The NFL playoffs can be an anxious period of time for bettors. These are the biggest games of the NFL each year, yet in some ways, they signify the end of another football season. After all, at the commencement of the postseason, there are just 11 bettable football games remaining, 12 if you're silly enough to bet the Pro Bowl! Therefore, many handicappers feel this is the last chance to either get back what was lost so far, or parlay earlier winnings into bigger riches. In both cases, I would suggest to err on the side of conservative, as the playoffs can often be filled with surprises, and thus difficult games to handicap. Read the entire article, including:

• Memorable Playoff Games
• General Playoff Trends
• Playoff Line Movement Patterns
• Round by Round Trends
• Stats and their relevance in the postseason

One of the keys to winning in the NFL, and the playoffs in particular, is to understand all the key numbers. Too often, "square" bettors do not pay enough attention to the important numbers while others who consider themselves knowledgeable, are buying up and down on these numbers. The fact is that the most popular spread number is three, and is hit less then 17% of the time during the season. Not to suggest that buying numbers does not occasionally have merit, however it makes more sense to have multiple sportsbooks and find the number you are seeking instead.

For the Playoffs we will focus on the Wild Card games along with the correlating numbers. Since 1993, of the 52 Wildcard Round games played, the straight up winner is 45-4-3 ATS. (91.8%) What this unquestionably points out is that "Pick the Game Winner and you are an ATS Winner as well". Read more, including the significance of the lines for this weekend's games by clicking here

Four exciting games are on tap for this weekend's opening round of the NFL playoffs. The third game, scheduled for 1:00 PM Et on Sunday matches the NFC East Champion NY Giants against the upset minded Carolina Panthers. This Wildcard dual is the StatFox FREE NFL FoxSheet of the Week! New York currently sits as a 3-point favorite, with the total looming around the 44 mark.

Carolina and New York have not met since the last week of the 2003 season. Both teams come into this game with 11-5 marks, though New York earned the home field advantage by virtue of its division title. The Giants played nine games at home this year thanks to the scheduling quirk created by Hurricane Katrina, and ended up 8-1 SU & 7-2 ATS at the Meadowlands. The offense was particularly sharp at home, scoring 29.4 PPG. Meanwhile, Carolina was nearly as effective away from home, finishing 6-2 SU & 5-3 ATS while outscoring opponents by 8.2 PPG. Clearly something will have to give!

This week's ATS FoxSheet, along with the Money Line, First Half Line, and Teaser Line FoxSheets are loaded with everything you need to wind up on the right side of this playoff contest. Take a look at these quick trends, one favoring each team:

StatFox Situational Power Trends favoring CAROLINA to cover the spread CAROLINA is 12-2 ATS (+9.8 Units) as a road underdog over the last 3 seasons. The average score was CAROLINA 23.6, OPPONENT 20.3 - (Rating = 2*)

StatFox Coaching Situational Power Trends favoring NY GIANTS to cover the spread Coughlin is 9-2 ATS (+6.8 Units) as a home favorite of 7 points or less as the coach of NY GIANTS. The average score was NY GIANTS 28.4, OPPONENT 16.5 - (Rating = 0*)

There's plenty of more analysis to chew on to help get you prepared for when these teams meet on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET. Get it all by visiting the FREE NFL FoxSheet of the Week.

FREE Matchup Quick Links

Hello everybody, welcome back to another edition of the StatFox Scuffle. We hope you enjoyed the college bowl season and our three part series dedicated to those 28 games. What a great game last night with Texas & USC to wrap it up! We are ready to switch gears and attack the NFL again. The playoffs are here and we're confident that you're as excited about it as we are. Indianapolis is the overall favorite according to Sports Interaction.com at 10-11 odds. Seattle is the favorite out of the NFC at 7-1 odds to win it all. Well today, StatFox Doug & StatFox Steve plan to discuss those odds as well as the games for the upcoming Wildcard Weekend. From all early indications, there is little they agree on, so it could get interesting…Read the entire Scuffle to get StatFox Doug's & Steve's thoughts on the Wildcard games!

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