Well ladies and gentlemen, ‘Welcome to the Tournament’.  Just when you didn’t think you would know what to do with yourself now that bowl season is ending, the NFL kicks off its annual tournament, also known as the NFL Playoffs.  Instead of the normal ramblings usually found in this space, today you will be delighted to know that we will be dealing only with the facts.

The first game of the tournament features the Colts at the Jets.  The Colts beat the Jets 45-24 on Sept. 9 as a 2 ˝-point road underdog and the Jets responded back with a 29-28 home victory in the Dec. 23rd rematch in a pick’em game. Both games went ‘over’ the closing totals.

In December the Colts have been 2-3 ATS and have been 4-4 ATS on the road, with the 'over' going 5-2-1.  The 'over' had cashed three straight times for the Colts before going 'under' in their season-finale win versus Jacksonville.

New York has seen a much better December going 4-1 ATS and have been 4-3-1 ATS at Giants Stadium. The over has cashed in the Jets' past two games after going 'under' four consecutive contests.  After starting the season with a 1-4 record both SU and ATS, the Jets have been playing much better football and have been one of the NFL’s hottest teams by going 8-3 SU and 8-2-1 ATS.

Saturday’s second tournament game will put Atlanta, who lost to Green Bay on Opening Day, 37-34, but covered the spread as a 7 1/2-point road underdog. The combined 71 points burst ‘over’ the closing 42 ˝-point total.  Both Atlanta and Green Bay feature two of the most talked about quarterbacks this year in Michael Vick and Brett Favre but the two have been relatively quiet in recent weeks.

The Falcons are 6-2 ATS on the road, with the 'over' also going 6-2. They were 4-1 ATS as a road underdog.  The Falcons finished 6^th in the league ATS at 10-6.

Green Bay is 5-3 ATS this season at Lambeau Field. The club closed as a home favorite on each occasion. In addition, the Packers are a perfect 11-0 SU all-time in playoff games at Lambeau.

Game one on Sunday renews the oldest rivalry in the AFC.  This will be a rematch of Week 4, when the Steelers got a 16-13 overtime victory as six-point home favorites. The combined 29 points was well ‘under’ the closing 44-point total.

Cleveland was the NFL’s ATS champion this year going 11-5 overall, which includes 7-1 ATS away from home this season. In addition, the squad is 6-1 ATS as an away underdog.

Pittsburgh who finished 28^th in the league ATS at 5-10-1, ended the regular season on a three-game SU winning streak. However, the club was 2-7 ATS in its last nine games. At home the Steelers are just 2-6 ATS and the over is 5-3.

The last game of the weekend has two teams coming in as polar opposites.  The red hot Giants will travel to San Francisco to play the struggling 49ers.  These squads met in the league opener (Thursday night, Sept. 5), when San Francisco bested the Giants 16-13. However, the 49ers barely failed to cover the spread as four-point road favorites. The combined 19 points never came close to the 38 ˝-point closing total.

The Giants ended the regular season with a four-game winning streak both SU and ATS, including a 10-7 victory against the Eagles in the season finales. New York is 5-3 ATS on the road.

Meanwhile San Francisco limps into the playoffs by going 0-7-1 ATS in its last eight regular season contests.  The 49ers come into this weekend as the worst ATS team to make the playoffs.  The 49ers finished in 30^th place with only the Bengals and Rams being worse.  They are 4-10-2 overall and, are just 2-5-1 ATS at home, all in the favorite’s role.

Good luck in the tournament.

Nick Rizzo

Questions and comments can be directed to NickR@LasVegasSportsLine.com