (Black and Decker), and a hellacious pass rush bookended by Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil. Lost in this wonder season from Peyton Manning is that he played against the AFC West⁴ and lost to good teams. Are the Ravens a good team? Most definitely not. Flacco is league average, and does just enough to cause you to lose a game. The Ravens were historically built on swarming, dominating defenses, but this group looks more like a M.A.S.H unit. Ed Reed’s body is 50 years old and he has a torn labrum in his shoulder, Ray Lewis is playing with a bionic arm, Terrell Suggs has a torn bicep and Ngata still has a knee sprain. Peyton Manning is going to eat these guys for lunch, even if they do get “up” for Ray Lewis’s final tour de league. That being said, 10 points is a lot of game for a playoff game. Take the points, bet on the Ravens and hope for a close, low scoring game featuring running the ball.

Marty: I have to admit it.  I was completely wrong about Peyton.  I thought he was done after his injuries.  But he showed that he still got it.  Even though the Broncos played no one, they still won the games, which has to mean something right?  So they are definitely a decent team.  However, that being said, I will always believe that Peyton is a choker.  He couldn't win a title in Tennessee but Tee Martin was able to as soon as he left.  He loses tons of NFL playoff games.  If the Broncos were playing any other team in the playoff, then I would have picked that team.  But the Ravens are horrible.  Flacco is the most overrated QB in the league and I constantly rant about bad he is.  He has one of the best RBs in the league and the offense is meh.⁵  Their D is old and not dominant like it once was.  And they recently fired their offensive coordinator near the end of the season.  Seriously, who does that?  This game just has blowout written all over it.  I’m taking the points and going with the Denver Broncos.  

¹ Of course it goes without saying, all of our picks here are for entertainment purposes only.  You are reading a blog by two pseudo-lawyers so of course we are going to have this disclaimer.  
² A push? That is a classic Sean pick if I have ever seen one.  
³ Dan Marino is number one of course #h2p
⁴ The AFC West is/was the worst division in the NFL this year. The Broncos finished with 13 wins, as many as the rest of their division combined. Think about that for a second. The next closest division is the AFC East where the Patriots won 12 games and the rest of the division won 19.
⁵ Speaking of Flacco, some insane Pitt fans still talk to this day about how Wanny really screwed over Pitt football by starting Palko over Flacco.  These are the same Pitt fans who want Jamie Dixon to be fired.  Pitt fans sometimes just make me smdh.