Staff Picks: Wild-Card Playoffs

Staff Picks: Wild-Card Playoffs

This article is part of our NFL Staff Picks series.

Congratulations to Scott Pianowski for winning the 2022 Staff Picks title in dominating fashion. Pianowski led wire-to-wire, finishing 149-114-8, 16 games ahead of the field, to beat the vig at 56.7 percent (not including ties).

Pianowski was strong to the end, too, winning Week 18 at 12-4. Nick Whalen went 11-5 and Dalton Del Don was 10-6. Four of five best bets hit last week, as did the group's lone unanimous pick. Majority picks went 9-7. 

This week's wild-card games produced two unanimous picks — the 49ers -9.5 and the Bengals -7. Whalen made the 49ers his best bet, while Pianowski took the Bengals. 

Note that the Dolphins-Bills line opened at Buffalo -9.5, but jumped to -13 — after picks were submitted but before the article was posted —  with the news of Tua Tagovailoa being out. The only writer to change his pick after the line moved was noted Bills fan Kevin Payne, who switched to Miami. Make of that what you will. 

 Odds from BetMGM. Use the BetMGM Bonus Code for a risk-free bet up to $1,000.

MATCHUPERICKSONPIANOWSKIWHALENPAYNEDEL DON
Seahawks +9.5 at 49ers49ers49ers49ers49ers49ers
Chargers -1.5 at JaguarsJaguarsChargersChargersJaguarsJaguars
Dolphins +13 at BillsBillsBillsBillsDolphinsBills
Giants +3 at VikingsGiantsGiantsGiantsVikingsGiants
Ravens +7 at BengalsBengalsBengalsBengalsBengalsBengals
Cowboys -2.5 at BuccaneersCowboysBuccaneersCowboysCowboysBuccaneers
Best BetGiantsBengals49ersJaguarsBuccaneers
Last Week's

Congratulations to Scott Pianowski for winning the 2022 Staff Picks title in dominating fashion. Pianowski led wire-to-wire, finishing 149-114-8, 16 games ahead of the field, to beat the vig at 56.7 percent (not including ties).

Pianowski was strong to the end, too, winning Week 18 at 12-4. Nick Whalen went 11-5 and Dalton Del Don was 10-6. Four of five best bets hit last week, as did the group's lone unanimous pick. Majority picks went 9-7. 

This week's wild-card games produced two unanimous picks — the 49ers -9.5 and the Bengals -7. Whalen made the 49ers his best bet, while Pianowski took the Bengals. 

Note that the Dolphins-Bills line opened at Buffalo -9.5, but jumped to -13 — after picks were submitted but before the article was posted —  with the news of Tua Tagovailoa being out. The only writer to change his pick after the line moved was noted Bills fan Kevin Payne, who switched to Miami. Make of that what you will. 

 Odds from BetMGM. Use the BetMGM Bonus Code for a risk-free bet up to $1,000.

MATCHUPERICKSONPIANOWSKIWHALENPAYNEDEL DON
Seahawks +9.5 at 49ers49ers49ers49ers49ers49ers
Chargers -1.5 at JaguarsJaguarsChargersChargersJaguarsJaguars
Dolphins +13 at BillsBillsBillsBillsDolphinsBills
Giants +3 at VikingsGiantsGiantsGiantsVikingsGiants
Ravens +7 at BengalsBengalsBengalsBengalsBengalsBengals
Cowboys -2.5 at BuccaneersCowboysBuccaneersCowboysCowboysBuccaneers
Best BetGiantsBengals49ersJaguarsBuccaneers
Last Week's Record7-912-411-57-910-6
2022 Record127-136-8149-114-8124-139-8131-132-8133-130-8
2022 Best Bet Record8-108-9-19-98-9-110-8
2022 Unanimous Pick Record12-11-2    
2022 Majority Pick Record128-135-8    
2021 Playoff Record7-69-4NA7-68-5
2020 Playoff Record5-88-5NA6-77-6
2019 Playoff Record6-55-6NA4-77-4
2018 Playoff Record3-6-11-8-1NAN/A2-7-1
2017 Playoff Record5-65-6NAN/A2-9
2016 Playoff Record6-55-6NAN/A6-5
2015 Playoff Record5-62-9NAN/A1-10
2014 Playoff Record10-15-6NAN/A9-2
2013 Playoff Record5-4-23-6-2NAN/A4-5-2
2012 Playoff Record4-6-15-5-1NAN/A8-2-1
2011 Playoff Record8-35-6NAN/A7-4
2010 Playoff Record6-55-6NAN/A8-3
2009 Playoff Record5-64-7NAN/A5-6
2008 Playoff Record6-55-6NAN/A4-7
2007 Playoff Record8-33-8NAN/A2-9
2006 Playoff Record7-4N/ANAN/AN/A
2005 Playoff Record5-6N/ANAN/AN/A
2004 Playoff Record6-5N/ANAN/AN/A
2003 Playoff Record6-5N/ANAN/AN/A
2002 Playoff Record6-57-4NAN/AN/A
2001 Playoff Record6-4-17-3-1NAN/AN/A
2021 Record129-140-3134-135-3N/A145-124-3136-133-3
2020 Record121-127-8128-120-8N/A115-133-8118-130-8
2019 Record126-124-6140-110-6N/A127-123-6134-116-6
2018 Record125-122-9134-113-9N/AN/A120-127-9
2017 Record117-125-14128-114-14N/AN/A98-144-14
2016 Record140-111-5130-121-5N/AN/A132-119-5
2015 Record134-114-8120-128-8N/AN/A121-127-8
2014 Record123-128-5140-111-5N/AN/A128-123-5
2013 Record132-114-10118-128-10N/AN/A128-118-10
2012 Record110-140-6125-125-6N/AN/A123-127-6
2011 Record121-128-7134-115-7N/AN/A127-122-7
2010 Record129-122-5134-117-5N/AN/A134-117-5
2009 Record123-130-3132-121-3N/AN/A126-127-3
2008 Record132-114-10128-118-10N/AN/A130-116-10
2007 Record127-120118-129N/AN/A130-117
2006 Record118-129N/AN/AN/AN/A
2005 Record121-126N/AN/AN/AN/A
2004 Record124-124N/AN/AN/AN/A
2003 Record121-126118-129N/AN/AN/A
2002 Record113-136123-126N/AN/AN/A
2001 Record124-113117-120N/AN/AN/A
2000 Record123-117134-106N/AN/AN/A
WRITERCOMMENT
EricksonNo, I haven't switched souls with Liss. But the Vikings needed a miracle field goal to beat the Giants at home three weeks ago, and now that they're down two more starting OL. It's a shame that the Cowboys are playing the Bucs — I wanted to pick against both of them.
PianowskiThe playoffs should be a blast starting next week, but it's a lukewarm first slate. Baltimore and Miami aren't expected to have their starting quarterbacks. The Seahawks probably don't have much upside. Tampa Bay won the NFC South with a losing record. Next week, things will perk up. I am not overly confident with any of these WC spread picks, let me be clear on that. 
WhalenI choose between San Francisco and Cincinnati as my best bet this week, but I'll gave the edge to the Niners. They're at home, they're (mostly) healthy and they face a Seattle team that needed overtime to get past the Baker Mayfield Rams a week ago. The Niners' defense has carried them all season, but the offense has quietly topped 30 points seven times in the last 10 games.
PayneCowboys were a close second for the best bet, I just think that the Chargers have a limited defense. On a neutral field, what's the spread between the Bills-Chiefs or 49ers-Eagles for that matter?
Del DonTampa Bay was obviously preferred at +3, but I like the Bucs setup to win outright anyway. 

The players:

• Jeff Erickson: RotoWire Senior Editor, 2001, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2016 Staff Picks champ. Writes the Weekly Rankings. Covers and roots for the Bengals.

• Scott Pianowski: Fantasy expert for Yahoo! Sports, and also contributes to RotoWire. 2009, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2022 Staff Picks champ. Roots for the Patriots.

• Nick Whalen: RotoWire Senior Media Analyst. Writes Beating the Book. Roots for the Jaguars.

• Kevin Payne: RotoWire Staff Writer, 2021 Staff Picks champ. Writes our Waiver Wire column. Roots for the Bills.

• Dalton Del Don: Fantasy Expert for Yahoo! Sports, 2007 Staff Picks champ. Roots for the 49ers.

Legal sportsbooks recently launched in Maryland and Ohio. Stay up to date with the latest BetMGM Maryland bonus code and the BetMGM Ohio bonus code.

Want to Read More?
Subscribe to RotoWire to see the full article.

We reserve some of our best content for our paid subscribers. Plus, if you choose to subscribe you can discuss this article with the author and the rest of the RotoWire community.

Get Instant Access To This Article Get Access To This Article
RotoWire Community
Join Our Subscriber-Only NFL Chat
Chat with our writers and other RotoWire NFL fans for all the pre-game info and in-game banter.
Join The Discussion
Thursday Night Football DFS Breakdown: Rams vs. 49ers
Thursday Night Football DFS Breakdown: Rams vs. 49ers
NFL Game Previews: Rams-49ers Matchup
NFL Game Previews: Rams-49ers Matchup
NFL Week 15 Picks, Predictions, Props and Best Bets for Every Game
NFL Week 15 Picks, Predictions, Props and Best Bets for Every Game
Exploiting the Matchups: Week 15 Start/Sit and Fantasy Streamers
Exploiting the Matchups: Week 15 Start/Sit and Fantasy Streamers