NFL Divisional Weekend Picks

New Orleans Saints at San Francisco 49ers (4:30 ET Saturday, FOX)

The second round of the NFL playoffs starts Saturday afternoon with the best matchup of the weekend. The Saints offense got off to a rough start against the Lions last week with two fumbles in the first half. After halftime, Drew Brees and his friends took control of the game scoring five touchdowns on five possessions.

I think the Saints offense will build on the momentum they built up last week to beat the 49ers. The 49ers have an outstanding defense, but the Saints have proved they can score on anybody. The big issue people were having with the Saints advancing deep into the playoffs this year was the fact that the Saints were going to have to beat teams outside, rather than play in their cozy dome. The weather doesn’t look like it will be an issue, so I’ll take the Saints big.

Pick: New Orleans 31-10

Denver Broncos at New England Patriots (8:00 ET Saturday, CBS)

Tim Tebow led the Broncos to a huge win over the Pittsburgh Steelers last week. 316 passing yards with 2 passing TD’s and one rushing score was pretty impressive for Tebow’s first-ever playoff game. With all the talk about Tebow in the past week, wide receiver Demaryius Thomas’ performance got completely overlooked. Thomas had 204 yards receiving and the game-winning TD. I like Thomas’ skills and his size, so it was good to see him play well in a big game.

Unfortunately for Tebow and the Broncos, we’ve seen this game before.

And there’s no reason to expect anything different this time around. The Patriots are healthy and this time they have the luxury of playing at home. Even though the Pats are the one-seed in the AFC, they are still vulnerable to an upset on their way to the Super Bowl. But not this week.

Pick: New England 38-13

Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens (1:00 ET Sunday, CBS)

The Texans dominated the Cincinnati Bengals last week, but the Baltimore Ravens are a different animal. The Ravens have a great defense and they also have running back Ray Rice on offense. Rice finished second in rushing yards this season with 1,364 yards and 12 TD’s. Rice also caught 76 passes for 704 yards and 3 TD’s and he even threw a passing TD.

Rice will be nice and I think T.J. Yates will struggle with the staunch Raven D. Yates has looked component in the starting QB role, but it takes more than a component quarterback to advance far in the playoffs. (Unless you’re Super Bowl-winning Trent Dilfer.)

Pick: Baltimore 17-9

New York Giants at Green Bay Packers (4:30 ET Sunday, FOX)

In most cases, I would say that it is better to have a bye in the first week of the playoffs than to have to play another game. But for high scoring teams that rely on tempo like the Giants and Packers, I would rather play in the first week of the playoffs to make sure I’m firing on all cylinders. The Giants are rolling, while Aaron Rodgers and most of the offensive starters for the Packers haven’t played a game in two weeks.

The Packers may come out sluggish, and if the Giants can pounce, the Pack will be in trouble. We’ve seen teams struggle going into Lambeau Field on cold, January days. Fortunately for the Giants, they play well in the cold with their power running game duo of Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs.

Eli Manning has had a fantastic year and I think he keeps it going in this game. The rust will show for the Packers in the first half. I think the Giants will get the early lead and ride it to another victory.

Pick: New York Giants 34-31