Wildcard picks

The Wildcard Round is upon us and the matchups are as follows:

New York Jets (+3) @ Cincinnati Bengals
Philadelphia Eagles (+4) @ Dallas Cowboys
Baltimore Ravens (+3.5) @ New England Patriots
Green Bay Packers (-1.5) @ Arizona Cardinals

I thought about making these pick considering the lines, but clearly, practice is over - this is the playoffs and you play to win the game, while trying not to let a team off the hook.

New York Jets (+3) @ Cincinnati Bengals
The Jets stomped all over WhoDey last week in game where the Bengals had little to nothing to play for. I hate the Jets with all my heart --

TANGENT--> The five teams I hate more than any other, in order are: Boston Red Sox, Ohio Bobcats, New York Jets, Ohio State Buckeyes. I can only think of four that I reallllllly hate.

BACK ON TOPIC
--and I want to pick against them with a healthy Cedric Benson and Twitter Superstar Chad Ochocinco (or is it Johnson this week?) but they looked sooooooo bad last week, it will be tough. Who cares, let's pick the Bengals for their first playoff win since 1990. Texas Longhorn Garret Gilbert wasn't even conceived yet. There were only 28 teams in the league; the Cardinals hailed from Phoenix, not Arizona; the Oilers were still in Houston; the Seahawks were in the AFC; and the Rams were in LA.

Bottom Line: Bengals 21, Jets 13

Philadelphia Eagles (+4) @ Dallas Cowboys
I would say that Wade Phillips and the Cowboys would win a playoff game, but Wade Phillips is TERRIBLE. Of the last three times during a playoff rematch where one team swept the season series, the losing team won the playoff game twice. I would have liked to do more research, but it was kind of arduous and I got a headache from looking at about 10 years of playoff results online. I can't pick the 'Boys until they show me something.

Bottom Line: Eagles 17, Cowboys 16

Baltimore Ravens (+3.5) @ New England Patriots
Welker getting hurt on a typical smallwhiteguynoncontact play will hurt the Pats significantly, but Brady has been itching to get back to the playoffs since this:
I like the Pats at home over young Joe Flacco and an aging Ravens defense. Ed Reed will make a ridiculous play, maybe a pick six or a forced fumble, but Mr. Bundchen comes through in the end.

Bottom Line: Patriots 31, Ravens 21

Green Bay Packers (-1.5) @ Arizona Cardinals
Another re-match from Week 17 in the final game of the weekend. Arizona, like Cincinnati, had little or nothing to play for and got trucked by the Pack. Green Bay has the second best points differential in the League, but played against a relatively weak schedule getting only three of their 11 wins against teams with winning records (and one of those was last week). The Cards also had only three wins vs. winners, so their schedule wasn't blowing the doors off of any buildings in Glendale either. I love the Packers' +24 TO margin, especially when compared to the Cardinals paltry figure of -7.

Bottom Line: Packers 34, Cardinals 14

Come back next week when we discuss the Divisional Round.

-Jesse