Eagles an early 2.5-point favorite over the Saints; but listen to what Schlereth says

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/

FROM KEITH GROLLER

The celebration in Philadelphia hadn't even hit full-throat on Sunday night when Vegas released the spreads for next weekend's opening-round playoff matchups.

The Eagles, according to RJ Bell of Pregame.com, are a 2.5-point favorite over the Saints, which is strictly based on home-field advantage.

The rest of the first-rounders;

1st Round Playoffs:

Colts -2.5 hosting Chiefs

Eagles -2.5 hosting Saints

Bengals -7 hosting Chargers

49ers -2.5 at Packers

You're going to hear a lot of analysis between now and Saturday, and much of it should go in one ear and out the other. But the one guy you may want to listen to is ESPN's Mark Schlereth. See why below, also courtesy of RJ Bell:

16 for 16:

NFL Pundit Mark Schlereth picked 16 out of 16 winners on Sunday. $100 on him correctly picking the straight-up winner (called a “money line parlay”) for all 16 games  would have paid over $50,000!

Here is the TV information for next weekend's games and the divisional round the following week. Note that if the Eagles beat the Saints, they will be headed to Carolina on Sunday Jan. 12.

NFL WILD CARD WEEKEND

Saturday, January 4

AFC:    4:35 PM (ET)	Kansas City at Indianapolis (NBC)
NFC:    8:10 PM (ET)	New Orleans at Philadelphia (NBC)

Sunday, January 5

AFC:    1:05 PM (ET)	San Diego at Cincinnati (CBS)
NFC:    4:40 PM (ET)	San Francisco at Green Bay (FOX)

NFL DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS

Saturday, January 11

NFC:    4:35 PM (ET)	Green Bay/San Francisco/New Orleans at Seattle (FOX)
AFC:    8:15 PM (ET)	Cincinnati/Indianapolis/Kansas City at New England (CBS)

Sunday, January 12

NFC:    1:05 PM (ET)	Philadelphia/Green Bay/San Francisco at Carolina (FOX)
AFC:    4:40 PM (ET)	Indianapolis/Kansas City/San Diego at Denver (CBS)