NFL Playoff Odds 2018: AFC, NFC Postseason Picture and Wild-Card Predictions

It was touch-and-go for much of the season, but the defending NFC champion Atlanta Falcons came through in Week 17 with a 22-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers and earned a spot in the playoffs.

The Falcons have one of the most talented teams in the league, particularly at the skill positions with Matt Ryan at quarterback, Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman at running back, and Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu at wide receiver.

However, the Falcons seemed to have a Super Bowl hangover throughout much of the season before winning three of their final four games to make the playoffs. 

Center Alex Mack says the Falcons are a veteran team that knows how to keep its perspective and prepare for the postseason.

"We just want to take it one game at a time," Mack said, per Jeffri Chadiha of NFL.com. "We don't have a bye this time and we're going on the road, but that's fine. I know it's a cliche, but it really does come down to us taking this thing one play at a time."

The Falcons are the sixth seed in the NFC playoffs and will play the Los Angeles Rams at 8:15 p.m. ET Saturday in a Wild Card Game against the NFC West champions. 

The Rams were one of the NFL's best stories during the regular season with rookie head coach Sean McVay, an improved second-year quarterback in Jared Goff and an MVP candidate in running back Todd Gurley. 

The Rams are six-point favorites over the Falcons, according to OddsShark.

The other Wild Card Games include the fifth-seeded Tennessee Titans visiting the fourth-seeded Kansas City Chiefs at 4:35 p.m. Saturday. The second AFC wild-card matchup pits the sixth-seeded Buffalo Bills at the third-seeded Jacksonville Jaguars at 1:05 p.m. Sunday.

OddsShark favors the Chiefs and Jaguars by seven and 6.5 points, respectively.

The Panthers are the fifth seed in the NFC playoffs and will go to New Orleans to take on the fourth-seeded Saints. Those two NFC South rivals have already played twice, and the Saints won both games. New Orleans is a four-point favorite.

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Predictions

The Titans struggled down the stretch as they lost three games in a row before beating Jacksonville in the regular-season finale to earn their playoff spot.

Despite their Titans' problems, they feature speed and quickness, and that should help them in their individual matchups with the Chiefs. Speed is not one of Kansas City's strong suits.

Kansas City rebounded nicely by winning four straight games to close the season, but they lost six of seven prior to that, and Andy Reid's team has issues. Tennessee should come up with the upset.

The Rams have one of the most explosive offensive teams in the league, as Goff and Gurley form a dangerous one-two punch, while rookie wideout Cooper Kupp (62 receptions) can catch nearly anything he can get his hands on. 

The Rams rank 19th in overall defense, but they have one of the top defensive players in the league in the explosive Aaron Donald, who had 11 sacks during the regular season. The Rams are the better team and will end the Falcons' hopes of defending their NFC championship.

The Bills made the playoffs in the most dramatic of fashions as they beat the Miami Dolphins and got help from the Cincinnati Bengals, who came through against the heartbroken Baltimore Ravens.

However, the Bills don't seem to have enough offensive talent to threaten the Jaguars' second-ranked defense. Calais Campbell and Yannick Ngakoue combined for 26.5 sacks, and they will dominate this game and end Buffalo's season.

The Panthers are a dangerous team with Cam Newton leading the offense and Luke Kuechly heading up one of the most dangerous defensive teams in the league.

However, if you compare Newton to New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees, the Saints have a major advantage in passing accuracy. 

Newton has completed 59.1 percent of his passes for 3,302 yards with 22 TDs and 16 interceptions. He also led the Panthers in rushing with 754 yards and six touchdowns.

Brees completed 72.0 percent of his passes for 4,334 yards with 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Brees is not a rushing threat, although he had two rushing TDs.

The Saints will take better care of the ball than the Panthers and will ride their home-field advantage to the divisional playoffs.