2017-18 NFL PLAYOFFS: DIVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND

SATURDAY	STRAIGHT UP	vs SPREAD
ATL v PHI	PHI	PHI +3.0
TEN v NE	NE	NE -14.0
SUNDAY	STRAIGHT UP	vs SPREAD
JAX v PIT	JAX	JAX +7.5
NO v MIN	MIN	MIN -4.5

SAT		STRAIGHT UP				vs SPREAD
ATL v PHI		PHI				PHI +3.0
BREAKOUT ALERT
J. Jones, WR			Away	Home	J. Mills, CB
SUPER STAT
	PHI owned the 4th ranked DEF + wrangled the 4th most Turnovers + scored the 3rd most Points in the NFL this season; Eagles are the only team in NFL history to enter the Playoffs with home field advantage and not be favoured vs. spread; ATL has won 7 out their last 9 outings (losses vs. NO & MIN); ATL, @Road, held the league-leaders in scoring this season, the LA Rams, to less than 2 TDs in last weekend’s Wild Card matchup.

SATNF		STRAIGHT UP				vs SPREAD
TEN v NE		NE				NE -14.0
BREAKOUT ALERT
K. Byard, FS			Away	Home	R. Gronkowski, TE
SUPER STAT
	NE has won their last six @Home Playoff matchups by an average of 17.8-PPG (averaging 36.6-PPG scored in those matchups); In their final five @Home contests this season, Pats DEF allowed an average of only 11.8-PPG to opponents (while also ranking 5th this season in total Defensive Points Allowed); TEN Offence averaged 18-PPG @Road this season with QB Mariota tossing 7 TDs-to-12 INTs & the team sporting a 3-5 record in 8 contests; NE averaged 29.4-PPG @Home this season (and ranked #2 in the NFL in Points scored this year); TEN RB DeMarco Murray will not play (led team in total carries this year); Titans scored fewer Points on Offense this season than their DEF surrendered to opponents; TEN DEF allowed opposing TEs an average of 5 Receptions & 53 Receiving per game to go with 5 TDs this past campaign (NE Rob Gronkowski owned the most Receiving Yards & 2nd most TDs for a TE this season while only playing 14 of 16 games + Pats won the Super Bowl last season without Gronk in the lineup); NE defeated only one team this season @Home by more than 2 TDs that wasn’t a Divisional opponent (ATL) + TEN lost only one @Road contest by 2 TDs that wasn’t against a Divisional opponent (PIT); Titans FS Kevin Byard led the NFL in INTs & was 2nd in INT yards this season.

SUN		STRAIGHT UP				vs SPREAD
JAX v PIT		JAX				JAX +7.5
BREAKOUT ALERT
C. Campbell, DE			Away	Home	S. Davis, SS
SUPER STAT
	JAX QB Bortles has played in only one contest in below-freezing temperatures since entering the NFL; PIT top-wideout Antonio Brown playing with a tear in his calf (to be covered by JAX CB Jalen Ramsey who collectively ranked in the top-15 in Secondary players this season); Jaguars, @Road, defeated the Steelers back in Week 5 by a score of 30-9; JAX DEF allowed the 2nd fewest PPG to opponents this season &, when @Road, the fewest Receiving Yards to opponents of any squad; JAX scored more Offensive PPG & allowed fewer Defensive PPG than the Steelers did this past campaign; Jaguars ranked 2nd in the NFL this season in Takeaways & Intercepted PIT QB Roethlisberger 5 times in their Week 5 meeting; Steelers top LB & overall best defender, Ryan Shazier, will not play.

SNF		STRAIGHT UP				vs SPREAD
NO v MIN		MIN				MIN -4.5
BREAKOUT ALERT
D. Brees, QB			Away	Home	H. Smith, FS
SUPER STAT
	NO RB Alvin Kamara is expected to be named Rookie of the Year for the 2017-18 season; MIN DEF, @Home, held clubs to an average 12.5-PPG this year, allowing only 5.7-PPG over their final 3 Regular Season matchups; Vikings are 25-10 in their past 35 @Home contests; MIN owned #2 ranked Rush Defence this year+ allowed fewest Rush Yards to opponents when playing @Home this season + allowed opponents to convert only ¼ of all third-downs + allowed fewest PPG & Offensive Yards to opponents this season; NO RB combo Kamara & Mark Ingram combined for an average of 193 Rush Yards from scrimmage per game this year; Saints QB Brees is 1-4 Straight Up in 5 @Road Playoff contests; MIN QB Keenum, making his playoff debut *since 2002, first-time Playoff QBs are 4-12 SU* produced 8 TDs-to-2 INTs with a 100.1 QBR when playing @Home this season; NO Offence scored the 4th most PPG in the NFL this season; Vikings, @Home, won the Week 1 matchup between these opponents by a score of 29-19 (the 19-points scored by the Saints was the most Points the MIN Defence surrendered to an opponent when playing @Home this year *including a contest against the league-leaders in scoring this season, the LA Rams, who put up just 7 points*); Vikings lost only one @Home game this season (to Divisional opponent DET) but otherwise was victorious in every other contest by a minimum of 10-pts.