Wild Card Weekend is here people and let’s just say we’re not as fired up about the playoffs as we were last year. Don’t get me wrong we’ll be watching (and betting) on all these games but man oh man would it be a whole lot cooler if Washington was playing. Reading last year’s playoff blogs was a bittersweet reminder of how quickly things can change in the NFL. Now before we move on to the Saturday slate we got one more losing regular season recap to go over. We ended up finishing with another 1-2 week as we simply couldn’t get out of our own way this season at Bick’s Picks. Sure the Pats took care of business for the Lock but the rest of the picks were emblematic of the struggles we’ve had this season. The Saints and Falcons both started out slow before teasing us with some late scoring that wasn’t enough. And then the Dawg was another painful loss as the Chargers played with our emotions numerous times until coming up short of the cover in the end. Even Brady’s Parlay of the Day almost got a win last week but Tyler Loop decided he wanted a new head coach instead. Needless to say we’ve gotten really good at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. That was the regular season though and believe it or not we actually have a winning record in the postseason here at Bick’s Picks. Over the two postseasons we’ve covered we’ve got a (18-14) record and although that might not be something to brag about it’s certainly better than what we’ve been doing lately. We’re hoping we can replicate some of that postseason success and no better time to start than arguably the best weekend of the playoffs. As a reminder for better or worse we pick all the games and this is only day 1 of 3 so let’s get into it.

Rams (-10) @ Panthers

Well I just talked about how great Wild Card Weekend is so of course the worst game on paper is how we get things started. However, it’s the playoffs and anything can happen nevermind the fact that the team that’s favored by double digits lost this same matchup earlier this season. That said try as I might, I can’t convince myself the Panthers could do it again or even cover for that matter. Frankly after the Sad Cats let me down numerous times I can’t pick them in this game. I told myself all my postseason picks were gonna be based on plums alone so no cute stats today. Although I’d really prefer an alt spread of -9.5 we’re not gonna start the postseason by moving lines. So we’re biting the bullet, picking the -10 and betting it’s a blowout.

Rams -10 (-108)

Packers @ Bears (ML)

Alright now that we got that out of the way we can cover a game that’s got some real juice. I’ll admit this one was a bit tough but not because I struggled to make a pick. I knew who I wanted all along. It’s more so I hate that I gotta pick either team. I’ve been on record that I’m no fan of Jordan Love. I don’t know if it’s lack of pocket presence or just his ill-advised throws off his back foot but something about his game just doesn’t pass my sniff test. On the flip side I’ve been even more critical of Caleb Williams. It’s not the painted nails or the fact he’s always gonna be compared to Jayden it’s because I think he’s a complete spaz. He’s got the talent to make almost any throw but he’s got this habit of making things so much harder than they need to be. And I don’t have enough time or words to describe my disdain for Ben Johnson so let’s just say I hate him. So now that I’ve aired my grievances let me tell you that I’m riding with Chicago anyways. As before, no cute stats or trends that I’m following this pick all plums. So throw on your Super Fan shades because we’re looking to make Coach Ditka proud by picking Da Bears to win outright.

Bears ML (+114)