The pros at FiveStarPick.com are looking forward to another winning day in the NFL postseason. Today we are hot on the AFC Championship game between the New York Jets and the Indianapolis Colts.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Colts as 7-point home favorites with a total of 39.

The Colts (15-2 straight up, 10-4-1 against the spread) held onto a 15-10 lead over the Jets in Week 16 with just over five minutes left in the third quarter when they decided to pull their starters. Backup quarterback Curtis Painter was sacked by Calvin Pace, fumbled, and Marques Douglas ran the ball back for the go-head touchdown. The Jets (11-7 SU, 11-7 Against The Spread) won the game as 4-point road ‘dogs, 29-15.

Oh the irony. If the Colts had kept in their starters and won that game, the Jets would have been virtually eliminated from the playoff picture.  Now, Peyton Manning has to beat the Jets to get to the Super Bowl.  So cool. 

New York has the best rushing offense in the NFL averaging 172.3 yards per game and Shonn Greene has been impressive in the playoffs with 263 rushing yards and two scores. The Jets have needed their rushing game to have a chance with Mark Sanchez under center. Sanchez has completed 63.2 percent of his passes for 282 yards and 2 touchdowns in the playoffs, but the rookie only had 23 pass attempts against the Chargers, completing 12 of them for 100 yards.  Sanchez has only five games this year where he has thrown the ball more than 30 times.

Sanchez should be pretty nervous today, because the Colts defese is playing with high intensity right now.  The Colts gave up just 87 yards on the ground and 183 through the air to Baltimore, winning 20-3 as 6.5-point home favorites.  Joe Flacco was picked twice in the final two minutes of the game.  The Colts are 14th in the league against the pass, giving up just 212.7 YPG.  Sanchez figured that out quickly as he only threw for 106 yards against them in Week 16. The Colt’s achilles heel is defending against the run. Indianapolis has the NFL’s 24th-ranked rush defense, allowing 126.5 rushing YPG.

What the Colt’s do have is the best quarterback the league has ever seen in Peyton Manning.  Manning has a relatively new receiveing corp since his last Super Bowl win, but he’s still getting major contribution out of Reggie Wayne (100 receptions, 1,264 yards, 10 TD) and Dallas Clark (100 catches, 1,106 yards, 10 TD).  He is also getting great performances out of second-year wideout Pierre Garcon (47 rec., 765 yards, 4 TD) and rookie Austin Collie (60 rec., 676 yards, 7 TD).

Indy needs the passing game to click because the Colts are the worst running attack in the NFL, gaining 80.9 YPG on the ground.  Joseph Addai has 828 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns and Donald Brown has 281 yards on the ground with three scores, but that’s it.

Success for the Colts on offense is definitely not a lock today. The Jets are giving up 312.5 YPG in the playoffs right now and Darrelle Revis anchors the best pass defense in the league with an average of 153.7 YPG during the regular season.

Recent history for the AFC Title Game shows the favorites have gone 4-3 Against The Spread in the last seven games. The ‘over’ has gone 5-2 in that stretch as well.

Who covers the spread in this AFC Championship 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 Championship game between the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Saints as 4-point home favorites with a total of 53.

Both teams looked impressive in blowout victories in the Divisional Playoff round. New Orleans beat Arizona, 45-14, and Minnesota crushed Dallas, 34-3.

Minnesota was listed as an underdog twice this season, going 1-1 against the spread. The Vikings lost to Pittsburgh as six-point ‘dogs, while winning at Lambeau Field over the Packers as 3-point ‘dogs. 

New Orleans has seen some huge numbers this year. They are 4-7 Against The Spread laying at least a touchdown, but 5-0 Against The Spread as a favorite of six points or less.  Since 2008, the Saints are 10-1 Against The Spread as a favorite of less than six points. The one lone loss?  The Vikings on Monday Night last October.  Minnesota held off New Orleans, 30-27 as 3-point ‘dogs…And that was without Brett Farve.

This will be Favre’s fifth conference championship appearance in his career, going 2-2 with the Packers. Location didn’t matter, with Favre compiling a 1-1 record each at home and on the road in conference title games. Brees owns a 2-2 career playoff record, with three of those games coming at home.

The game kicks off at 6:30 PM EST and will be televised nationally on FOX.

Who covers the spread in this NFC Championship 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 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