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Buffalo Bills: B
The Bills concentrated their draft efforts on shoring up an extremely porous defense. Seven of their nine picks were on defense, including first round defensive lineman Marcell Dareus from Alabama. He should start immediately and provide a major boost to the team’s 32nd ranked rush defense. Offensive tackle remains a question after they waited until the 4th round to address the position. Ryan Fitzpatrick remains the starter at quarterback after the team didn’t draft one.

27) Atlanta Falcons – Adrian Clayborn, Defensive End, Iowa

A first team All-Big Ten selection, Clayborn is a powerful defensive end that can add a boost to the Falcons pass rush. He didn’t produce in his senior year like he did when he was a junior and had 11 sacks, but he is good value at this point in the draft.

28) New England Patriots – Gabe Carimi, Offensive Tackle, Wisconsin

The rich get richer as the Patriots grab another player with a ton of talent that can start right away. Matt Light may not return and the Pats would need a replacement for him. A mountain of a man at 6’7, he was the Outland award winner for best offensive lineman.

The first milestone in the NFL offseason calendar is the draft so, to satisfy our thirst for something football-related to talk about, we look to the AFC East draft needs.

Buffalo Bills: Buffalo has so many needs, it is impossible to list them all. The team was last in the league at stopping the run, so the defensive line definitely needs help. Offensive tackle is another major weakness, with no true starters in place. Quarterback may be the biggest concern, but the coaching staff may stick with Ryan Fitzpatrick for the time being. When they pick third, the Bills could go in several different directions.

The New York Jets did the unthinkable, which is make Tom Brady and the New England Patriots offense look very ordinary, and thus the Jets find themselves in the AFC Championship Game for the second straight year.

Meanwhile, the Steelers advanced with a wild 31-24 win over the Ravens in a game that did not have as many offensive fireworks as the final score implies, as much of the scoring came with short fields set up by a plethora of turnovers by each side.

The NFL playoff betting odds for this contest is Pittsburgh -3½ at betting odds of -115 at home, with the betting total set at 38½.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Jets both flexed their defensive muscles to advance to this AFC Championship Game. The Steelers beat the Ravens by an extremely deceptive score of 31-24 as they allowed only 126 total yards, while the Jets did the unthinkable by shutting down the New England offense in a 28-21 win, with the Patriots getting most of their yards on their last two garbage time possessions.

This sets up a rematch of a December 19th meeting between these teams here in Pittsburgh, won by the Jets 22-17. The AFC Conference Championship odds list the Steelers at 3.5-point favorites with a total of 38.5.

Though plenty of action will get thrown down on both sides of the Championship weekend games, there’s still coin to be made when looking at the totals. Here is our look at both of our ‘total’ calls in this week’s NFL Championship Games.

Sunday, January 23rd

Green Bay Packers (12-6) at Chicago Bears (12-5) 3:00 ET FOX

The NFL latest line on this contest is Green Bay -3½ at betting odds of -115, with the NFC Championship total set at 43½.

We went just 1-2 in out NFL Side calls in the Divisional Round, correctly calling the Packers upset of Atlanta while losing in unlucky fashion with the Ravens +3½ and coming up woefully short with the Patriots.

Sunday, January 23rd

Green Bay Packers (12-6) at Chicago Bears (12-5) 3:00 ET FOX

The NFL playoff odds for this contest is Green Bay -3½ at betting odds of -115, with the total set at 43½.

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 Indianapolis Colts (10-6) did what they had to do by winning their last four games to win the AFC South and make the playoffs, although they hardly resembled the high powered Indianapolis offenses of old the last few weeks, while the New York Jets (11-5) had a nice tune-up for this by routing the Buffalo Bills 38-7 in a meaningless game last week.

The NFL wild card odds list Indianapolis at -2½ at betting odds of -115 at home, with the betting total set at 44½.