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Sports Interaction betting analyst Frank Doyle provides his NFL 2009 Wild Card Weekend picks. He is 25-16-1, .610, for the regular season.
Cincinnati got hammered into the ground by the Jets in New York last weekend. I don't expect a repeat when the teams meet again in Cincinnati. The Jets have the best ranked defense in the league right now but they have a rookie quarterback on the road in the cold and snow, a rookie whom Cincinnati sees and raises with an accomplished veteran in Carson Palmer.
It'll be a low-scoring game but the NFL is a quarterback's league and I favor the veteran Palmer over the Jets' rookie, Mark Sanchez. Cincinnati -2.5 against the New York Jets with Sports Interaction is the first of my NFL 2009 Wild Card Weekend picks.
It's hard to know whom to trust when the Eagles visit Dallas in the second game on Saturday as both teams are justly notorious for letting fans and bettors down.
There's a strong argument to be made for taking Philly because you're getting the points and the Eagles are a divisional opponent, but the Eagles got a bad pummelling in a game that they could not afford to mail in.
The difference between the Eagles and the Bengals and Cards is that Cincy and Arizona could afford to mail it in, but Philly could not. It's stretching the image to breaking point I know, but it looks now like the Eagles' goose is cooked. Dallas -4 against Philadelphia with Sports Interaction is the second pick of my NFL 2009 Wild Card Weekend picks.
Two teams who are playing below their reputations go mano a mano in Foxboro on Sunday when Baltimore visits New England. New England won a squeaker between them back in October, also in Massachusetts, but the Patriots had Wes Welker then and they don't have him now. Neither defense is what is was, but the Patriots are a little more ragged and Baltimore is better able to take advantage of that. Baltimore +3.5 at New England with Sports Interaction is the pick.
Finally, the desert rematch between Green Bay and Arizona. Green Bay looked done and dusted when the Vikings won the Favre Bowl at Lambeau during the regular season, but Arizona is only favored by a point at home against a Packer team that a lot of people fancy as solid longshot bet for the Super Bowl itself.
Not me. I don't like Arizona's inconsistency but the evidence of the years is that Kurt Warner has the weapons to fillet anyone. Arizona -1 with Sports Interaction against Green Bay is the final pick of the wild card weekend.
Frank Doyle, Gambling911.com
