The Wild Card round went much as I expected, with five and six seeds in both conferences proving to be superior to the third- and fourth-seeded division winners.

That meant for a solid round of picks. It didn’t translate to bets, however, as the point spreads in Vegas proved to be as difficult to manipulate as ever.

I did go 2-2, hitting two bets on over/under numbers. They’ve come in handy all season – I haven’t been able to get spreads right, but the numbers have been slightly easier.

So here’s where I stand (Tony, as you may recall, is in hiding, trying to avoid more hypothetical broken bones over losing twice his allotted bankroll for the season).

  Starting $$ Wild card record Wild card $$ Current $$
Andy $11,568 2-2 – $96 $11,472

The games get a bit tougher this week. I doubt I go undefeated in picks. Bets … who the hell knows. But here goes:$1,000 – Kansas City (+5.5, -110) at New England – The Chiefs are the hottest team in the league. The Patriots started out that way. Then all their offensive stars started getting hurt and they crashed to Earth, at least a bit. They get a couple receivers back this week, but it’s hard for me to see them jumping right back in and dominating – if they do, this pick will be wrong. I think Kansas City keeps this close. Actually, I have a hunch they go out and win. I’m not quite ready to take the money line. But I will say take the 5.5.

$2,000 – Arizona (-7, -105) vs Green Bay – The small sample size I’ve taken on the pulse of Packers fans indicate they don’t know whether to believe last week’s win over Washington means they have their struggles figured out or they got to put up a big number against a not-that-great Redskins team. I think it’s the latter. Arizona won’t win 38-8, as they did about a month ago. But they will comfortably show they are the better team here. Green Bay might be back next year when Jordy Nelson returns and the offensive line is again healthy, but until then, this is an offense that is still going to struggle. It ends this weekend.

$2,000 – Seattle (+110 money line) at Carolina – I think this is going to be a hugely interesting game. I also think Seattle is going to win. Carolina had a fantastic regular season, nearly pulling off the 16-0 feat. The Panthers are a very good team – and getting better. They should be good for awhile. But they did also have the good fortune of feasting on some bad divisional opponents and playing the horrid AFC South. Seattle sucked at the beginning of the season and wasn’t terribly convincing in escaping from Minnesota with a win, but this is a battle tested team and I think they will rise to the occasion.

$2,000 – Pittsburgh at Denver: Over 39 (-110) – The Steelers will be hampered by injuries to DeAngelo Williams, Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown, no doubt. If any of the trio play, they won’t do so at full strength. The Broncos will be hampered by Peyton Manning no longer being Peyton Manning. But … 39 points? Even short-handed as both teams are, I cannot see one of the league’s top offenses and a Manning-led team going against a defense that will give up points combining for fewer than 39 points. So … over.