The NFL Wild Card Round takes place across Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers are waiting in the Divisional Round as the respective AFC and NFC top seeds.
Both of last season’s Super Bowl teams are competing this weekend, alongside recent champions and ascendant young cores.
Here are our six best bets for the NFL Wild Card matchups…
Yes, Cleveland won this matchup in Week 16, and yes, the Texans have a few notable injury concerns. But can we really go against Texas as a home underdog here?
Joe Flacco has been aggressive since being brought in by the Browns, which has resulted in plenty of interceptions. Houston were 11th in points conceded per game, and with C.J. Stroud at the helm, their offence should be able to put up enough points even against an elite Browns defence.
Pick: Houston Texans to win @ 5/4 with William Hill
It’s going to be seriously cold at Arrowhead. Tua Tagovailoa is 6-13 straight-up when it’s under 70 degrees Fahrenheit and has lost each of the five coldest starts of his career. This could be the coldest yet.
There is plenty to be worried about if you’ve backed the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl. Kansas City’s recent Playoff record speaks for itself, though, and we’re expecting the Dolphins to struggle here.
Pick: Chiefs/Chiefs half-time/full-time @ 21/20 with bet365
Buffalo won their last five regular season games to snatch the AFC East. Their reward is a matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who somehow found their way into the Playoffs again.
Pittsburgh have a great defence, but is that going to be enough to slow down Josh Allen? The Buffalo defence stepped in a big way down the stretch, conceding an average of 16.8 points per game over their last five.
The combination of the Allen-powered offence and a much-improved Buffalo defence means we like the value taking the home team to cover.
Pick: Buffalo Bills -9.5 @ 20/23 with Betway
The Cowboys have been formidable at home, covering in six of their eight games. Green Bay Packers only went 9-8, but they won their last three on the road and come into this game with very little to lose.
Jordan Love had an impressive season. On its day, the Packers defence can stifle pretty much any offence in the league, and Dallas’ offence stuttered over the last month or so.
We think the Packers can at least keep this within a touchdown with how Love has played this term.
Pick: Green Bay Packers +8 @ 5/6 with Betway
Matthew Stafford returns to Detroit with his Rams team having gone 7-1 to close out the regular season. After erupting to an 8-2 start, the Lions slowed down to finish the season with their defence desperately struggling to slow down any offence.
Los Angeles’ defence did enough to allow their offence to win them games after their bye week. We like over 51.5 points in a game that should be dominated by Stafford, Jared Goff and their excellent receiving groups, but we can’t resist the Rams to win.
Pick: Los Angeles Rams to win @ 7/5 with Bet365
The Eagles couldn’t have had a much worse end to the season. They lost four of five before adding another loss to the record in a dead-rubber against the New York Giants.
Philadelphia is still a narrow road favourite here. Tampa Bay are the weakest team in these Playoffs, despite rolling off five wins from their last six to claim the NFC South.
It’s very hard to back the Eagles against anyone with what they’ve shown us of late. We’re on upset watch here.
Pick: Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win @ 7/5 with William Hill
