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The Hornets might be on a 2-game winning run, but they don't stand a chance today, in my opinion Boston and Orlando are not at New Orleans' level quality-wise. The team from Louisiana are finally facing a weaker team, after playing all the playoff teams in the last 10 games. They managed to win half o those games to stay in the race for the playoff and if they plan on keeping the race going, they need to beat teams such as Charlotte. The Hornets are without their top two players (Jefferson, Stephenson). New Orleans' starting five seems to be a lot better than Hornets', who might be in a lot of trouble with defending Davis since they don't have a player who is capable of doing that well. Holliday will be the visiting answer to Walker, who is not well know for being consistent, which is why I wouldn't be surprised with him not doing well like in the two last games. New Orleans are a much better team, which should be visible from the final score. Details

Trent Richardson's performance is still questionable, but I think this is worth the attention. He's one of the most inefficient running backs of the league, and couldn't take advantage of the Bradshaw's (or Ballard's) injury to become an alpha male in the Colts' backfield. He actually got worse as the season went on, and I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing that happened in the last year's playoffs repeated itself, he only touched the ball four times in two matches. It's common knowledge that the offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton doesn't like him, so I doubt he'll trust him much in the most important game of the season. Richardson didn't go over this margin in seven out of the last eight matches, including five in a row, and the Bengals' defense is good enough to make that series even longer. Details

A.J. Green's absence absolutely turns Sanu into the Bengals' first receiver, especially if Gresham doesn't play, either. In three games that Green missed this season, our hero got 32 balls (14+9+9), and he finished those games with 120 (10 receives), 54 (3 Colts!!!), and 125 yards (5). No reason not to believe that he won't get at least 8, or 9 balls tonight, considering he's a wide receiver who wins 14.1 yards per catch, and I think he can easily go over this margin that's at least 10-15 yards too low. Details

Although playoffs are very tough to predict, it seems to me that the away team are rather underestimated here. I admit the Ravens did not look too good in the final part of the season despite the fact they often won, but that is of little importance for this match. I'm quite convinced they're stronger than the Steelers defensively, and since the home team will be missing their top running back, I would hazard to say that the away team are just as strong offensively. In my opinion Le'Veon Bell's injury significantly changes the balance of power here, although I did not see the Steelers as favorites to start with, regardless of the home ground advantage. Bell was in play in practically every down, especially since they let Blount go, and his absence simply must be felt. To those not familiar with the sport, it's practically as if Barcelona went to a derby against Real without Messi. Big Ben is a great quarterback, no doubt about it, and has had a great season, but his great numbers are mostly due to Le'Veon Bell's performance. When I consider it all together, this is at least a 50-50 game in my opinion (though I believe the away team will win), and in 11 of their last 13 duels the Baltimore guys won or got away with a defeat at under 4 points. Details

The preview noted certain players might rest since the Colts have absolutely no chance to get the first or second seed position, and have secured playoff. Nobody needs the rest more than Reggie Wayne, who spent the better part of the season struggling with injuries so I don't see him playing tonight, nor do I believe T.Y. Hilton will, after his hamstring got injured in their last match. The two of them caught 141 passes this season, for 2010 yards total, which is almost half of what the entire team scored. Someone will have to step in to make up for that tonight, and Donte Moncrief is by far the best option, as he has shown his full potential on several occasions so far this season (Redskins 134 y, Steelers 113), but could not get game-time next to Hilton and Wayne. This is the best chance he'll get, and since the margin is relatively low he can get over with two or three good catches, which should not be too difficult in the pass-happy Colts system. Details

I believe Texans will lose all hope tonight. They're down to their fourth quarterback, whom they signed in on Monday, and probably won't have their best receiver (Hopkins). Their offense is completely based on rushes, which the Ravens should be able to neutralize by adding a man to the box, since it's hard to expect Keenum to be much of a problem with aerial passing. The home team are traditionally good defenders, and should have a great scouting report since their offense coordinator spent eight years as a coach in Houston. Forsett and Daniels also played for Houston last year, which will just heighten the Ravens' motive. I expect them to win, likely decisively, and leave the home team under this margin. Details

Matt Forte is one of the best running backs in the league, but the Lions' defense made most of his colleagues look ridiculous this season. The Detroit team are managing to limit their opponents to just 63.8 yards on average, or 3.1 per carry, and he already felt how tough they are when they limited him to just six yards in five rushes. The Bears quickly gave up on ground plays in that match, and something similar might happen today as well, since the Lions are favorites here. Also, I would not be surprised if Forte played less snaps since the game is not very important for the Bears, Details

I rarely go with these kind of bets, but I think a lot of things weren't taken into consideration here. First and foremost, the Raptors are not the same team with and without De Rozan. Things are quite good when it comes to offense, but defense is falling apart. Ross, Williams and Vasquez aren't good enough to guard some positions and Harris might give them hard time today. Vucevic will fight with Valancuinas for the most part of the game, with Frye working on getting Oladip and Fournier closer to the rim. Magic are far from being among the worst teams today, I'm sure they're very close to the play-off. The play off might be reachable, given the situation in the East. The Raptors used up a lot of their energy in New York yesterday and I think the visitors can take advantage of it. Details

The margin may not be wrong by much, but it's hard to reach against the Lions defense even for much better running backs than Matt Asiata. The Detroit crew allows just 62.8 ground yards, and the number drops to just 45.0 in their last five matches. In their victories against the Bears and Bucks the allowed just 39 yards in total, while Forte and Martin are worlds apart from Asiata. The Lions do so well against rushes that opponents give up on such plays after the first few attempts and turn to passing. The bet is made even stronger by the statement by coach Zimmer who said he wants Ben Tate to carry more, which directly means less work for Asiata. Details

Rashard Jennings played his first season in the Giants' shirt decently, but I'm sure he would have left a much better impression if the injuries didn't catch him. In the games against the Jaguars, he got an ankle injury that stopped him from practicing much last week, and that resulted with only 5 rushing yards against the Titans. Over the week, there's been a lot of talk about the volume of carries he gets, and supposedly, the coach Coughlin is still not ready to give him the full responsibility, especially when Andre Williams has been playing better. Some reports say the two of them will split the numbers of carries, which means Jennings will get about ten, and I think the Redskins' defense whose biggest strength is stopping the ground game, is good enough to leave him under this margin. Details

Even though another player might show to be a better option (Harry Douglas), I'll be conservative here and go for a safer bet. According to the latest info, Julio Jones can barely run, so I doubt he'll be anything more than a bait, if he plays at ll. That's where Roddy White comes up, he was the Falcons' first receiver until Jones showed up, and tonight, he has the chance to prove he's still capable of playing that role. He had lots of injuries this season, so his stat aren't as good as in the previous years, but he still ended four out of the last six games with at least 72 receving yards. In that period, he caught at least five balls, and considering Jones's start, I think he'll have enough chances to run over this margin against the shaky Steelers' defense. Details

Even though it was written the last, this pick might have the biggest value, at least of the ones I wrote. On Thursday, Eddie Lacy said his hip was a bit better, but there are still some question marks. He'll supposedly try to play tonight, but I wouldn't be surprised if the conservative medical staff suggests to the coach not to use him if he doesn't feel his best. Besides, according to the latest info, the Packers want to split the burden between him and Starks in Buffalo, so he might be limited to 13-15 rushing yards attempts, and considering he will face the fifth best defense in stopping ground game (99 y/g), this pick seems pretty good, especially considering that this season, he stayed under in nine out of 13 games. Details

The margin seems pretty humble, but nothing is too low for the Raiders, which they showed last week when they had zero. A defeat against the Seahawks really jeopardized the 49ers' chances for the playoffs, so I expect them to dominate the game tonight. They definitely have the quality both in the offense, and especially in the defense. Their defense is among the top three of the league, and I expect them to stop any attempt the Raiders make to keep up in the game. The Oakland guys scored over 16 points four times (14.7 per game), which speaks volumes about their offensive quality. I'm pretty convinced that won't help them tonight against the extremely motivated guests whose feet are burning. Details

I think these two teams are pretty different when it comes to quality. Hats off to the Browns for what they did so far, but I think their dreams about the playoffs will get a hard blow. Their offense is in crisis, that is, their quarterback is spending less time on the field and more on the bench (Jimmy Manziel), and the lack of self-confidence and focus results in mistakes. On the other side, Luck is brilliant, crushing all Manning's records, at least in the club, and leads the Colts towards the division title. Last Sunday, they crushed the Redskins at home by 49-27, and even had six touchdowns for 30+ yards, making them the first team to pull that off since 1996. The Colts got their win by +22, +20, +16, +27, +5, +7, +24, +27, so they regularly crush their opponents. I think they'll defeat the Browns tonight with at least one touchdown advantage. Details

Although St Nicolas might not be happy with my boots, I believe I'll be joyous soon, as this margin is simply insane. The Rockets have the best defense in the league (93.0 pts/game) and defend three pointers especially well (27.8%). They only managed to get their opponents under 100 five times so far, which is great considering they play against the Clippers, Warriors, Mavericks... These Wolves are not even close to those teams, as a team scoring just 77 against the terrible 76ers is just pathetic. The Wolvers injury list contains Ricky Rubio, Kevin Martin and Nikola Peković, who generate 41.7 points, 17.4 rebounds and 12.6 assists combined, and veteran Moe Williams also suddenly got back problems, which meant he missed practice yesterday. This puts him in question for tonight, as well as the reborn Shabazz Muhammad (ankle). I believe the Wolves can get over this margin only if the Rockets spend a halftime attacking their own basket, and in a normal version of events I see them closer to 80 than 100 points. Realistically speaking, Dieng, LeVine, Wiggins, Brewer, and Hummel are far from elite shooters. Details

Out of few possibilities, I picked Vikings' under because I'm not exactly thrilled with the guests' offense, even though I think they'll leave Minneapolis happy. The home team's defensive is pretty bad, normal because Peterson is out, and they based their philosophy on him for years. In 11 games played, they went over the margin only twice, and that was against the worst defense of the league (Falcons) and demoralized Redskins, and it's not like they faced the elite yet. As for the Panthers, I'm really disappointed because the defense that carried the team to the playoffs last year isn't up to par. However, since this is the most important match of the season for them, I think they'll do what it takes, and since they were free last week, I think they'll be ready for any tricks Zimmer (the home team's coach) got prepared for them. Details

The way this game is set is a typical example of reading the context wrong. A look on the table or the results could give a hint that these are two equal teams, but this is a clash of two opposite worlds in quality. The Jaguards are a bad team who can't finish the game without losing two or three balls which often cost them lots of points, while the Giants are a decent team whose destiny was made with an amazing set of circumstances. The New York guys lost six games in a row, but all those defeats were against the best teams (Eagles, Dallas twice, Colts, Seahawks, 49ers) who will probably end up in the playoffs. No way Tom Coughlin will afford a new blunder, and in Jackonsville, against one of the worst teams of the league. To keep it short, the Giants are two tiers better than the home team, and even if I were completely wrong, Manning seems a much better choice than the QB who's been cut 15 times this season. Details

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Some things are a bit unclear to me here. We have a 9-1 score team playing away against a 6-4 score team, and it should be a low scoring blowout? I find that to be an insane idea, especially considering a bunch of other factors favor the 'desert crew'. After ten victories were not enough for them to get into playoff last season, the Cardinals started this season highly motivated, even more so since the Super Bowl will be in their arena. They scored a single defeat, against Manning in Denver, they're leading the division with a phenomenal defense and a rational offense; and have so far left a much better impression than the struggling Seahawks, who are allegedly having problems in the locker room. One should never underestimate the heart of a champion, that's true, but I cannot trust a team who passed for over 200 yards only twice this season, against the best secondary of the league. It's true that the Seahawks rarely lose at home, but the Cardinals have proven they can handle the home arena pressure last year, when they left the CL Field with a 17-10 victory, so I don't see a reason why they wouldn't make this at least a close game. Details

Even thogh I'm really impressed with how the Texans reacted after the disastrous last season, they don't seem like a playoff material, especially not without Arian Foster who definitely won't be playing tonight. How big of a handicap his absence is is obvious from the fact he's in the top three running backs of the league. The Texans base their whole game on the decent defense and ground play, and they could have problems in both those segments tonight. I think the Bengals are the favorites from the shadow and can go all the way, their offensive potential is phenomenal, and I think they'll soon sort out the problems with the defense which is one of the most expensive ones in the league, and it won many games last season. The whole Bengals' roster seems better than the home team's whose offense will be lead by the quarterback in only his second start of the career, so it wouldn't be a surprise if he has a series of mistakes, it happens to players better than him regularly. The Bengals celebrated on one of the toughest away games in the league last week, (the Saints), and since the rest of the division is after them, they definitely can't relax so I expect them fully motivated in Texas, too. Details