The regular season came to an exciting end in the AFC as the Denver Broncos were knocked out of the playoffs.
Having squandered a 13-0 lead, the Broncos needed to score late to force overtime. Needing a win or a tie to secure a playoff spot, the Broncos let the San Francisco 49ers move deep into their territory allowing a 36 yard field goal with less than 2 minutes left in the overtime period.
The Broncos' loss allowed the Kansas City Chiefs, who had won earlier in the day, to capture the sixth and final playoff spot in the AFC.
The match-ups this weekend are intriguing; on Saturday we will watch the Chiefs at the Colts and the Cowboys at the Seahawks. Then on Sunday the Jets visit the Patriots and the Giants travel to Philadelphia to face the red hot Eagles.
I am not sure the Colts are looking forward to tackling Chiefs running back Larry Johnson at least 25 times on Saturday. The Colts have the worst rushing defense in the league allowing 173 yards per game on the ground. The Chiefs will attack this weakness with Johnson, the league's second leading rusher.
The line on this game opened favoring the Colts by 6 1/2 with a total of 50. While I do believe the Chiefs have a chance to pull off the upset, the pick here is to take the under. If the Chiefs have a successful day running, and they should, they should win the time of possession battle which will also keep the Colts offense and Peyton Manning on the sidelines.
The Seattle Seahawks will host the Dallas Cowboys Saturday night. Neither team has played well lately; both teams have lost three of their last four games. The line on the game favors the Seahawks by 2 1/2 with the total set at 46 1/2.
Just a month and a half ago everybody was talking about Tony Romo and how the Cowboys were the best team in the NFC after sending the Colts to their first loss of the season.
The pick here is to take the Cowboys. The money line is the suggested play, but the line has to be at least +$1.25. The possibility of two upsets on Saturday is good and we might as well look to get ahead early in the playoffs.
Bringing in a couple of picks on Saturday will make Sunday that much more fun. I will make some decisions on those games but not until later in the week.
Jason Kolenut is the Casino Fandango Race and Sports Book supervisor.