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Sports Interaction betting analyst Frank Doyle makes NFL Divisional Playoffs picks for 2010. He is 28-17-1, .622, for the season so far.
I believe in Kurt Warner. He's been an outstanding football player all during his career in the pros and his playoff record is now 9-3. The bigger the stage, the more Warner likes it. Not only that, but Arizona is a better team now than it was when it got to the Super Bowl last year, because the Cards have Beanie Wells in the backfield and this balances out their offense. Arizona are 6-2 on the road so going to the Superdome won't worry the Cardinals overly.
On the other side of the field, New Orleans has to be very worried about the way the Saints have limped into the postseason. Right now, Arizona is the team with the proven playoff pedigree and it's impossible not to see the seven point start as a bargain bet. Arizona +7 at New Orleans with Sports Interaction is the first pick of my NFL Divisional Playoffs picks for the week.
The second game on Saturday is Baltimore's visit to Indianapolis. Baltimore eviscerated New England last Sunday but that win is not worth what it might once have been worth because it's been clear since New England struggled to put down Buffalo in Week 1 that the Patriots are not what they were.
Baltimore has a lot of momentum coming into this game on the strength of that win and Indianapolis have been playing with fire again in resting starters before the playoffs, but when you look at it position by position there's only one way to go here. Indianapolis -6.5 against Baltimore with Sports Interaction is the second pick of my NFL Divisional Playoffs picks for the week.
Dallas at Minnesota is a hard game to handicap. Dallas is the team with all the momentum while the Vikings, like New Orleans, limped into the postseason. That said, it's hard to fully believe in the Dallas revival, or that a team with the talent level of Minnesota hasn't a shot left in the locker.
Adrian Peterson hasn't had a hundred yards rushing since Week 10 against Detroit. That means Peterson is either shot or he's due. My dollar says he due. Minnesota -2.5 against Dallas is the third pick of the week.
I thought the Jets upsetting the Bengals was the biggest surprise of the wild card weekend. The Jets were able to plan an offense that was ideally tailored to their strengths and ideally protected Mark Sanchez's weaknesses. The Jets are so one-dimensional on offense its very hard to back them, because if they fall behind they're doomed. They have no chance of catching up.
However, the Jets' defense is sufficiently to fierce to slow down Philip Rivers and drag the Chargers down to their own level. For that reason, I'm going with Under 42 total points scored between the New York Jets and the San Diego Chargers with Sports Interaction as the fourth and final pick of the week.
Frank Doyle, Gambling911.com
