The fantasy season may be over but that doesn’t mean we’re done asking the experts for advice. With 4 playoff games on tap this weekend, we’re sure more than a few of you have a “rooting” interest in the outcomes. To help steer you in the right direction, we polled 35+ experts to get their picks against the spread.
The night game on Saturday (8:00pm EST) is a rematch of one of week 17’s best games: Minnesota at Green Bay. The Packers will be looking to exact some revenge after the Vikings stymied their bid to earn a 1st round bye. Read on to see who the experts like against the spread this week.
Note: Each expert polled provided commentary on the single team (across the 4 games) they like best this weekend. Therefore, an expert with a write-up likes this pick as their “best bet” of the week.
Expert Picks: Minnesota at Green Bay (-7.5)
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| 68% | 32% |
| “I know the Vikings have played the Pack tough recently, but I don’t think they throw the ball well enough to beat good teams regularly. Adrian Peterson can’t get 200 yards every game … can he?”- John Halpin (Fox Sports) | “The Vikings defense can keep them in the game, and they’ll be able to run on the Packers. On a neutral field, I’d give the Packers a very slight edge. At home, the Packers are a clear favorite; but 7.5 points is too many. It should be morel like 3.5 points.”- Maurile Tremblay (FootballGuys) |
| “Christian Ponder on the road is going to be a nightmare. Adrian Peterson is terrific, but he can’t overcome that in the playoffs.”- Scott Pianowsk (Yahoo! Sports) | Pat Fitzmaurice (ProFootballWeekly) |
| “Love AP, but asking him to rush for 200 yards 3 games in a row vs the same team is a huge thing to ask. Ponder in first road playoff game in a frozen Green Bay for a dome team is also a huge task. On top of that Aaron Rodgers is playing his best football of the year right now.”- Ken Zalis (Fans Fantasy Football) | Michael Pichan (RotoInfo) |
| “With a 10:0 touchdown-to-interception ratio in his past three games, Packers QB Aaron Rodgers has the most dangerous quartet of receivers in the league and they are finally all (relatively) healthy. I see the Packers building an early lead at home and the Vikings are not built to play from behind, especially since they lost Percy Harvin for the season.”- Kevin Hanson (EDS Football) | Mike Clay (ProFootballFocus) |
| “The impact Charles Woodson has on the rest of the Green Bay defense cannot be underestimated. He may not play every down in his return to the field this Saturday, but his presence alone will demand excellence from the Packers defense and I expect them to rise to the challenge. Another player I expect to step up his game is Aaron Rodgers. Having a full set of receivers to throw to (Jennings, Nelson, Cobb and Jones) should have Rodgers giddy as a schoolgirl out there, and while the Vikings pass coverage has certainly improved from a year ago, they still don’t have what it takes to stop this Green Bay offense.”- Dawgmatica (Pyromaniac) | Ryan Lester (Lester’s Legends) |
| “I love Aaron Rodgers going against a 24th ranked Vikings pass defense that gives up a 63.9% completion rate, 244 yards per game, and 28 touchdowns on the year. I love the Packers at home in Lambeau against Christian Ponder, as the Packers only allow a 55.1% completion percentage to opposing quarterbacks.”- Dan Yanotchko (EDSFootball) | Greg Smith (The Fake Football) |
| “With Charles Woodson back to help that defense, I think the Packers D will show up big at home versus the Vikings. Peterson will be tough to slow down but Woodson does so many of the little things well, it might be just enough to keep Minnesota in check.”- Tom Schriner (FFLockerRoom) | Jeff Paur (RTSports) |
| “My take on the Packers is that they are a well coached team that will fix the areas that went wrong against Minnesota last week. Aaron Rodgers has also been through the playoffs before and will now have Jordy, Jennings, and Cobb on the field for the first time in a while with them all healthy. This is a statement game for them at home while they look to gain momentum.”- Mike Tagliere (TagsFantasyFootball) | Walton Spurlin (Fantasy Sharks) |
| “I would anticipate watching the Packers stack the box against the Vikings and force Christian Ponder to try and beat them. Charles Woodson will be back for Green Bay, and with Aaron Rodgers completing over 70% of his throws, passing for 651 yards, and tossing 5 scores against Minnesota this year, the green and gold will redeem last week’s loss.”- Joe Dyken (FFNerd) | Derek Lofland (Fantasy Football Maniax) |
| “Packers in the playoffs are golden. I have won many a playoff league with everyone on the packers. Rodgers, Jennings, Jones, Finley are all solid picks for your playoff league. The other team I would look at for the wildcard round is the Texans.”- James Hatfield (HattyWaiverWireGuru) | Brett Talley (The Fantasy Fix) |
| “Green Bay is at home where they rarely lose in the playoffs, and teams don’t often beat an opponent in the first round that they beat in week 17. Packers are just about 100% for the first time all season, too, so Minnesota’s wild run ends in round one.”- Kevin Roberts (NFL Soup) | R.J. White (FFCafe) |
| “I have a feeling the the Vikings gave their best effort in last week’s win over the Packers at home. The Packers should learn from the loss and feed off their crowd at home.”- Chet Gresham (The Fake Football) | Keet Bailey (NFL Soup) |
| Andrew Norton (GHL Fantasy) | |
| Muntradamus (Beast Dome) | |
| Zach Greubel (WinMyFantasyLeague) | |
| Raju Byfield (WinMyFantasyLeague) | |
| C.D. Carter (Sports Jerks) | |
| Brent Namejko (Fantasy Smack Talk) | |
| Scott Engel (RotoExperts) | |
| Jeff Brubach (The Fake Football) | |
| Ryan Fowler (Fox Sports) | |
| Ryan Forbes (2MugsFF) | |
| Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Sports Empires) | |
| Sigmund Bloom (FootballGuys) | |
| Joel Beall (Fox Sports) |
Thanks to the experts for stopping by to give us their picks. Feel free to let us know if you agree with their take in the comments. Also, if you want to see who the pundits like in the other wild-card games, please check the links below.
