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No Limit--Pittsburg -
_______________ Pinnacle--New York Giants + ***Wild Card Game of Year
Eli Manning is 7-0 in his career in playoff games as an underdog. I'll take a great defense over a great offense any day of the week. Eli Manning makes it 3-for-3 at Lambeau Field in the playoffs. The Giants' defense is their strength and they should be able to contain the Packers' passing attack. Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr. ranked third in the NFL with 101 receptions and 1,367 yards. His 288 career receptions tie for the most in an NFL player's first three seasons (Miami's Jarvis Landry). Giants WR Sterling Shephard ranked second among NFL rookies in receptions (65) and yards (683). CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie led the Giants with six interceptions, his second career season with at least six. This season the Giants are only allowing an average of 17.8 points per game, which ranks them second in the NFL. New York is winning in the same fashion that brought them championships in 2008 and 2012. While the offense has sputtered, the Giants’ defense has arguably become the NFL’s best which is needed in the playoffs. They are the league’s only team that hasn’t given up 30 points in a game, and they excel against high-scoring teams. Playing seven games against teams that rank in the top eight in total offense, the Giants have allowed just 17.9 points per contest. The defense contains Aaron Rodgers enough to stop the Packers offense. In the Packers earlier season victory against the Giants, the quarterback threw two interceptions, and his 65.0 passer rating was his lowest in the last two years. This is why it's a fool's errand to bet against the combination of New York's defense and playoff Eli Manning.
Earliest Cash Sunday - Rickenbach NFL 8* Pittsburgh Steelers (-10) vs Miami Dolphins @ 1:05 ET - The biggest favorite on the board for Wild Card weekend and I am laying the points here. This huge line is absolutely justified. This is a revenge spot for the Steelers as they lost at Miami earlier this season and Ben Roethlisberger got hurt in that game and certainly wasn't himself. Look for Big Ben and Pittsburgh to get revenge here as they have won 7 straight games and they were on a 5-1 ATS run before the meaningless season finale where they did beat Cleveland but, of course, were resting starters. The Dolphins, other than their win over the Steelers, did not beat a single team this season that had more than 7 wins! Also, Miami's last 4 losses all came by 13 points or more. They're more than capable of getting blown out, especially when facing revenging opponent that now has the huge edge at QB. While Ryan Tannehill is out for Miami, Big Ben is fired up for this rematch. The Steelers have the superior weapons all over the field in looking at this match-up. Miami head coach Adam Gase certainly deserves some credit for getting this Dolphins team to the playoffs but this is not a good match-up for them at all and, again, their only win against a team that didn't end up with a losing record this season was when they beat Pittsburgh with Roethlisberger basically playing the 2nd half on one leg! It's payback time in a big way here. Miami is 2-6 ATS when off of a loss against a division rival and also 0-3 ATS as a road dog of 7.5 to 10 points. The Steelers are 2-0 ATS in recent seasons and 23-12 ATS long-term when they are a home favorite of 7.5 to 10 points. 8* PITTSBURGH early Sunday afternoon
NFL Playoff Game of the Year Sunday - 10* Top Play New York Giants (+4.5) @ Green Bay Packers @ 4:40 ET - The Packers secondary is banged up. Yes it will be cold in Green Bay Sunday but no precipitation is expected and winds are not expected to be significant enough to impact the aerial attack. In other words, look for the Pack to struggle to stop Eli Manning, Odell Beckham Jr. and company in this one. The Packers do enter the post-season on a 6-game winning streak but they've certainly had some good fortune on their side during the streak and they have allowed over 1,000 passing yards in their last 3 games! Of course Aaron Rodgers has been the key as he's seemingly willed this Packers team to victories throughout this winning streak. I have plenty of respect for Rodgers and his weapons in the receiving game as well but this Giants defense is going to give them some problems. New York is one of the top defenses in the league against the run and they also came on strong against the pass as the season went on. In their last 4 games of the regular season, the Giants allowed only 834 passing yards total! I am well aware of the fact that Green Bay beat the Giants earlier this season but, keep in mind, New York had a lot of new faces on defense early this season and it took this unit quite some time to jell. The Giants loss at Green Bay earlier this season dropped New York to 2-3 on the season. Since then, the Giants have gone 9-2. Also, the Giants have allowed only 15.3 points per game in their last 10 games. Green Bay has allowed an average of 25.3 points per game in their last 3 games. Also, the Giants have allowed more than 24 points only one time this entire season. The Packers have allowed 24 points or more in 7 of their last 10 games. Green Bay's average points per game allowed during this stretch was 26.5 points in the 10 games. Now for some history that is hard not to ignore here. Eli Manning and the Giants have been a machine in the playoffs as long as they've avoided their nemesis (division rival Eagles). Philadelphia knocked New York out of the post-season in 2006 and 2008. Prior to that, way back in 2005, Eli Manning made his playoff debut and he had an ugly game. So chalking up 1 game to the rookie experience and 2 games to facing a hated division rival that always gives them trouble, how have the Giants fared in all their other post-season experiences with Manning? 8-0 SU and 8-0 ATS. 7 of the games saw the Giants as a dog and, as you can see, they won all 7 outright. The lone time they were a small fave they won by 22 points! Green Bay lost to the Giants for two of those post-season New York victories and they would love to get revenge here. However, the defense (including the cluster of injuries that have hurt the secondary so badly) is going to prove to be the Packers downfall here. Green Bay is 3-5 in their last 8 playoff games and, in their last 5 home playoff games, the Pack covered the spread just once, that's 20% ATS! The Giants are 5-1 ATS when off of a win against a division rival and look for them to add another cover to that mark here. 10* Top Play NEW YORK GIANTS late afternoon Sunday
NBA*|*UTAH*at*MEMPHIS
Play On - Favorites (MEMPHIS) after 2 or more consecutive overs, in a game involving two good offensive teams (98-102 PPG)
68-32*over the last 5 seasons.**(*68.0%*|*32.8 units*)
2-0*this year.**(*100.0%*|*2.0 units*)
NBA*|*ORLANDO*at*LA LAKERS
Play Against - Any team vs the money line (ORLANDO) after going under the total by more than 24 points in their previous game against opponent after going over the total by 24 or more points total in their last three games
98-65*over the last 5 seasons.**(*60.1%*|*44.8 units*)
12-7*this year.**(*63.2%*|*1.8 units*)
NBA*|*PHILADELPHIA*at*BROOKLYN
Play On - Home teams where the 1rst half line is +1.5 to -1.5 (BROOKLYN) in a game involving two average three point shooting teams (33%-36.5%), poor ball handling team (>=16.5 TO's) against an average ball handling team (14.5-16.5 TO's)
41-15*since 1997.**(*73.2%*|*24.5 units*)
NHL*|*PHILADELPHIA*at*COLUMBUS
Play On - A favorite against the money line (COLUMBUS) hot team - covering 8 or more of their last 10 against the spread, on Sunday games
50-10*over the last 5 seasons.**(*83.3%*|*33.0 units*)
4-1*this year.**(*80.0%*|*2.0 units*)
NHL*|*PHILADELPHIA*at*COLUMBUS
Play On - A favorite against the money line (COLUMBUS) hot team - having won 8 or more of their last 10 games, on Sunday games
50-10*over the last 5 seasons.**(*83.3%*|*33.0 units*)
4-1*this year.**(*80.0%*|*2.0 units*)
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