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Baltimore Ravens – B+
Baltimore already had a quality team in place, so they needed help in just a few areas to put them over the top. It looks like they got what they needed. Cornerback Jimmy Smith has a ton of talent and should challenge for at least the nickel spot right away. The team got younger and faster at receiver by taking Torrey Smith and Tandon Doss. Tackle Jah Reid should help provide depth on the offensive line. A solid draft overall.

21) Kansas City Chiefs – Phil Taylor, Defensive Tackle, Baylor

Stopping the run was a major problem for Kansas City late in the season as they had no run stuffing nose tackle. Taylor fills that role like Vince Wolfork used to do for this coaching staff in New England. At 6’3 and 334 pounds, Taylor eats up a lot of space and will make the unit much better.

22) Indianapolis Colts – Derek Sherrod, Offensive Tackle, Mississippi State

Baltimore Ravens: Baltimore is mostly set at the skill positions, but needs to address their aging defense. Linebacker Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed are nearing the end of their careers, and three other members of the secondary are free agents so that area must be addressed. Nose tackle Haloti Ngata is also a free agent, but the team would be silly to not give him a long term deal. The offensive line may need a boost as well, with center Matt Birk a free agent and Michel Oher possibly switching to right tackle from the left side.

The Baltimore Ravens finally played well on both sides of the ball vs. the Chiefs in their Wild Card Playoff win at Kansas City in their best game in over a month last week, while the Pittsburgh Steelers soaked it all in on television after earning the bye week by finishing as the second seed in the AFC as North Division champions with a 12-4 record.

The NFL playoff line for this contest is Pittsburgh -3 at betting odds of -120 at home, with the betting total set at 37.

We did the splits in the NFL Wild Card Round going 2-2, correctly calling the upsets by the New York Jets and Green Bay Packers, but failing badly with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Saints vs. Seahawks ‘under’. We now look to improve on that record with our Divisional Round plays.

Saturday, January 15th

Baltimore Ravens (13-4) at Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4) 4:30 ET CBS

Now that the NFL Playoffs are here, it is time to dissect the Super Bowl Future odds to see where the value lies.

The key to playing futures is to find a team that is undervalued at double-digit odds, as that always leaves open the possibility of hedging your wager down the line if you so desire, provided you are correct and your team exceeds expectations.

Well, we did not have to look far to find such a team, so here is our one and only Super Bowl future selection for 2010.

The NFL playoffs have arrived, and what stands out in the wild card round is that in three of the four games, the road team has the better record. That should increase the likelihood of several wild cards advancing to the next round, especially with one of the host teams being the Seattle Seahawks, who made the playoffs with a losing record.

The closest game, if the Wild Card odds are to be believed, will be either the Jets at Colts or the Packers at Eagles with both teams at -2.5. The biggest spread is in the Saints at Seahawks with the Saints, unsurprisingly, at -11.

The Baltimore Ravens (11-4) beat the Browns 20-10 on the road last week, and they still have a chance to win the AFC North with a win here coupled with a Pittsburgh loss. One would think that beating the Cincinnati Bengals (4-11) here would be an easy chore, but try telling that to the San Diego Chargers!

The NFL latest line for this contest is Baltimore -10 at home, with the betting total set at 43.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens meet in Sunday Night football. The Pittsburgh Steelers (8-3) were rather fortunate to beat the Buffalo Bills in overtime last week, while the Baltimore Ravens (8-3) failed to score a point in the second half but still managing to get by Tampa Bay 17-10.

The Steelers are listed as 3-point favorites on the NFL spread and the over/under is 39.5.

We are getting in to the home-stretch of the NFL season where the teams that can truly win under pressure separate themselves from the talented teams that can’t function under pressure (ahem, Dallas). With that said, if you are going to bet on Super Bowl futures, you can get some pretty good deals if you think you know which teams have the right make up to win in high-pressure situations.