NFL Playoff Picks 2017: Odds and Over/Under Predictions for Postseason Games

The NFL postseason is set to pick back up on Saturday afternoon when the Seattle Seahawks visit the Atlanta Falcons. All eight remaining playoff teams will be in action during Divisional Round Weekend, and we'll be getting two exciting games each day.

Hopefully, the level of competition between opponents will be better than it was on Wild Card Weekend. The closest margin of victory in the four games played in the opening round was 13 points. At least one game this weekend, though, is expected to be a blowout.

We'll be looking at all the games from Divisional Round Weekend, along with the latest odds—courtesy of OddsShark.com. We'll be making our picks against the spread and examining some of the other gaming options as well.

NFL Divisional Round

Game	Line	Prediction	Over/Under	O/U?
Seattle at Atlanta	ATL -5	ATL	51.5	Over
Houston at New England	NE -16	NE	44.5	Under
Pittsburgh at Kansas City	KC -1	KC	43.5	Over
Green Bay at Dallas	DAL -4.5	GB	51.5	Over

Top Picks for Divisional Round Weekend

Green Bay vs. Dallas: Over 51.5

Sunday's matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers might end up being the best game of Divisional Round Weekend. It also might end up being one of the most exciting.

The Cowboys and Packers both field quality offenses and feature numerous offensive weapons between them. While we might not see a strict quarterback duel between Aaron Rodgers and Dak Prescott, there should be plenty of back and forth between the two potent offensive attacks.

Pro Football Focus rates Green Bay third in overall offense and rates Dallas fourth. During the regular season, the Packers averaged 27 points per game while the Cowboys averaged 26.3. It's worth noting, too, that the Packers have averaged a much more impressive 31.8 points per game during the team's seven-game winning streak.

The flip side here is that neither team boasts a truly elite defense. Pro Football Focus rates the Cowboys 20th in overall defense and rates the Packers 15th.

Dallas allowed just 19.1 points per game in the regular season, but much of its defensive success stemmed from controlling the clock with Ezekiel Elliott and the ground game. The Packers, though, seem to have regained their quick-strike capability since Rodgers has regained his rhythm under center.

We expect quite a bit of scoring here and for the two teams to hit the over.

Houston vs. New England: Under 44.5

It makes some sense that the over/under in the New England Patriots and Houston Texans game is set so low. The Patriots allowed an NFL-low 15.6 points per game in the regular season, while the Texans allowed an NFL-low 301.3 yards per game.

Still, this may feel like a low total when the Patriots offense is involved. Since Tom Brady returned to the lineup in Week 5, New England has averaged 30 points per game.

Even with the Texans defense on the field, we wouldn't be surprised to see the Patriots surpass the 30-point mark in this game as well.

Yet we're still going to take the under in this game because of the way the Patriots defense has been playing this season. Even if the Patriots near the 30-point mark, we're not sure Houston will be able to score two touchdowns.

The last time these two teams met, the Texans failed to score a single point. While we doubt we'll be seeing another shutout, we're not sure the Houston offense—which is rated just 29th overall by Pro Football Focus—is going to have a lot of success, either.

The Texans scored fewer than 14 points six different times during the regular season.

If the Patriots are able to get out to an early lead—and we suspect they will—the team could quickly turn to clock-killing mode in order to get out of the game and prepare for the next round of the postseason. If this happens, New England might be content to escape with something like a 24-10 victory.

Unless the Texans come out and really surprise—or the Patriots decide to run up the score—we expect the two teams to hit the under here.

Aaron Rodgers: Over 272.5 Passing Yards

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

If you're more interested in predicting player performances than game totals, you might be interested in this prop we found over at Oddschecker.com. It involves Rodgers and an over/under for his passing yards.

The low over/under we found on Oddschecker was set at 272.5 yards.

As we mentioned above, neither the Packers nor the Cowboys field an elite defense. However, the Cowboys have been strong in pass coverage this season—the team is rated second in coverage by Pro Football Focus. This is likely why the over/under for Rodgers isn't ridiculously high.

Still, we're going to go with the over here for a couple of reasons. One is the fact that while the Cowboys are sound against the pass, they do have a tendency to surrender yards. Dallas allowed the seventh-most passing yards in the regular season, an average of 260.4 per game.

The second is that in a game with shootout potential, Rodgers is going to have to be the centerpiece of the Packers' offensive attack. Even with Jordy Nelson now officially out with his injury, per Michael Cohen of the Journal Sentinel, the Packers feel confident they can win.

"We feel great about our team. Obviously we feel better with 87 in the lineup," Rodgers said, per Jason Wilde of the Wisconsin State Journal. "He’s a classy guy and a great teammate. I was with him (Tuesday) night and (Monday) night. He’s staying positive and he’s hopeful. We’re going to try to get this one and hopefully get him back."

The last time the Packers and Cowboys faced off, Dallas won but Rodgers passed for 294 yards. We expect a similar output from the quarterback at minimum, regardless of the game's eventual outcome.