NFL Wildcard Selections

The NFL's Wild Card round was just that. Each of the four games saw huge swings in momentum; our workbook picks went 2-2 to start the playoffs. Saturday's action started in Seattle with a 35-14 victory by the Seattle Seahawks over the Washington Redskins. We had the Seahawks as 3-point favorites, and things looked good after three quarters as Washington trailed 13-0. Then Todd Collins started the fourth quarter with a pair of touchdown passes. Seattle eventually rallied and ran a pair of interceptions to the end zone to secure a trip to the Divisional round. The other game Saturday was our Best Bet of Jacksonville (-2.5) at Pittsburgh, and if you were like many bettors, the way this matchup ended left you dazed and confused. The Jaguars were comfortably out front 28-10 heading into the fourth when Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger strung together three consecutive TD drives. It took a last-minute field goal from Josh Scobee to lift Jacksonville to the next round. We took both favorites on Sunday to keep things consistent. The early afternoon game saw the only upset of the Wild Card round, as the Giants stuffed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24-14. We had the Bucs as 3-point home faves. New York got one of QB Eli Manning's better performances, and the wobbly offensive line held firm against Tampa Bay's smaller defenders. We reached the break-even mark in the nightcap between the Tennessee Titans and the San Diego Chargers (-10), but just barely. The Titans' defense stomped all over San Diego and took a 6-0 lead into the dressing room. But the Chargers' offense righted itself in the second half, just as it did when these two clubs met in the regular season. LaDainian Tomlinson scored in the fourth quarter to make the final 17-6. We have four more games coming up in the Divisional round; our workbook is on the case.