The pros at FiveStarPick.com are looking forward to another winning day in the NFL postseason. Today we are hot on the AFC Divisional Playoff game between Baltimore Ravens and the Indianapolis Colts.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Colts as 6.5-point home favorites with a total of 44.

Baltimore (10-7 SU, 9-7-1 Against The Spread) went on the road to Foxborough and whupped up on the Patirots, 33-14, as a 3-point dog. Ray Rice busted an 83-yard touchdown run on the first play of the game and the Ravens never looked back.  As a matter of fact, the Ravens were up 24-0 before the end of the first quarter. The Patriots could get no closer than 14 points for the rest of the game.

The Ravens ground attack set the tone for this game.  Ray Rice finished the day with 159 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns on 22 carries, while Willis McGahee added 62 rushing yards and one touchdown.  Joe Flacco’s was kind of a non-factor completing only 4-of-10 throws for 34 yards and one interception.

Indianapolis (14-2 straight up, 10-5-1 Against The Spread) decided to rest its starters in the last two games of the regular-season after wrapping up home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.  The result was wins for both the Jets and Bills franchises; and a playoff birth for the Jets.

Manning had another incredible year capturing his fourth MVP trophy. For the season, Manning completed 68.8 percent of his passes for 4,500 yards and a 33/16 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark are Peyton’s top two targets and both caught 100 balls with 10 touchdowns apiece. Wayne had 1,264 receiving yards, while Clark had 1,106 receiving yards. RB Joseph Addai racked 828 rushing yards and 10 TDs.

The Colts have covered the number in their last six head-to-head meetings with the Ravens. When these teams met earlier this year, Indy won on the road, 17-15, as a one-point favorite.

Indy is just 3-4-1 Against The Spread at home this year, but 7-3-1 Against The Spread as single digit favorites. Baltimore is 3-2-1 Against The Spread as a dog on the road.

CBS will broadcast the kickoff in this game at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

Who covers the spread in this AFC Divisional Playoff game?  It’s very easy to find out.  Try FiveStarPick.com tonight for just ($19.99) and see if our talent for picking pro football winners exceeds your expectations.  We are the only sports handicapping service in the business who documents wins and losses and displays them on our homepage for all to witness.  It’s because we have nothing to hide…we just win games against the spread.  Join our family today and start your winning streak tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com

The pros at FiveStarPick.com are looking forward to another winning day in the NFL postseason. Today we are hot on the NFC Divisional Playoff game between Arizona Cardinals and the New Orleans Saints.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Saints as 7-point home favorites with a total of 58.

Arizona is coming off one of the most exciting playoff games in NFL History with a 51-45 overtime victory over Green Bay. The Packers were down 31-10 at one point in the game, but overcame the deficit to force OT.  The Packers won the toss, but Aaron Rodgers coughed up the game winning fumble and allowed the Cardinals to score on a defensive touchdown to advance on to the second round. Kurt Warner was sensational in this game throwing for 379 yards and five touchdowns.

The Cardinals are now 7-0 Against The Spread this season as an underdog and a perfect 5-0 Against The Spread when getting points on the road.

The Saints started their season 13-0, but haven’t won a game since December 13th.  New Orleans dropped each of its last three regular season games including losses to Dallas, Tampa Bay, and Carolina.  Their offense is still the number 1 scoring offense in the league with 510 total points this season, but Drew Brees and company managed just 44 points total in his final three weeks.  Sean Peyton’s squad started the season 6-0 Against The Spread, but finished just 2-8 Against The Spread in their final 10.

The underdog has been the play the last three seasons in the divisional playoffs, with the team receiving points in this round going 10-2 Against The Spread.  Arizona was the dog in every post season game they played last year, but still cashed tickets all the way to the Super Bowl.

Kickoff is 4:30 PM EST today and will be televised nationally on FOX.

Who covers the spread in this NFC Divisional Playoff game?  It’s very easy to find out.  Try FiveStarPick.com tonight for just ($19.99) and see if our talent for picking pro football winners exceeds your expectations.  We are the only sports handicapping service in the business who documents wins and losses and displays them on our homepage for all to witness.  It’s because we have nothing to hide…we just win games against the spread.  Join our family today and start your winning streak tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com

The pros at FiveStarPick.com are looking forward to another winning day in the NFL postseason. Yesterday we gave our members the Jets +3, and today we are hot on the NFC Wildcard game between the Green Bay Packers and the Arizona Cardinals.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Packers as 1.5-point road favorites with a total of 48.

Green Bay (11-5 SU, 11-4-1 Against The Spread) comes into the playoffs winning seven of its eight games and going 7-0-1 against the spread. Last week the Packers came into a meaningless game in Arizona and totally dismantled the Cardinals 33-7 as three-point road underdogs. Aaron Rodgers connected on 21-of-26 throws for 235 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions.  What’s interesting is that since the Pack’s loss to the Bucs, Rodgers has a 14/2 touchdown-to-interception ratio. As a matter of fact, he has not been picked off in seven of his last eight games, and has only thrown 7 interceptions all year.

Rodgers has two prime targets in All-Pro wideouts Greg Jennings and Donald Driver. Jennings had 68 receptions for 1,113 and four touchdowns during the regular season, while Driver caught 70 balls for 1,061 yards and six scores. Rodgers also has a veteran in the backfield in RB Ryan Grant. Grant has emerged in 2009 with 1,253 yards and 11 touchdowns, averaging 4.2 yards-per-carry.

Arizona (10-6 straight up, 9-7 Against The Spread) will look to Kurt Warner today to lead their team back to the promise land.  Warner played just a few series last week, but completed 4-of-6 passes for 31 yards without no touchdowns or interceptions.  Warner made 15 starts this year and threw for 3,758 yards with a 27/14 TD-INT ratio. 

The All-Pro veteran QB will need to step up his game today, because Arizona has been plagued with key injuries. Arizona CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie has a knee contusion that limited him in practice this week, but he has been upgraded to “probable.”  Anquan Boldin remains “questionable” and hasn’t practiced all week.  He is considered a game-time decision.

Boldin’s absence would be a big loss for the Cardinal air attack. This year, Boldin accumulated 85 receptions for 1,029 yards and five TDs. His dynamic partner, Larry Fitzgerald, had 97 catches for 1,019 yards and 13 TDs.

Arizona’s ground attack has improved with the addition of Beanie Wells. Wells and Tim Hightower have combined to rush for 1,391 yards and 15 TDs.

So who covers the spread in this NFC Wildcard game?  It’s very easy to find out.  Try FiveStarPick.com tonight for just ($19.99) and see if our talent for picking pro football winners exceeds your expectations.  We are the only sports handicapping service in the business who documents wins and losses and displays them on our homepage for all to witness.  It’s because we have nothing to hide…we just win games against the spread.  Join our family today and start your winning streak tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com

The pros at FiveStarPick.com are looking forward to another winning NFL postseason against the spread and today we start with the AFC Wildcard game between the New York Jets and the Cincinnati Bengals.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Bengals as 3-point home favorites with a total of 34.

The Jets got into the playoffs by beating the Colts and Bengals in the final two weeks of the season, however both opponents rested many of their starters including Peyton Manning and Carson Palmer.

The Jets were an underdog just five times this season, going 3-2 Against The Spread in those spots, but since Week 5, they have been listed as a ‘dog only twice. Jets’ backers started the season 3-0 Against The Spread, but New York failed to cover in six of its next seven; the lone victory coming at Oakland in a 38-0 shutout. In the final five weeks of the season, the Jets hooked up their backers again by covering four times.

Cincinnati finished the regular season 0-7 Against The Spread as a favorite, but the Bengals did most of their damage against division opponents, finishing 4-2 Against the spread in the AFC North. The Bengals two Spread losses both came against the Browns, including an overtime victory at Cleveland.  The Bengals finished their season going 1-6 Against The Spread in their last seven games.

The catalyst for this Bengals team is Carson Palmer.  Palmer completed his fourth season with at least 3,000 yards passing (3,094), but threw for over 300 yards just once this season, in the 27-21 loss at San Diego. The Bengals running game got a boost this year with running back Cedric Benson who finished the regular season with 1,251 yards and six touchdowns.  And then there is Chad Ochocinco, everyone knows he has talent, but if he could just shut up for 5 minutes.

The Jets will be starting rooking QB Mark Sanchez.  Sanchez is only the third rookie quarterback to start a playoff game since 2000, the others being Atlanta’s Matt Ryan and Baltimore’s Joe Flacco. Ryan fell to Arizona in his debut, while Flacco led the Ravens past the Dolphins, 27-6.  Not only will the Jets be starting a rookie QB, they also have a rookie head coach in Rex Ryan.  Ryan has become the 11th rookie head coach to lead his team to the playoffs since 2000.

Marvin Lewis is making his second career playoff appearance. His first was in the 2005 Wild Card game against the Steelers. The Bengals suffered a 31-17 and Carson Palmer suffered an ACL tear in the first half, ultimately sealing the Bengals fate.

The forecast for today’s game is highs in the 20’s with a slight chance of snow.  Whoever shows up with the best defensive scheme and running attack will win this game.

So who covers the spread in this AFC Wildcard game?  It’s very easy to find out.  Try FiveStarPick.com tonight for just ($19.99) and see if our talent for picking pro football winners exceeds your expectations.  We are the only sports handicapping service in the business who documents wins and losses and displays them on our homepage for all to witness.  It’s because we have nothing to hide…we just win games against the spread.  Join our family today and start your winning streak tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com

The pros at FiveStarPick.com are closing out the year in style winning 11 of our last 13 plays against the spread.  Today we will be giving our members two plays on today’s board, but the focus of this preview is tonight’s Sunday Night Football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins. Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Cowboys as 7-point home favorites with a total of 42.

Dallas (9-5 straight up, 7-7 against the spread) handed New Orleans its first loss of the season last Saturday with a 24-17 victory on the road. What’s amazing about this win is that the Cowboys are notorious for their losses in December.  As a matter of fact, the ‘Boys have gone 18-33 in December since 1996.

While Dallas celebrated in Week 15, the Redskins hung their heads in failure last Monday Night. Washington was handed its worst setback of the season as the N.Y. Giants crushed them 45-12.

Seventy Percent (70%) of the betting public believes Dallas is the play tonight, but gamblers should be weary of a few counter-arguments before laying the 7-points in this game.  Washington (4-10 SU, 7-7 Against The Spread) has lost its 10 games by an average of 5.8 points per game.  Their biggest losing margin was 10 points against Philadelphia.  In addition, this is a divisional matchup and it’s rare to see double-digit losses in back-to-back weeks.

In their last meeting, the Cowboys won 7-6 over the Redskins, but failed to cover the 11-point spread. Unfortunately for the Redskins, kicker Shaun Suisham shtoinked two field-goal attempts in the loss, including a 50-yard miss with 4:52 remaining which would have given Washington a 9-0 lead.  Dallas then proceeded to march the ball down the field and Tony Romo hit paydirt on a 10-yard TD pass to Patrick Crayton.

There are also a few trends to consider tonight.  The Cowboys haven’t swept a regular season series from the Redskins since 2004.  Since that 2004 sweep, Washington has gone 6-2 Against The Spread in heads up play.  Something else to think about…there have been 15 games played on Sunday Night this season and the underdogs are 10-4-1 Against The Spread. 

So who covers the spread in tonight’s Sunday Night NFL game?  It’s very easy to find out.  Try FiveStarPick.com tonight for just ($19.99) and see if our talent for picking college and pro football winners exceeds your expectations.  We are the only sports handicapping service in the business who documents wins and losses and displays them on our homepage for all to witness.  It’s because we have nothing to hide…we just win games against the spread.  Join our family today and start your winning streak tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com