FREE NFL DIVISIONAL PICKS

Click here for latest NFL Odds

NFL Wild Card week is over, and now it is officially time to feel good about this column. The week finished at a perfect 4-0, making us 15-6 over the last four weeks. The year to date mark is now 39-39, somewhat compensating for a brutal stretch earlier in the season.

The first win of the week was New England giving 7.5 points to the Jaguars, and winning 28-3. The Jaguars played very tough defense in the first half, and they only trailed 7-3 at the intermission. New England then reeled off 21 unanswered points with two touchdown passes by Tom Brady, and a 73 yard interception return for a touchdown off Byron Leftwich.

The second win of the week was Washington getting 2.5 points from Tampa Bay, and winning 17-10. The Redskins went up 14-0 thanks to two big defensive turnovers. Tampa Bay fought back, and could have tied the game late in the fourth quarter if receiver, Edell Shepherd didn’t drop a sure touchdown pass. Washington was very lucky to hold on to this game, but it was still a good underdog pick.

The third win of the week was Carolina getting 2.5 points from the Giants, and winning 23-0. Carolina dominated this game from start to finish, and were helped by winning the turnover battle, 5-0. Running back, DeShaun Foster rushed for 151 yards as the Panthers took advantage of New York’s decimated linebacker core.

The fourth win of the week was Pittsburgh giving 3 points to Cincinnati, and winning 31-17. Pittsburgh got a huge break in this game when Cincinnati quarterback, Carson Palmer left the game in the first quarter with a serious knee injury. The Bengals stayed in the game through the first half, but really felt the loss of Palmer in the second, getting outscored 17-0.

Bet Now: Washington (+9) at Seattle

The Redskins are 11-6 after their 17-10 win over Tampa Bay. It was a strange game to say the least, with Washington getting out-gained in total yards, 243-120. Quarterback, Mark Brunell threw for a paltry 41 yards and running back Clinton Portis rushed for just 53 yards, and he is reportedly still suffering from a shoulder injury.

With the Redskins’ offense figuring to struggle again this week, they must rely on their defense again. Cornerback, Shawn Springs is ready to go after missing last weeks game with a groin injury. Safety Sean Taylor will play in this game after being ejected for spitting last week. Defensive end, Renaldo Wynn is out for the season due to a broken arm.

Seattle is 13-3 on the season and is coming off the bye week. The Seahawks have the league’s MVP and leading rusher in Shaun Alexander. Alexander rushed for almost 1,900 yards this year, and had 98 when the teams met earlier this year in Washington. He should have a good, but not great, game against a solid front seven for the Redskins.

The Seahawks will be forced to pass the ball more often than usual in this game, and quarterback, Matt Hasselbeck should be up for the challenge. Hasselbeck had the league’s 4th highest quarterback rating at 98.2, only throwing nine interceptions versus 24 touchdowns. Receiver, Darrell Jackson will play despite being less than 100%, and he helps give the team four legitimate wide receivers.

Seattle is 8-0 at home this season, although they did have a couple of close calls against Dallas and the Giants. The Seahawks are also averaging almost 30 points per game at home, and should score in the mid 20’s for this game. The way the Redskins’ offense is playing, they will be lucky to score 10-14 points without getting points off of turnovers.

Pick: Seattle

Bet Now: New England (+3) at Denver

Denver is 13-3 and coming off the bye. One of those losses was a Week One debacle at Miami. Since then, they are a perfect 8-0 at home, and the two other losses have been by a total of five points. The Broncos have the 5th best offense in the NFL and the second best rushing attack. The defense is 15th overall in the NFL, and second against the run.

The Broncos will start Mike Anderson at running back, but more carries will go to Tatum Bell, whose faster style works better against New England’s defense. Quarterback, Jake Plummer does a lot of damage on play-action-pass, but that only works when the running game is effective. Plummer only threw seven picks all year, but he has struggled with interceptions in prior seasons.

New England is 11-6 after their 28-3 dismantling of Jacksonville. The Patriots’ defense held running back Fred Taylor to just 24 yards, and their front seven have been devastating since Thanksgiving. Linebacker Tedy Bruschi will be back for this game, and they are going to need him against Denver’s zone blocking scheme.

The Patriots’ Corey Dillon is not going to be able to run the ball effectively, although the quicker Kevin Faulk may have some success. It will be up to quarterback Tom Brady to spread the Denver defense out, and find the holes. There is a good chance that Brady has over 40 attempts this week, and New England will not win without a great game from him.

This is a tremendous match-up, the best of the weekend. These teams met earlier in the year, with Denver winning 28-20. This is a much healthier New England defense, although the secondary is still an average unit. The Patriots are 10-0 under Brady and Coach Belichick in the playoffs, and even though this is an extremely tough test, I’ll take the points.

Pick: New England

Bet Now: Pittsburgh (+9.5) at Indianapolis

Pittsburgh is 12-5 after their 31-17 win over Cincinnati. It was the fifth straight victory for the Steelers, who have only given up an average of 10 points per game in that stretch. Pittsburgh knows that nobody stops the Colts’ offense, especially in Indianapolis. However, if they can get quarterback Peyton Manning out of rhythm, they could hold them to around 20 points.

Pittsburgh has to be able to run the ball in order to stay in this game. In the earlier match-up this year, that the Colts won 26-7, Willie Parker had just 43 yards on 12 carries, but the Steelers’ offensive line is healthy now. Quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger was also rusty in that game having just missed three games with a knee injury, he should play better as well.

Indianapolis finished the season at 14-2, but they were flirting with an undefeated record for most of the year, and they are the heavy favorite to win the Super Bowl. Those are all great things, although there is a certain amount of pressure in being the favorite. Quarterback, Peyton Manning is specifically under tremendous pressure to win, and he has had trouble performing on the big stage in the past.

The Colts will run the ball in this game with Edgerrin James, but the real advantage is their passing game versus a mediocre Steelers’ secondary. The Colts may go to the no-huddle offense in the first quarter to try to get the early lead. That will force Pittsburgh to abandon the running game somewhat, and be forced to pass more than they want to.

Indianapolis has not played a game that has mattered since their 26-17 loss to San Diego on December 18th. That was four weeks ago, which means their starters will be rusty at the outset. There is also the distraction of Coach Tony Dungy’s family tragedy. The prediction here is that the Colts win the game, but Pittsburgh covers the spread.

Pick: Pittsburgh

Bet Now: Carolina (+3) at Chicago

Chicago is 11-5 and well rested after the bye-week. This is a team that was just 5-11 last year, but turned their fortunes around with three things, defense-defense-defense. Chicago gave up 12.6 points per game, and if it wasn’t for the meaningless last game against Minnesota, the number would have been 11.2.

Offensively, the team has struggled, but there is more hope with quarterback Rex Grossman in the lineup. Grossman played in two games late in the year after recovering from a broken ankle. Remember though, this is player who has only made seven career starts, and has no playoff experience. The Bears’ offense will still be conservative, running the ball with Thomas Jones.

Carolina is now 12-5 after routing the Giants, 23-0. It was a dominating performance on offense, defense, and by the coaching staff. Running back, DeShaun Foster ran for 151 yards in the game, and although he will not have that kind of success this week, he must gain around 75 yards to keep the Bears’ defense honest.

These two teams met earlier in the season in Chicago, with the Bears coming out on top, 13-3. The Bears’ defense clearly gets the edge, but Carolina is the better balanced team. They also have the playoff experience having been to the Super Bowl two years ago. There is a good chance that whoever scores the first touchdown wins, but it should be close enough either way to take the points.

Pick: Carolina

More VIPSports.com "The Edge" Articles...