NFL Playoff Picks 2018: Latest Odds and Predictions for Divisional Round

OddsShark lists two NFL teams with long odds to win in the divisional round. Notably, the Tennessee Titans are 13.5-point underdogs against the New England Patriots, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are 7.5-point favorites against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Wild upsets happen all the time in sports. Notably, the New York Jets (Super Bowl III), the Kansas City Chiefs (Super Bowl IV) and the New York Giants (Super Bowl XLII) have each won the big game as double-digit underdogs.

Therefore, wins by the AFC South teams this weekend would be shocking but not necessarily unprecedented in terms of an upset.

We'll take a look at how those two teams can win, in addition to providing the divisional-round schedule and some picks. All spreads and over/under totals are via OddsShark.

Divisional Round

Saturday, January 13, at 4:35 p.m. ET on NBC: Atlanta Falcons (-2.5, 41 O/U) at Philadelphia Eagles

Saturday, January 13, at 8:15 p.m. ET on CBS: Tennessee Titans at New England Patriots (-13.5, 47 O/U)

Sunday, January 14, at 1:05 p.m. ET on CBS: Jacksonville Jaguars at Pittsburgh Steelers (-7.5, 41 O/U)

Sunday, January 14, at 4:40 p.m. ET on Fox: New Orleans Saints at Minnesota Vikings (-3.5, 45.5 O/U)

Conference Championships

Sunday, January 21, at 3 p.m. ET: AFC Championship Game on CBS (Lowest-seeded AFC team at highest-seeded AFC team)

Sunday, January 21, at 6:30 p.m. ET: NFC Championship Game on Fox (Lowest-seeded NFC team at highest-seeded NFC team)

Super Bowl LII

Sunday, February 4, at 6:30 p.m. ET: AFC champion vs. NFC champion on NBC (game will be played in Minneapolis)

Divisional-Round Predictions

Falcons 27, Eagles 13

Patriots 42, Titans 17

Steelers 20, Jaguars 10

Vikings 24, Saints 16

How the Titans Can Beat the Patriots

The Tennessee Titans engineered a 15-play, 91-yard touchdown drive to start the second half of their eventual 22-21 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in the wild-card round. Notably, they stuck with the run as running back Derrick Henry ran five times on the drive.

Quarterback Marcus Mariota also scrambled a bit and completed short passes, namely one to Henry that he took 29 yards on a catch-and-run. The drive ended with Mariota completing a touchdown pass to himself after a deflection ended up in his hands.

The Titans probably aren't going to draw up passes from Mariota to himself for their game with the Pats, but if Tennessee can dink-and-dunk down the field and wear down the Pats front seven with a heavy dose of Henry, it can chew up the clock and keep the high-powered Patriots offense on the sideline.

On defense, it's hard seeing the Titans stopping the Patriots attack. Tennessee (and many other teams) simply can't match up with New England's arsenal of running backs, wide receivers and the toughest matchup in the game in tight end Rob Gronkowski. Leading the charge is quarterback Tom Brady, winner of five Super Bowls.

But if Tennessee can win the turnover battle, perform better on special teams and control the clock for 10-plus more minutes than New England, then it has a shot.

However, a lot of things have to go the Titans' way in order to win this game, and it's unlikely we will see them all here. 

How the Jaguars Can Beat the Steelers

There are two ways for the Jacksonville Jaguars to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. One of those ways is under their control, and one of them is not. Both things occurred in the Jags' 30-9 win over the Steelers in Week 5.

First, the Jags need to run Leonard Fournette as much as possible and hope he can find some lanes. The run game wasn't particularly efficient against the Steelers for the vast majority of the contest (Fournette amassed 91 yards on 27 carries until his 90-yard touchdown run on his final carry).

However, what Fournette did was help the Jaguars win the turnover battle. By handing off to Fournette so often (he amassed 29 of the team's 45 touches), the Jaguars kept control of the football. Fournette also has not lost a fumble all year (he has fumbled twice, but the Jags recovered both times), so the chances are the ball will remain secure in his possession.

Jacksonville ended the regular season on a poor note because it lost the turnover battle in consecutive games, committing seven. Against the Buffalo Bills in the wild-card round, however, the Jags didn't commit any while the Bills had two. That's not a coincidence.

Fournette also allowed Pittsburgh to make its own mistakes. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw five interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. On the day, the Steelers threw 55 times and gave the ball to star running back Le'Veon Bell on just 13 occasions.

If the Jags can jump out to an early lead, control the time of possession and force a turnover or two, then the Steelers may press and commit more turnovers, leading to more points.

That being said, the same things can be said if you swap the teams in that previous sentence: The Steelers can commit to giving Bell the ball 30-plus times, controlling the clock and forcing Jacksonville into mistakes. The guess is that happens here, although expect this game to be close until the fourth quarter.