NFL Playoff Picks 2017: Updated Odds and Predictions for Sunday Wild-Card Games

The climbing spread of the Miami Dolphins-Pittsburgh Steelers game reminds me of the Cliffhanger game on The Price Is Right—it just keeps going up, to the point where you wonder if this game is a huge trap and the Steelers are about to fall off the cliff.

The New York Giants-Green Bay Packers spread has remained relatively stagnant all weekend, with the odds going from six in Green Bay's favor down to four-and-a-half before settling at five-and-a-half, which seems too high.

Here are the latest odds via OddsShark and information for Sunday's wild-card games, as well as a few predictions against the spread.

Wild-Card Point Spreads and Predictions

Game	Date, Time (ET)	TV	Line	Over/Under
Miami at Pittsburgh	Jan. 8, 1:05 p.m.	CBS	PIT (-12.5)	46
New York Giants at Green Bay	Jan. 8, 4:40 p.m.	Fox	GB (-5.5)	44.5

Miami at Pittsburgh

Ronald C. Modra/Sports Imagery/Getty Images

My head says Pittsburgh will win by a few scores and coast relatively easily.

My heart says Miami's 30-15 win over Pittsburgh in October wasn't a fluke, and the Dolphins have a lot of fight in them and will keep the game close (or even win outright).

The climbing spread is scary.

Yes, running back Le'Veon Bell has terrorized defenses all season.

Yes, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is a much better home quarterback (20-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio at Heinz Field compared to 9-8 anywhere else this year).

Sure, the Dolphins will likely be without No. 1 cornerback Byron Maxwell (listed as doubtful in the injury report as of this writing), who was a big reason for wide receiver Antonio Brown only accruing four catches for 39 yards against Miami.

Center Mike Pouncey, who was a big reason for running back Jay Ajayi's emergence this year, is on injured reserve.

But the Dolphins have won nine of 11 games, and backup quarterback Matt Moore is playing some good football (105.6 QB rating in four games this season).

Go with the head and the facts over your heart and take the Steelers to win the game by two touchdowns, covering the 12.5-point figure.

The Pick: Pittsburgh (-12.5)

New York at Green Bay

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The line has hovered around five or six points all week, and it doesn't make much sense.

The Packers offense has been lights-out lately, scoring almost 31 points per game during their current six-game win streak, but the defense has serious problems.

It let Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen catch 12 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns on Christmas Eve. Thielen is a dependable receiver, no doubt, but that's a stat line usually reserved for elite receivers like Julio Jones and Odell Beckham once or twice a year.

The Packers also allowed back-to-back 40-plus-point performances to Tennessee and Washington in November.

Granted, the Packers have had some solid defensive performances during the win streak, most notably holding Seattle to just 10 points in a 38-10 blowout on December 11, but the Packers defense is still only ranked 20th on the year, per Football Outsiders.

Furthermore, quarterback Aaron Rodgers isn't going to go out there and lead Green Bay to a 30-point performance as he's done often this season. The Giants have not let up 30 points all year, and they haven't let any offense score more than 24 points since Week 3.

The Giants could very well win against the spread, although straight up I would take the Pack by a field goal because New York's offensive issues this season (a stagnant running game and an inability by any player not named Odell Beckham to make a big play) will prevent them from beating the Pack.

The Pick: New York (+5.5), but Green Bay straight up