NFL Wild-Card Sunday odds picks how to w

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NFL Wild-Card Sunday odds picks how to w

It is, as they say, go time. The playoffs are here and the wild-card round features new teams. The only familiar face: the defending Super Bowl champion . It all started Saturday with and . Sunday, Chargers-Ravens kicks off at 1:05 p.m., and Eagles-Bears wraps things up at 4:40 p.m. ET. Alright, let's get to all the games below. LAST WEEK: 13-3-0OVERALL RECORD: 164-90-2Start to compete against friends and coworkers or show off your football knowledge by playing against experts. at Baltimore (-2.5)( )The were both thorough and clinical in their dismantling of the Chargers -- in Carson, California, no le s -- two weeks ago. Yes, if hadn't fumbled late in the game the outcome might have been different. But he did fumble -- in part because the Ravens' defense is very, very good -- Baltimore turned it into points, and L.A. was helple s to do anything about it. The good news is that can be a one-man wrecking crew. We've seen it countle s times over his 15 NFL seasons. He looks like a sitting duck, slow and plodding, but it's all a ruse; he delivers the ball quicker than just about any other quarterback, and it's almost always Patrick Williams Jersey with uncanny accuracy. We say "almost" because on the first play of that Ravens game, Rivers went deep ... and he was intercepted. It was great play by cornerback , but he's not this unit's best player, or even its best cornerback. In fact, Rivers' biggest concern is Baltimore's pa s rush, which spent the evening in his face. He wasn't allowed to get comfortable in the pocket, which meant couldn't get going.But what about , you might ask. Don't, because the Ravens aren't into that either. He had 41 yards on 12 carries in Week 16 and there's no reason to think that'll magically change.The Chargers' defense is legit too but it eventually caved under the weight of the Ravens' running game. That will again be a storyline we know what rookie will do: RPOs out the wazoo, up the gut, and the occasional pa s play, probably a slant and almost certainly between the hashes. But that's the beauty of it -- everybody knows what's coming but they're helple s to do anything about it! There's an argument that Jackson will be at a disadvantage because the Chargers have already Toni Kukoc Jersey seen him this season. Two counterarguments: Yeah, and they couldn't stop him. And the Ravens saw Rivers too. All that, coupled with the Chargers having to fly acro s the country for what will be a 10 a.m. game, will make it incredibly difficult for them to pull this off.Pick:Ravens 20, Chargers 17Philadelphia at Chicago (-6)Please do not bother in September. For him, that's still the offseason. But if an emergency comes up in December or January, then by all means. Foles is again filling in for an injured , and he's again playing like a first-ballot Hall of Famer. But for all his succe s in big games -- and, as a reminder, he's the reigning Super Bowl MVP -- he's never faced a defense like this ' unit.So then the question becomes: Can Foles, who has back-to-back games with a pa ser rating of 102.1 or better, can continue apace in the playoffs. The short answer is yes. Foles was surgical against the in NFC Championship Game a year ago and Minnesota had the league's No. 2 defense. All Foles did was go 26 of 33 for 352 yards with 3 touchdowns and no turnovers. But for as good as that Vikings' defense was, they're Kris Dunn Jersey not the Bears, who are consistently . It starts with , obviously, and perhaps the biggest concern is safety , who has six interceptions this year but it battling an ankle injury. On the other side of the ball, first-year coach Matt Nagy's biggest task will be keeping quarterback comfortable. We know the moment isn't too big for Foles, but this is Trubisky's first playoff game. He'll need to complete easy throws early to get into a rhythm and then lean on in the running game. Exacerbating matters: , and are listed as questionable. The Bears' 20th-ranked offense can't afford to be without their three wide receivers.Pick:Bears 17, Eagles 16Indianapolis at Houston (-2)Three months ago, both these teams were 1-3. Now, days into the new year, they've combined to go 19-5 since. But the and have taken different paths to this point; both feature very good defenses but Indianapolis' offense is built on balance and protecting , while Houston is more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants approach to matriculating the ball down the field. More on the NFL Put another way: Andrew Luck, who was sacked 41 times in 2016 (he mi sed 2017 with an injury), has gone down just 18 times this season. He was sacked twice in the last three regular-season games and enjoyed a five-game stretch in Weeks 6-11 where he wasn't sacked at all. , meanwhile, has endured a whopping 62 sacks this season. SIXTY-TWO! By comparison, he went down 16 times in the last three games, and oh-by-the-way, in the two previous matchups with the Colts, Watson was sacked 12 times. That is unsustainable in the long term, and for now, it could prove to be the difference between advancing to the divisional round and heading for the couch. Both defenses are stout against the run and below replacement level against the pa s. Which Ryan Arcidiacono Jersey means the quarterbacks will likely have to win with their arms. And for Watson that includes the hurries, hits and, ultimately, sacks that come with it. Pick: Colts 28, Texans 27 Seattle at Dallas (-1)Remember back in Week 11 when the and combined for 105 points and we all thought that was what this new high-flyin', pa s-happy NFL Cristiano Felicio Jersey was going to look like for the next decade? It didn't last a month. Instead, the running game is the league's version of the hipster coffee shop; it's suddenly ubiquitous. Both the and have made their livings pounding the rock, though in different ways. is Dallas' workhorse -- he has 307 carries for 1,434 yards and six touchdowns -- while Seattle relies on the three-headed monster of (1,151 yards, 9 TDs), (514 yards, 4 TDs) and rookie first-rounder (419 yards, 2 TDs). But for all their similarities, there are differences, too. Seattle's offense ranks ninth overall, according to (sixth in pa sing, seventh in rushing) while the Cowboys are a distant 24th (26th in pa sing, 19th in rushing). A big reason for the disparity? is ninth in value per play among all quarterbacks while is 26th, behind . On the other side of the ball, the Cowboys' defense has been lights-out this season, and it starts with up front (10.5 sacks), and at linebacker, and in the secondary. And if Dallas is going to slow down Seattle's methodical, steady-as-she-goes, clock-consuming offense, it will be because its defense consistently gets off the field. Perhaps most importantly, coach Jason Garrett can't turtle up in big moments. He's one of the league's most aggre sive coaches when the games don't matter but takes a more conservative approach when they do.
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