NFL Odds: 2008 Wild Card Weekend
The NFL playoffs get started this weekend with this season’s Wild Card games. First on the schedule is the Atlanta Falcons at the Arizona Cardinals Saturday afternoon. The Falcons are favored by 2.5 points, and it’s not hard to see why. The Cardinals have basically tanked ever since winning the NFC West title. They lost 4 out of their last 6 regular season games and their defense gave up 33 point per game during that time. They were able to get back on track last week with a victory over Seattle, but that’s hardly anything to write home about. They haven’t beaten a team with a winning record since defeating the Dallas Cowboys back in early October. The Falcons, on the other hand, have come on strong in the past few weeks, winning their last three games and 5 out of their last 6. Expectations were low coming into the season for Atlanta, but they’ve shown they are a playoff worthy team, and one of the best stories in the NFL in 2008. Saturday’s spread has the Falcons as 2.5 point favorites over Arizona and the over/under for the game is set for 51 total points.
Saturday’s late game features the Colts at the Chargers. Indianapolis is the hottest team in the football, now having won 9-straight games. After a 3-4 start to the season, the last thing anyone expected was for the Colts to end up with 12 wins. Everyone is talking about this not being your typical Colts team, but Indy did score over 30 points in six games this year including going over that number in 3 of their last 4 games. The Chargers pulled the nearly-impossible off this season by winning their last 4 games and having the Broncos collapse. At just 8-8, there are plenty of people that don’t think the Chargers deserve to be in the playoffs. They’d have a pretty good case, but San Diego has looked like a different, better team down through their stretch run. Oddsmakers have the Colts favored by 1.5 over the Chargers and the total set for 51.5 points.
The Wild Card Round of the NFL playoffs continues Sunday with the Miami Dolphins hosting the Baltimore Ravens. The Dolphins are in the playoffs just one year removed from a one-win season. Miami ended their regular season with a win over the Jets, a game they had to win to earn a spot in the playoffs. With last week’s victory the Dolphins have now won 9 out of their last 10 games and that win over the Jets quieted a lot of Miami’s critics. Baltimore had an excellent run to finish out their regular season as well, winning 8 of their last 10, losing only to the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Baltimore will be a dangerous team in the post season because of their superb defense. The Ravens are favored this Sunday by 3 over the Dolphins with the total set at 37 points.
The last game of the week, an NFC Wild Card game, the Philadelphia Eagles visit the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings earned the NFC North division title in dramatic fashion last week with a last-second field goal to give them a one-point victory over the New York Giants. It’s been a roller coaster ride for the Vikings, but they have won 5 of their last six games going into this Sunday. The Eagles dominated the Dallas Cowboys last week, 44-6, but needed both Tampa Bay and Chicago to lose to earn a spot in the playoffs. As luck would have it, both the Bucs and the Bears faltered in week 17 of the regular season and the Eagles are in. Ever since their embarrassing 7-36 loss at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens, the Eagles have played much better football. They won 4 of their last 5 games, including defeating the defending-champion NY Giants and their impressive win last week over the Cowboys. The Eagles are favored by 3 points in Minnesota and the total has been set for 41.5 points.
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