NFL Playoff Odds 2016: Vegas Picks and Predictions Ahead of Divisional Round

So it turns out kickers are important and Kirk Cousins doesn't like that after the NFL's Wild Card Weekend.

Now the globe turns its attention away from Blair Walsh's sinking Minnesota and Washington crumbling against real competition and looks ahead to the divisional round, where the big guns such as Cam Newton, Tom Brady and a revitalized Peyton Manning, among others, come out to play.

While folks in various cities still look to catch their collective breath from what was truly a, well, wild weekend, savvy bettors are already hard at work on the early lines out of Las Vegas. They are as follows.

NFL Playoff Bracket

Matchup	Pick
No. 5 Kansas City Chiefs vs. No. 2 New England Patriots (-5)	NE 33-17
No. 5 Green Bay Packers vs. No. 2 Arizona Cardinals (-8)	ARI 24-17
No. 6 Seattle Seahawks vs. No. 1 Carolina Panthers (-3)	CAR 30-24
No. 6 Pittsburgh Steelers vs. No. 1 Denver Broncos (-6.5)	DEN 28-20

Early Odds to Bet

No. 6 Seattle Seahawks vs. No. 1 Carolina Panthers (-3)

The Seattle Seahawks aren't a "just happy to be here" team by any means, but it sure might seem like it after Russell Wilson and Co. hardly survived this past weekend against the Minnesota Vikings.

Seattle should have lost in Minnesota despite scoring 10 points in the final frame to take a 10-9 lead, but the aforementioned Walsh whiffed on a short field goal to keep the score as so.

It was still an ugly affair any way it's sliced, with Wilson going just 13-of-26 with 142 yards, one touchdown and an interception. Behind him, Christine Michael mustered just 70 yards on 21 carries.

Bettors have it pretty simple here.

Seattle has to stay on the road despite the win and next take on the Carolina Panthers, otherwise known as the team with just one loss on the season and already clutching one win against these Seahawks, a 27-23 affair back in Week 6.

Newton leads Carolina with his 45 total touchdowns, and accounted for two total scores while running back Jonathan Stewart added two of his own in the road upset of the Seahawks. The Carolina defense held Wilson to one touchdown and Marshawn Lynch to 54 yards and a score on 17 carries.

Mostly, though, bettors rolling with Carolina has to do with two factors. One—Seattle hinges on the pass to win games more than ever as of late. That's not going to work against Josh Norman and the Panthers on the road in the cold.

Two—this one's in Carolina. ESPN.com's David Newton took a deep dive with some context:

"

They have a league-best 11-game home winning streak, including a playoff victory against Arizona last season. They were 8-0 at Bank of America Stadium this season. Their average margin of victory at home this season has been by a score of 33-17. That margin is 40-8.6 over the last three home games against Washington, Atlanta and Tampa Bay. Quarterback Cam Newton has a passer rating of 104.6 at home compared to 94.5 on the road. He has thrown five more touchdowns at home than on the road.

"

There's little reason to think Seattle has what it takes this time out after a humbling 10-point display, a reliance on what Carolina defends best and a weekly unknown at running back.

Look for the Panthers to sit on the lead at home.

Prediction: Panthers 30, Seahawks 24

No. 6 Pittsburgh Steelers vs. No. 1 Denver Broncos (-6.5)

As it does most of the time, the attention focuses on the quarterback position for the showdown between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos. 

Not for the right reasons, though.

Ben Roethlisberger went to Cincinnati Saturday and helped the Steelers escape with a gritty 18-16 victory against the Bengals, throwing for 229 yards and a score in the process, but injured his shoulder and was in and out of the game.

As Around the NFL noted, initial thoughts seemed to leave the door open for Big Ben to play in the next round:

One man who will for sure be on the field in Denver? Peyton Manning, according to NFL Network's Rand Getlin:

The Broncos went away from Brock Osweiler in the team's season-ending encounter with the San Diego Chargers after a bevy of turnovers. Manning entered and went 5-of-9 with 69 yards, leading the team to late scoring chances to eventually win the game.

So now Manning's back to form, looked good and had an extra week off. Now he gets to face off against a Pittsburgh defense that ranked 30th against the pass to finish the season, allowing 271.9 yards per game and letting Cincinnati's inexperienced AJ McCarron post 212 yards with a score and a pick.

If that's a major advantage for the Broncos, so is the status of Roethlisberger. Even if he plays, Denver fields one of the most dominant defensive units in the league. On the final drive against Cincinnati, he couldn't push the ball down the field whatsoever, which against the Broncos on the road would spell doom as the Pittsburgh offense falls into a one-dimensional look.

With Manning under center and Big Ben up in the air, expect nothing less than the Broncos cruising.

Prediction: Broncos 28, Steelers 20

Stats courtesy of NFL.com and are accurate as of January 10. All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus. All betting information courtesy of Odds Shark.