Intro by Yank
Get excited for Day 2 of Super Wild Card Weekend, the worst NFL Branding decision since “Saturday Edition of Thursday Night Football.” Hasn’t the NFL seen The Incredibles? Once all the weekends are super…none of them are. Fortunately from an entertainment standpoint, the games were light years better than the names yesterday. On top of that, from a gambling perspective the underdogs all covered yesterday, but the two big favorites (Bills/Bucs) both won which is great news for everyone who was playing teasers. Maybe I’m just paranoid now but that seems a bit ominous. Can the boys escape Super Wild Card Weekend with some cash or will we get caught monologuing? Find out below.
Wild Card Weekend Power Rankings
| Sam | Yank |
| Chiefs Packers Bills Saints Steelers Buccaneers Ravens Seahawks Titans Rams Colts Browns Washington Football Team Bears | Chiefs Packers Saints Bills Steelers Ravens Titans Colts Buccaneers Rams Seahawks Browns Football Team Bears |
| Super Bowl Matchup: Kansas City Chiefs vs Green Bay Packers | Super Bowl Matchup: Kansas City Chiefs vs LA Rams |
| Winner: Green Bay Packers | Winner: Kansas City Chiefs |
Wild Card Picks – Day 2
The Baltimore Ravens-3 @ The Tennessee Titans
Sam: Arguably the best matchup of the day, we get a good one in the early Sunday afternoon slot with the Ravens visiting the Titans. The Titans host the Ravens after bouncing them from the playoffs last season on the road and taking an overtime victory from them again this season. This is why Yank and I primarily like the Ravens. We both believe in Lamar and we think they’re going to be looking for revenge. The Ravens offense is finally clicking after a lackluster start to the season. Meanwhile, they’re going against a turnstile of a defense in Tennessee. A team with a good offense can take advantage of a bad Titans’ defense and I fully expect them to play with an edge. For that reason, I’ll be taking the Ravens-3 in this one. The fear here is that the Titans also have a psychological edge: they’ve beaten this team already. That creates a sense of confidence that someone like Derrick Henry doesn’t need already and gives Tannehill the edge that will help him make a few more plays downfield. It should be a fun, hard-fought game. The kind you’re hoping for on a Sunday afternoon in January.
Yank: There is definitely some smash-mouth football coming in this contest. I’ll admit I fully expected the Titans to be favored in this one and was surprised when the line opened Ravens-3, but I also was fully prepared to bet the Ravens as underdogs. The fact that the line really hasn’t moved much all week just shows once again that Vegas is 1000 times smarter than guys like Sam. It’s easy for them to outflank us, because here’s the thing, much like Sam described above, I also still like the Ravens in this spot. The Ravens have been firing on all cylinders for the past month while the Titans have gotten smashed by the two playoff teams they faced recently. The Packers dismantled them in front of the whole country on Sunday Night Football but it’s easy to forget that two weeks before that the once lowly Cleveland Browns came in and punched this Tennessee team right in the mouth. Normally all my instincts would say take the points with the good team as a home dog, but in this case, the fact that Tennessee has gotten the better of Baltimore twice recently cancels out Tennessee’s underdog edge in my opinion. Baltimore will be ready. The Cleveland tape is the blueprint. Let’s find out what playoff Lamar has got once and for all.
Yank’s Picks: $5.10 on Ravens-3.5(-103)
Sam’s Picks: $5.00 on the Ravens-3.5 (-110)
The Chicago Bears @ The New Orleans Saints-10.5
Yank: This is one of those games where I don’t feel the need to talk it to death. One team in this game is coached by Sean Payton and has Drew Brees playing for his legacy at QB. The other team has Nagy and Trubisky. One team finished the year #1 in Total DVOA the other was #15, below stalwarts like Miami, Arizona, and San Francisco. One team finished the year with back to back 20 point blowout wins the other team needed a win to guarantee a playoff spot and lost at home by 19 to a bitter rival with nothing to play for. Nothing is guaranteed in life, or especially gambling, but if I’m putting money on this game I will be putting it on the MFing Saints.
Sam: Like Yank, there’s not a lot to say about this one. The Bears had a nice little awakening there for a few games, but let’s review their opponents: Lions, Texans, Vikings, Jaguars. I put a lot of stock in analyzing wins and performance based on opponents. All of those teams finished in the bottom tier of defenses this season. When they went up against a decent defense in the Packers, they mustered 16 points to Yank’s point. Now they get matched up against a great defense and a great offense. In the words of the great Dennis Green: “They are who we thought they were,” but we’re not letting them off the hook. I’ve got the Saints in a tease with the Bucs that brings the Saints down to -3, but will also be putting a taste on a Saints blowout.
Yank’s Picks: $5.75 on the Saints-9.5 (-115)
Sam’s Picks: $5.00 on the Bucs-1.5/Saints-3 Tease (-140) and $3.00 on the Saints-18(+205)
The Cleveland Browns @ The Pittsburgh Steelers-6
Yank: List of people Cleveland will be missing for this game:
- Head Coach and Primary Play Caller Kevin Stefanski
- Best OL Joel Bitonio
- Best CB Denzel Ward
- Starting DE and defensive leader Olivier Vernon
Starting OT Jack Conklin also may not play. This from a team that in a must-win game last week beat the Steelers by two, at home, with 4 of the Steelers 6 captains sitting. One of the Steelers and Saints will probably lose for no reason since both these picks seem obvious. However much like that game, if I’m putting money on the line in this one, give me the Steelers.
Sam: This had all the makings of a really fun game, but as the week progressed the deck became more and more stacked for the Steelers. As Yank pointed out, the Browns are down players, coaches, and couldn’t even practice in person until Friday. Sometimes adversity can act as a rallying cry and teams can come together, and other times the adversity is just too much. I’m betting on the latter. On the other side of the field, the offense could be dynamic but has looked pretty stagnant as of late. Big Ben should benefit from an extra week of rest and they have the weapons to put the hammer down. I’m taking the Steelers-6 in this one.
Yank’s picks: $5.55 on the Steelers-5.5(-112)
Sam’s Picks $7.35 on the Steelers-6(-110)
The Bank
| Yank | Sam | |
| Risk: | $16.40 | $20.35 |
| Potential Earnings: | $15.00 | $17.70 |
Authors: Sam Mattson and Michael Yanckello
One Last Line 