2015 NFL Playoff Wild Card Picks: Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers and Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers Odds and Predictions – Free NFL Picks 1/3/15

2015 NFL Playoff Wild Card Picks: Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers and Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers Odds and Predictions – Free NFL Picks 1/3/15: The NFL playoffs begin Saturday with the start of wild-card weekend. The action starts with an NFC showdown between the fifth-seeded Arizona Cardinals and fourth-seeded Carolina Panthers, and it ends with a battle between AFC rivals Pittsburgh and Baltimore. The Steelers are the No. 3 seed in the AFC, and the Ravens are the No. 6 seed. Here is a closer look at both matchups.

NFC Wild Card Game: Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers

Those NFL fans that don’t support the division system have plenty to complain about with this matchup. After all, the Cardinals went 11-5 this season, but they will open the playoffs on the road against the 7-8-1 Panthers because Carolina won the abysmal NFC South while Arizona is stuck in the same division as the top-seeded and defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. These teams have actually met in the playoffs before with the Kurt Warner and the Cardinals throttling the Panthers on their way to a surprising Super Bowl run.

This time around, Warner won’t be under center for Arizona. In fact, the Cardinals won’t even have their starting QB or backup QB available Sunday. Injuries to Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton have forced Ryan Lindley into action, and he is currently 0-2 since being forced under center. On the flip side, the Panthers actually seem to be hitting their stride late in the year. Jonathan Stewart has jumpstarted the team’s ground game, and the defense has finally adjusted to some personnel changes and injuries and has held opponents to 17 points or less in four straight games.

Granted, the Cardinals have a stout defense in their own right, but a surging Carolina defense is going to be a nightmare for Arizona’s banged up offense. With Palmer, the Cardinals looked like potential Super Bowl contenders. With Stanton, Arizona could make enough plays to win with defense and special teams. With Lindley, it is going to take an unbelievable performance from Arizona’s defense and special teams to push the Cardinals through to the next round, and it just doesn’t seem likely to happen against a Panthers team that is playing as well as it has all year on both sides of the ball in the last month.

Prediction: Carolina Panthers (-6.5) Cover the Spread

AFC Wild Card Game: Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers

A pair of AFC North rivals will square off in this one, and after Baltimore and Pittsburgh split a pair of regular season meetings, the stakes are high in Saturday’s rubber match. Over the years, this rivalry has been famous for hard-hitting defensive battles, but quarterbacks Joe Flacco and Ben Roethlisberger have been the driving forces of their respective teams this year, and both sides won by 20 points on their home field.

While home-field advantage would seem to favor the Steelers, health and the weather seem to be siding with Baltimore. Pittsburgh is unlikely to have workhorse running back Le’Veon Bell available, leaving the Steelers without their top rusher and second-best weapon in the passing game. Granted, Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown form arguably the best QB-WR tandem in the game, but a rainy, windy forecast could severely limit the passing attacks of both sides. Meanwhile, Baltimore is welcoming back nose tackle Haloti Nagata, who should fortify the middle of the Ravens’ defense.

At full strength in normal conditions, the Steelers probably have the edge. However, a playoff game between division rivals that know everything about each other is going to lend itself to a tight game regardless of the outside circumstances. Throw in the loss of such a key player like Bell, and the door is open for Baltimore to spring the upset.

Prediction: Baltimore Ravens (+3) Cover the Spread

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