NFL Picks – Wild Card Weekend

Our NFL betting picks for the wild card weekend have to be based on a few factors, one of which is obviously the idea that a team has been there before. In three of the four games that are up for grabs on the wild card weekend, there is one team you can point to along those lines.

In Seattle, where the Seahawks are playing host to the New Orleans Saints on Saturday, Pete Carroll is making his first playoff appearance as coach of the Seahawks, although he’s been there before with the Patriots. Carroll has named his starting quarterback, and he’s someone who has more playoff experience than any other quarterback who is competing in these NFL playoffs.

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Hasselbeck has made nine playoff starts, and he has won four of them. His best game was a win over Carolina in 2005, when he completed 20 of 28 passes for 219 yards in a 34-14 win. He also threw for 341 yards the year before when his team lost to the Rams. Since his team is a ten-point underdog, it remains to be seen how much that experience should mean for NFL picks on this wild card weekend.

The Philadelphia Eagles are a team that benefits from a coach who has gotten his teams to the NFC title game a total of five times. That, of course, is Andy Reid, who will send out Michael Vick against the Green Bay Packers. Vick famously took his Atlanta Falcons to Lambeau Field in 2003 and came away with a 27-7 win, dealing Green Bay what was, believe it or not, its first home playoff loss ever. On the other side of the field, Mike McCarthy got his team into the NFC betting title game in the 2007 season but lost to the Giants – at Lambeau. His quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, has never won a playoff game, so some people may not think it is a wise NFL pick on this wild card weekend to go with the Pack, which is a three-point underdog.

Experience is the big thing that is drawing people to the Baltimore Ravens as a three-point favorite at Kansas City against the Chiefs. The Ravens have some of the most important and positive playoff experience imaginable, in that they have won playoff games on the road against the Dolphins, Patriots and Titans since Joe Flacco was named the starting quarterback in his rookie season.  Kansas City coach Todd Haley was the offensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals team that went to the Super Bowl a couple of seasons ago, and he’s got assistants like Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel who have rings from their days with the Patriots, but the players have not been through any of that. And the Chiefs’ schedule was so weak that they only had to beat one team with a winning record to get to the playoffs. Baltimore may indeed be a very viable NFL pick for the wild card weekend.

The Indianapolis Colts have Peyton Manning at the controls, and he has competed in no less than 18 playoff games in his career. Manning, who lines up against the New York Jets on Saturday, actually has a couple of 400-yard games in the post-season. Two years ago he threw for 402 yards in a losing effort against San Diego, and in 2005 he completed 27 of 33 for 458 in dispatching Denver 49-24. he was certainly a great NFL pick for wild card weekend that year, and he may be again as he squares off against Mark Sanchez, who’s played only 34 games in his entire NFL career!

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