Sports Articles Johnson

NFL Divisional Round Picks

Sunday’s Recap
Picks – Giants +3 at Bucs
Result – Win
Amount - 50 units
Season Bankroll - +$500

My best bet is:

Featured game:
Giants +7 at Cowboys

One team has been playing well, while the other limped to the finish line. They meet for the 3rd time this season this Sunday and it should be a great game. The Giants are looking to bring their newfound team unity and momentum into Dallas in hopes of knocking off the NFC #1 seeded Cowboys.

Dallas has not won a playoff game since beating Minnesota 40-15 in the wild-card round of the 1996 season - a year after winning the Super Bowl. The Cowboys did make the playoffs last season, but lost 21-20 to Seattle in dramatic fashion. Quarterback Tony Romo botched the hold on a 19-yard field-goal attempt with 1:19 left and was stopped 2 yards from the end zone and 1 from a first down when he tried to run the ball.

There has been a lot of speculation this week that the Cowboys may be distracted, specifically, Romo. Romo spent the bye week with his girlfriend Jessica Simpson in Mexico along with teammate Jason Witten and his wife. In addition, they may be without star receiver Terrell Owens. Owens, who injured his ankle 3 weeks ago at Carolina, was still limping Monday and his status for this weekend is uncertain.

In order to end their playoff drought, the Cowboys will have to pull off a franchise first by beating the Giants (10-6) for the third time this season. Dallas has never completed a three-game season sweep of a team, but had a chance once, losing 20-7 to Arizona in a 1998 wild-card game in the most recent postseason game at Texas Stadium.

Dallas defeated the Giants 45-35 at home in its season opener Sept. 9 and 31-20 at Giants Stadium on Nov. 11. The Giants season-opening loss in Dallas was their last on the road. Since then, New York has reeled off eight straight road victories, including a 24-14 win at Tampa Bay in the wild-card round Sunday.

Eli Manning won for the first time in three postseason games last week, completing 20 of 27 passes for 185 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Manning, who threw 23 TD passes and 20 interceptions during the regular season, has been criticized for his inconsistent play since being taken with the top pick in the 2004 draft, but quieted his critics Sunday - at least for one game.

Manning threw for four touchdowns and one interception in Dallas on Sept. 9, but was picked off twice while throwing just one TD pass in the rematch in November.

The top-seeded Cowboys, meanwhile, took advantage of the bye week to rest their injured players. Receiver Terry Glenn, who made his season debut in the season finale but came out after taking some hard hits, figures to get more playing time Sunday. Dallas is also hopeful that center Andre Gurode, whos nursing a knee injury, can return.

The NFC East rivals will be meeting in the playoffs for the first time.

Personally, I think the Giants have a realistic chance at winning this game outright, so getting the 7.5 points is a bonus. Take the G-men and win.

Here are the rest of the picks.

Favorite / Spread / Underdog / My Picks
PACKERS / -8.0 / Seahawks / PACKERS
PATRIOTS / -13.0 / Jaguars / Jaguars
COWBOYS / -7.5 / Giants / Giants
COLTS / -9.0 / Chargers / Chargers

Good luck with your action tonight!


by Johnson