Pick’em News and Notes for NFL Playoffs 2020-21: Super Bowl Picks Article Now Out

Our picks article breaking down the Conference Championships and pick'em strategy is now live on the site.

The regular season is over, and the NFL playoffs are here. For those of you who have pick’em pools extending into the playoffs (or starting with the playoffs), we will have our Wildcard Round picks analysis article posted on Wednesday this week. We will update in this news and notes section with notable news on line moves, injuries, and any other information that could impact your playoff pick as well, through the Super Bowl.

Here are the most recent updates:

• Wednesday, February 3rd: Our Super Bowl Pick’em Picks strategy article is published
• Wednesday, January 27th: Details on our Super Bowl week plans
• Wednesday, January 20th: Our picks article for the Conference Championship Games is now published

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2021 at 12:45 p.m.

Our Super Bowl Pick’em Picks strategy article is now out, breaking down some strategic considerations for the final game. If you still have a specific strategy question after reading it, make sure to get any questions submitted to the Q&A Forum by Friday morning to ensure a reply.

As a subscriber, you also have access to all of the content in our Super Bowl section on the blog, which has more than 10 articles on things like Super Bowl trends, prop bet analysis, and more.

Wednesday, January 27th, 2021 at 4:15 p.m.

We will plan on having our Super Bowl Pick’em Picks strategy article posted by next Tuesday. With two weeks between the games, we can take a little more time to let data come in and make sure the lines have stabilized before giving our final advice. So check back then, and if you for some reason have a deadline before then, feel free to drop a question in the the Q&A Forum.

In the meantime, we have plenty of other Super Bowl content in our Super Bowl section on the blog, including spread and over/under trend articles, team and player stat projections, and more.

Wednesday, January 20th, 2021 at 5:15 p.m.

Our picks article for the Conference Championships is now out so check it out if you are in a playoff pool. And make sure to get any questions submitted to the Q&A Forum by Friday morning to insure a reply.

Tuesday, January 19th, 2021 at 11:15 a.m.

The Conference Championship games are set, and both are expected to be close affairs.

Green Bay is favored by 3.5 points over Tampa Bay in the first game on Sunday. Kansas City is currently favored by 3 points over Buffalo in the AFC title game.

Obviously, Patrick Mahomes’ status after leaving the previous playoff game because of concussion concerns will be of prime importance. The current indications are that he is expected to play, but any setbacks over the next few days could change that, and alter who is favored in the game.

We will have our Championship Round analysis article out tomorrow.

Friday, January 15th, 2021 at 10:00 a.m.

Jared Goff will be the starting quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams in their Divisional matchup with Green Bay on Saturday, the team announced. John Wolford, who suffered a neck injury early in the Wild Card game, will be inactive, and Blake Bortles will be the backup for the game.

Goff did not start the last game after having thumb surgery less than two weeks earlier, and was limited throwing, completing just under half his passes. He said in comments yesterday that the thumb was feeling better, though his status is still a risk. The line has not moved even after the news, as it was likely anticipated that Goff would be the starter.

In the other Saturday game, keep an eye on the weather reports up until your time for submitting picks, if you are in a pool that also makes spread picks on the over/under. Right now, the Buffalo weather for Saturday night looks to be right on the cusp of troublesome. Temperatures will be near freezing, and there is the potential for precipitation. More importantly, for scoring, wind could be a factor. The current forecast is for winds around 13 mph during the day increasing to 15-25 mph by night, but exactly when those higher winds settle in could be important for this game and the passing attacks.

There have been only a handful of high wind games in the playoffs in the last 20 years, but in the 11 games that had wind of 15 mph or more since 2000 (via a search of the Pro Football Reference Play Index), 9 of the 11 went Under the number.

Wednesday, January 13th, 2021 at 11:15 a.m.

Our NFL Playoffs Pick’em Pool Picks Article for the Divisional Round is now live and available to all subscribers that have access to the Football Pick’em Picks product. Remember that we do not offer customized pick advice for various pick’em pool playoff contests directly within My Pool Picks, but we do breakdown strategy considerations in the article to help you decide how to pick in your pools.

If you have specific strategy questions for your pool, even after reading the article, drop us a question in the Q&A Forum. Just make sure to get your questions in by Friday morning, to give us sufficient time to answer them all. Please include information about your pool’s rules during the playoffs, standings info, and pool size.

Monday, January 11th, 2021 at 3:45 p.m.

The Division round matchups are set and the point spreads are out. The games are:

• Saturday, January 16th at 4:30 pm ET: Green Bay (-7) vs. Los Angeles
• Saturday, January 16th at 8:15 pm ET: Buffalo (-2) vs. Baltimore
• Sunday, January 17th at 3:05 pm ET: Kansas City (-10) vs. Cleveland
• Sunday, January 17th at 6:40 pm ET: New Orleans (-3) vs. Tampa Bay

We will have our Division Round pick’em picks analysis out by Wednesday morning.