It’s finally here people the gameday that I’ve been waiting for. Now I know I banged on enough yesterday about how important this Wild Card weekend is for me as a Washington fan so instead I’ll just complain about our 1-2 start to the postseason here at Bick’s Picks. For the first game I’ve honestly only got myself to blame, as I had a bad feeling about the Chargers and of course bet them anyway. But at the same time it’s not often that my tin foil hat doubts are so spot on. I mean I actually said that LA rarely coughs up the ball only for Herbert to throw a career high 4 interceptions, which were more than he did the entire regular season. In fact I was so off with that first game that I did start to worry a little for the Ravens. However Lamar and Henry quickly put those worries to rest by dominating the Steelers in the 1st half. Now before I praise them too much Baltimore once again did that thing where they take their foot off the gas and let teams back into the game. That might be a problem for them against tougher competition moving forward but yesterday it was just a problem for the Over. Watching the Over die a field goal short in a scoreless 4th quarter started making me think the fix was in once again. But hey we got a short memory here at Bick’s Picks and today is a far more important day so let’s get into it.

Broncos @ Bills (-7.5)

First off sorry Pip but also this might be a good thing for you. My luck with predicting Broncos games has been all over the place. Frankly I feel I’ve mostly been wrong with Week 18 being a perfect example. However this week is much different than a home game against a team resting all their starters. The Bills are well rested, have much more playoff experience and haven’t lost at home all year. I have no desire to slander Denver but I just get the feeling this one could get out of hand. Beating Kansas City and making the playoffs for the first time in a decade kinda felt like the Broncos’ Super Bowl so I’m getting “they’re just happy to be here” vibes from this team. That doesn’t bode well against a Buffalo team with Super Bowl aspirations. I do think Patrick Surtain and company could slow Allen down some but I doubt Bo will be able to do enough to keep up. Also look for Von Miller to make a big play at some point. The dude always shows up in the postseason and you gotta think he will against his old team.

Bills -7.5 (-115)

Packers (+5.5) @ Eagles

I won’t lie, I’m very conflicted about this pick. My gut and heart is saying Packers but my brain is saying Eagles. Either way the Quarterback Injury Bowl has a bunch of question marks but unfortunately there seem to be more surrounding Jordan Love and his elbow. Love is already prone to gifting a ball or two to the opposition and if his accuracy is off at all due to injury things could go from bad to worse. On the other side Hurts has missed time due to concussion protocol and there’s some worry he could be rusty. Couple that with the fact that the Eagles’ pass attack has just been somewhat off this season. Thankfully for Philly they’ve got Saquon Barkley and one of the best offensive lines in football. Simply put if they commit to the run and Siriani pulls his head out of his ass for long enough they should not only win this game but also cover. Thing is I’m not convinced they’ll do that and Green Bay has enough postseason experience that I feel comfortable betting they’ll keep it close. Plus I’d rather lose my money than bet the Eagles today. Let’s go Pack. 

Packers +5.5 (-112)

Commanders (ML) @ Buccaneers (O 50.5)

JAYDEN DANIELS. That’s the write up. The kid has gotten us this far and if we’re gonna keep winning it’ll be because of him. But in all seriousness this under-appreciated rivalry should be a helluva game. Now some of you might be questioning why I called this game a rivalry but for those who don’t know this will actually be the 4th postseason game between these two teams. That might not mean much to some but to be honest we don’t make it that often so the fact we’ve matched up with them so often gives this game extra some juice. Not to mention the last time Washington won a playoff game was 19 years ago against Tampa so I’m quite literally betting this is our time. You’ll notice I’m also in on the Over because I’m expecting a shootout. Nothing ever seems easy for these two teams but it’s always interesting and I’m betting it’ll be exciting till the clock hits triple zeros. So feel free to jump on the JD5 bandwagon if you’d like or simply bet the Over. Either way, best of luck to Bucs fan and friend of the blog Mike McCarthy, here’s hoping it’s my turn to brag for a few years.

Commanders ML (+136)

Over 50.5 (-118)