NFL Wild Card Weekend 2015: Updated Odds, TV Schedule and Predictions
The NFL postseason is why you consumed all the preseason magazines, sat in front of the television for 12 hours every Sunday and devoted so much of your free time to football since August.
Now that it’s finally here, let’s take a look at the updated odds, schedule and predictions for every game on the Wild Card Weekend schedule.
Point spreads are courtesy of Odds Shark, as of Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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| Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers | Saturday, Jan. 3 | 4:20 p.m. | ESPN | CAR -6.5 | Panthers |
| Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers | Saturday, Jan. 3 | 8:15 p.m. | NBC | PIT -3 | Steelers |
| Cincinnati Bengals at Indianapolis Colts | Sunday, Jan. 4 | 1:05 p.m. | CBS | IND -3.5 | Colts |
| Detroit Lions at Dallas Cowboys | Sunday, Jan. 4 | 4:40 p.m. | Fox | DAL -6.5 | Cowboys |
Quarterback Matchup to Watch: Andy Dalton vs. Andrew Luck
Coming into the Wild Card Round, there may not be a more intriguing quarterback showdown than the one between the Cincinnati Bengals’ Andy Dalton and the Indianapolis Colts’ Andrew Luck.
On the surface, Luck is the MVP candidate who should have the advantage in this one, but Dalton did throw for 3,398 passing yards and 19 touchdown passes. While he did throw 17 interceptions, the main criticism with Dalton is that he has lost in the Wild Card Round the past three seasons, which counteracts his 40-23-1 overall record.
If he loses again, he will tie Warren Moon for the most opening-round losses by a starting quarterback in NFL history.
That could be in the cards considering he directed the Bengals offense to a grand total of 135 yards and zero points in the regular-season matchup with the Colts. Despite all that, former wide receiver Troy Brown doesn’t think the Colts have a discernible advantage under center, according to John Breech of CBS Sports:
"You mean the statement I made about Andrew Luck being just as good as Andy Dalton? Coming into the season, the numbers said it all. Andrew Luck has one playoff win [more than] Andy Dalton. Other than that -- you look at the numbers -- Andy Dalton, some of his numbers were better than Andrew Luck's.
You see these people try to build these guys up instead of just evaluating what they are," Brown said. "[Luck] is what he is, he's a decent quarterback.
"
If there is one thing that could help Dalton in this matchup, it is the presence of running back Jeremy Hill. Hill ran for a league-best 441 yards in December and will need a big day to take some of the pressure off Dalton.
On the other side, Luck is fresh off the best season of his career.
Luck tallied a league-leading 40 touchdowns and 4,761 yards and improved his regular-season record to 33-15. One of those wins came against the Bengals this season when he torched the Cincinnati secondary for 344 yards and two touchdowns.
However, he only has the one playoff win in his career and was picked off four times in a postseason loss to the New England Patriots last year, so he too could use an important postseason win.
For as effective as Luck was this season, he did fail to reach the 300-yard passing plateau in five of his last six games. Perhaps Cincinnati’s opportunistic secondary that was third in the NFL with 20 interceptions can keep Luck in check Sunday.
However, Luck will have a full array of weapons, which is more than Dalton can say. Cincinnati’s top wide receiver, A.J. Green, is listed as doubtful with a concussion that he suffered in Week 17 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team confirmed (h/t NFL.com). His absence would be crippling for a Bengals offense that could become one-dimensional without his 1,041 receiving yards.
Indianapolis, on the other hand, will have Reggie Wayne, T.Y. Hilton and Coby Fleener out there to catch passes from Luck. Zak Keefer of IndyStar.com noted that Wayne in the playoffs is as close to a sure thing as you can find in the NFL:
Sunday’s clash between the Colts and the Bengals could come down to which passing game is more effective. Based on the regular-season statistics, Cincinnati’s recent postseason struggles (zero playoff wins since 1991) and the health of Luck’s receiving corps, the safe bet appears to be the Colts.
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