Archive for January 3rd, 2010

2010-11 NFL Playoff Bracket and Preview

January 3rd, 2010 by Adam Markowitz (Bankroll Sports Columnist) | Posted in NFL Football   Comments Off on 2010-11 NFL Playoff Bracket and Preview

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The NFL playoffs are here, and we are ready to start the analysis of the second season. Right now at Bankroll Sports, we take a look at the matchups in the postseason and make our NFC predictions and our AFC predictions, as we make our NFL playoff picks and our Super Bowl picks.

AFC Matchups
There is a whole mess load of allure in the AFC side of the playoffs, particularly in this 3/6 battle between the New York Jets (29 to 1 at Oddsmaker) and the Indianapolis Colts (18 to 1 at Oddsmaker). These two teams met up twice last year, facing off once in a Week 16 game in which QB Peyton Manning and company laid down in, and once in the AFC Championship Game, a duel in which New York was in for the mass majority of the way before finally running out of gas at the death. Neither one of these teams have to feel like they have as good of a club as they did last year, but both know that they have a great chance to catch some fire and to make it to Arlington for the Super Bowl. The Jets are only narrow 2.5 point underdogs in this one though, a game which should be a great one to make NFL picks in.

The Baltimore Ravens (14 to 1 at Oddsmaker) are probably the scariest team playing in a Wild Card game in the AFC this weekend. They have the full compliment of defensive weapons to bank on, and they know how to get after the opposition full bore. The offense was improved this year quite a bit, just by the addition of WR Anquan Boldin as well. No one is really giving the Kansas City Chiefs (50 to 1 at Oddsmaker) much of a chance to do any damage in this one or in the run for the Lombardi Trophy, probably thanks in large part to the fact that the team put up a total dud in the finale against the Oakland Raiders in Week 17 to spoil their perfect season at home. Had they just given up early on and let the backups play almost the whole way, this would have felt a lot differently. Instead, KC knows that it has a lot of rebuilding and restructuring to do to make sure that it can get out of the first round of the playoffs. The oddsmakers are showing no faith though, as the Chiefs are three point underdogs.

The New England Patriots (2 to 1 at Oddsmaker) and the Pittsburgh Steelers (6 to 1 at Oddsmaker) are the two favorites to win the Super Bowl this year, and they are both on byes this week.

NFC Matchups
It’s pretty amazing to think that the New Orleans Saints (11 to 1 at Oddsmaker) have the second best odds to win Super Bowl XLV in the NFC in spite of the fact that they are probably going to have to win three road games just to get to Arlington. The current Lombardi Trophy holders are the first team to be favored by double digits in quite some time on the road in the postseason, as they have that distinction against the NFC West champs, the Seattle Seahawks (125 to 1 at Oddsmaker). There’s no doubt that Seattle has the worst chance to become Super Bowl champs this year, but we have definitely seen stranger things happen. However, it’s always a piece of NFL history when you can go 7-9 and still get into the second season, the feat that the Seahawks pulled off. Needless to say, this isn’t a game that you want to forget about when you’re placing your NFL picks in for the Wild Card weekend.

On the other side of the bracket, the Philadelphia Eagles (13 to 1 at Oddsmaker) and Green Bay Packers (14 to 1 at Oddsmaker) will duke it out in the City of Brotherly Love. These two teams met in the first week of the regular season in a game that really was one of the better NFL betting affairs of the year. The Pack did get the best of the Eagles in that one, winning thanks to a late defensive stand, but it is pretty clear that, had QB Michael Vick ended up playing that entire game, the story would have been significantly different. Vick is the X-Factor in these entire playoffs, and this is why this team is a real threat to capture the Lombardi Trophy. It would make for a great story, that’s for sure. Not only would Vick complete the circle of life as a man that went from the top of the mountain to the dregs of society in prison to the highest peak once again, but he would do in just one season as a starter, what QB Donovan McNabb could never do: Bring a championship to Philadelphia.

There’s still a long way to go to get there, though. The Chicago Bears (14 to 1 at Oddsmaker) and the top seed in the NFC side of the playoffs, the Atlanta Falcons (6 to 1 at Oddsmaker) are both still waiting in the wings following their byes in the first round of the playoffs.