NFL Playoff Picks 2019: Odds and Over/Under Predictions for Postseason Games

We've made it through one round of the 2018-19 NFL postseason, and we only have two more between now and Super Bowl LIII.

While we spent most of the regular season trying to guess which were the best teams in the league, each of the remaining eight has a realistic shot at lifting the Lombardi Trophy in February.

While we rightfully put stock into how teams perform over the course of the regular season, records don't matter quite as much as how teams are performing coming into the postseason.

Teams like the 13-3 New Orleans Saints, 13-3 Los Angeles Rams and 12-4 Kansas City Chiefs looked close to unbeatable at times in the regular season. Neither looks like a slam-dunk favorite over teams to reach the big game over teams that have been clawing for wins like the Indianapolis Colts and Philadelphia Eagles.

Here's the full playoff schedule and predictions, as well as the latest odds and over/unders for the divisional round from OddsShark. We'll also look at some of the top playoff storylines heading into the weekend. 

Divisional Round

Saturday, January 12

Indianapolis Colts at Kansas City Chiefs

When: 4:35 p.m. ET

TV and Live Stream: NBC and NBC Sports App

Odds and Over/Under: KC -5.5, 57

Prediction: Colts 31, Chiefs 28

Dallas Cowboys at Los Angeles Rams

When: 8:15 p.m. ET

TV and Live Stream: Fox and Fox Sports Go

Odds and Over/Under: LAR -7, 49.5

Prediction: Rams 30, Cowboys 26

Sunday, January 13

Los Angeles Chargers at New England Patriots

When: 1:05 p.m. ET

TV and Live Stream: CBS and CBS All Access

Odds and Over/Under: NE -4, 47.5

Prediction: Patriots 26, Chargers 24

Philadelphia Eagles at New Orleans Saints

When: 4:40 p.m. ET

TV and Live Stream: Fox and Fox Sports Go

Odds and Over/Under: NO -8, 51

Prediction: Saints 36, Eagles 28 

Conference Championships

Sunday, January 20

NFC Conference Championship Game

When: 3:05 p.m. ET

TV and Live Stream: Fox and Fox Sports Go

Prediction: Patriots 25, Colts 24

AFC Conference Championship Game

When: 6:40 p.m. ET

TV and Live Stream: CBS and CBS All Access

Prediction: Saints 31, Rams 24 

Super Bowl LIII

Sunday, February 2

AFC Champions vs. NFC Champions

When: 6:30 p.m. ET

TV and Live Stream: CBS and CBS All Access

Prediction: Saints 33, Patriots 26

Colts Planning to Grind It Out Against Chiefs

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

It's no secret that the Colts are going to try to control Saturday's game against Kansas City with the running game. It's the best way to keep the Chiefs offense off the field and the best way to keep quarterback Andrew Luck away from Kansas City's pass rush—a pass rush that produced a league-high 52 sacks in the regular season.

In addition to controlling the clock and protecting Luck, the Colts also plan to use the run to wear down the Chiefs defense physically. It's exactly what Marlon Mack, Nyheim Hines and Co. did against the Houston Texans last week while racking up 200 yards on the ground.

"I just think it's like body blows," head coach Reich said, per Mike Wells of ESPN.com. "I just think it's blows to the midsection. It's the constant pounding of that. I think it wears the other team down."

The Chiefs know the run is coming. The question is whether they can handle it. They couldn't against the Baltimore Ravens in the regular season, and it was only through some late-game Patrick Mahomes magic that they escaped with a win.

Rams Will Have Gurley In the Lineup

The Los Angeles Rams offense has flowed through running back Todd Gurley for most of the year. However, Gurley missed the final two games of the season with a knee injury, and he's been limited throughout the bye week.

Interestingly, though, the run game of the Rams actually seemed to improve when Gurley was out. C.J. Anderson rushed for 299 yards and two touchdowns in his two starts to end the season. Of course, this doesn't mean that Anderson is a better running back. In all likelihood, opponents game-planned to stop Jared Goff and dared Anderson to beat them. He did.

The Dallas Cowboys may not have a choice whether to focus on the pass or the run on Saturday because the Rams will have both Goff and Gurley to worry about. Gurley, it seems, is at least close to 100 percent again.

The ability to get healthy, of course, is one of the perks of getting a first-round bye.

Chargers Changing Up the Kicking Game

We have grown accustomed to seeing the New England Patriots make unorthodox moves to gain a competitive advantage. The week, we're seeing the Los Angeles Chargers do something unusual in order to get an edge against New England.

According to Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com, L.A. plans to add kicker Nick Rose before the weekend in order to handle kickoff duties.

Rookie kicker Michael Badgley has been solid when kicking into the uprights—he missed just one extra point and one field goal in the regular season and 5-of-6 in field goals in the wild-card round. However, he hasn't regularly produced touchbacks.

Only nine of Badgley's 54 kickoffs resulted in touchbacks in the regular season. This could set up problems against New England and talented kick returner Cordarrelle Patterson.

"They have one of the best kick returners that I've seen in a long time," Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn said, per Williams.

Winning in New England is going to be a big enough challenge for the Chargers. Trying to win while giving up valuable field positions or even scores on kickoffs would be even tougher.