Miracle Covers

Pursuit of Perfection: Wild Card Saturday

Welcome to playoff football! I’m going to do a Pros/Cons layout of each pick, talk it out, and then hopefully select my way to an ever seemingly impossible 11-0 this year (hell, I’d take 9-0-2). 4 HOME DOGS! I’ve never seen this before; this might be the hardest weekend to pick games, ever.

And here is where the action is in the totals market for NFL Wildcard Weekend from @WilliamHillUS pic.twitter.com/KvAC4hH4Du

— Covers (@Covers) January 9, 2016

Check out the updated NFL Wildcard Weekend spread action from our friends @WilliamHillUS pic.twitter.com/eGozrwuHgm

— Covers (@Covers) January 9, 2016

KC Pros:

Everyone talks about how the Steelers, Seahawks are the “hot” WC teams coming into the playoffs. How about Kansas City? They have won 10 in a row! Granted, it wasn’t against some of the best competition, but they still took care of business despite losing all world RB Jamaal Charles to injury. Some have argued their offense has become more diversified now because they don’t force the ball to him as much. Jeremy Maclin has been healthy as well, which is a surprise considering his history. He is banged up for today, but will play. They have a good defense playing in form, with two excellent bookends in Hali and Houston (who comes back today) and the second best CB this year, Marcus Peters. KC also beat them in Week 1 27-20, a game that is not indicative of how the game went….it was mostly a KC blowout.

KC Cons:

The QB is Alex Smith, and the HC is Andy Reid. These men have destroyed bankrolls in playoffs past…and so have the Chiefs, 0-8 SU/ATS in their last 8 playoff games. This is also a team if they fall 10-14 points behind, they may not have enough firepower to make a comeback. Even if they are up 14, you still are nervous because it’s Alex Smith and Andy Reid.

HOU Pros:

Great individual talent. Watt, Clowney (who ends up being a late scratch), Wilfork, Hopkins, Cushing, Joseph. Houston HC Bill O’Brien is a innovative guy who will call anything at anytime. Romeo Crennel coaches the defense.

HOU Cons:

They won the worst division in football. Their O-Line stinks and have a rotating situation at RB. Their entire QB stable is all of backups, and today’s starter Brian Hoyer is one hit away from us seeing T.J. Yates or B.J. Daniels again. Houston isn’t that tough of a place to play, and there is a reason why they are usually picked for the 4pm Wild Card slot, otherwise known as the “What the NFL thinks is the crap game of the weekend”. Oh, and Romeo Crennel coaches the defense.

The Pick: Kansas City -3.5 (EVEN)

The sharps both like the line and the ML from KC (-180). We do too. I just think Houston is too weak in many of the areas KC excels, and the Andy Reid/Alex Smith puke show will most likely come later in these playoffs but not against this shitty Houston team.

PIT Pros: Antonio Brown has been the best WR all year, and the Steelers probably have the best WR stable in the league. They can put up 40 points at any time. Their front 7 has been one of the best against the run and have played well vs the Bengals in their 2 meetings this season defensively up front. Big Ben is a two time champion and isn’t afraid of the big spot.

PIT Cons: They are hurting at RB; LeVeon Bell out for the year, DeAngelo Williams will miss this game as well. That leaves for Fitzgerald Toussaint (who I recommend for DFS) and Jordan Todman at RB; we need to see how they do vs a very good Bengals defense. Big Ben has played really shitty as of late, throwing 8 picks in his last 3 games. The secondary is average and this team is coached by Mike Tomlin, who makes a habit of weird decisions and setting games on fire.

CIN Pros: They have probably the second most balanced roster in all of football (behind Arizona) in my view. They do everything really well, and have really good players at almost every position. At TE and WR, they are, as Jay Bilas puts it, very “LONG” – tall guys who can make any QB look good with balls in traffic. There is a 90% chance of rain tonight, which helps them as well as Pittsburgh will mostly likely needs to pass the ball to move it up field.

CIN Cons: They lost Andy Dalton to a broken thumb to these Steelers in Week 13, and now go with former Alabama starting QB AJ McCarron, who people know more for his hot girlfriend than his actual quarterbacking play. Ask Brent Musburger. If the Bengals do win tonight and he plays well, it could actually create somewhat of a QB controversy as Andy Dalton, even as well as he played this year…has never won a playoff game. Neither has Head Coach Marvin Lewis, who is 0-8 in the playoffs as a HC. This game might set coaching back 5 years after we are done.

The Pick: Steelers -3 (+115)

I think this becomes a close division style game, and where the Steelers could actually cover the line and lose the game when Mike Tomlin goes for 2 after scoring a touchdown, down 31-30, late in the game. Hell, he might do it down 33-30 late in the game. The thing about the guy who hits “15” in blackjack when the dealer is showing a 5……sometimes, even the sun shines on a donkey’s ass.

My DFS Lineup for this weekend, and an NHL lean as well, below:

NHL Bonus: MINNESOTA WILD +130