Picks and Profits: Divisional Round (Open Thread)

For the divisional playoff weekend, the spreads are a little higher than one might expect. Two games are over a TD and all give at least a field goal advantage to the home team. I’m strongly considering taking the underdog spreads in all four games just to put it into the universe for some close games this weekend. That may or may not be the best way to bet - putting money on what you’d like to see happen - but it couldn’t be worse than last week. Being on the losing side of that epic collapse by the Chargers to start the weekend and finishing with the four missed PATs in a game that landed on a total of 45 in an over/under of 45.5 was a tough weekend.

All four games will be fun to watch but I’m most interested in digging deeper into the Philadelphia Eagles vs the New York Giants. The Giants have been punching above their weight all year, including knocking out the (overrated) Minnesota Vikings last week on the road. They draw their division rival in this round, looking to truly shock the world in Brian Daboll’s first season. The Eagles have been the best team in the NFC for most of the year, but lost some steam after the Bears game when Jalen Hurts missed some time with an injury. Back and ready for this one, the Eagles need to recapture that mid-season form right away as the Giants have proven to be battle tested.

The 7.5 point spread is absolutely begging you to take the Giants here. It’s screaming out on the other side of the TD line to take a chance on plucky Big Blue. It’s a divisional game. It’s tough to beat a team three times in one year. The Giants are on a roll...

Not so fast, my friends.

The Giants were stomped by these Eagles in early December, 22-48. Daboll’s crew has squeezed every ounce out of this roster, but this roster simply can’t matchup with the more talented and fully rested Eagles. This happens every single year that we forget about how good the #1 seed teams are and then the divisional round happens and we all say, “oh, yeah...they were really good.” I think that’s what we have here. The Giants can keep it respectable, but I see the Eagles pulling away in the second half.

Check out where the rest of our writers are at this week and hit up the comments below to let us know your picks.

You can find the latest on tonight’s game right here from our partners over at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Find me on Twitter @gridironborn and join me this Sunday morning on 2nd City Gridiron YouTube as we talk lines, props, daily fantasy, and wrap up the regular season.