Mike Kern's NFL Playoffs Picks: Eagles vs Seahawks, Texans vs Bills, Titans vs Patriots, Vikings vs Saints
OK, so it’s finally NFL playoff time. And the Eagles are playing. What more could we ask for? Well, maybe a few winning bets. Never hurts. I’m not in love with a whole lot this weekend, but I’ll tell you how I feel about the four games and you can proceed from there.
If you put a gun to my head, I would lean – and I repeat, mostly lean – toward (in order) the Texans laying the 2.5 points at home against the Bills, the Titans getting 5 at New England, the Vikings getting 7.5 at New Orleans and the Birds getting 1.5 over the visiting Seahawks. And I think the under in many of those matchups is worth looking at too. All are in the mid-40s, except for the Vikes-Saints, which is basically 50. In that one I might look at the over.
If I were going to play anything for real, I would tease the Saints down to -1.5, because I don’t think they’re going to lose at home. I’m just not sure they’re going to win big enough. And there is that revenge from the ending in Minny two years ago to maybe factor in, if you’re into that kind of stuff. I would use the Saints in a two-teamer with the Eagles, who you could move to +7.5. It seems like every Eagles game in the last month has come down to the last minute or so, and I don’t think this will be much different. So while I’m not sure they get it done and move on, I do think it’ll be a close one either way.
I might also think about teasing the Titans up to a +11. But I hate going against the Pats, just because they’re the Pats and I have to respect what they’ve done for so long. But they’re obviously not the same team. That being said, tread carefully. It is Tom Brady, and he could bite you.
Hope that helps, or at least gives you a little something more to compute/ponder. Hey, all you need is to go 1-0 and it’s been a good weekend. Most of us can’t limit ourselves to just one pick, unfortunately. But as long as you come out on top in whatever way that’s a good thing.
See you next week with the divisional round and my next golf pick, where I tend to have more luck. And of course we have the college-football title game coming up as well. As much as I might just want to watch and enjoy, I’m sure I’ll have to pick something. It’s in the rulebook somewhere.
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