The Wildcard Round of the NFL playoffs provided plenty of excitement and a fair share of upsets. The Saints lost as 7 point favorites to the Vikings, and the defending champion Patriots fell as 4.5 point favorites to the Titans. Both the Texans and Seahawks advanced to this week as well, defeating the Bills and Eagles, respectively.
It’s worth noting that all four games last week stayed under their posted totals by an average of over 8 points! You can’t really expect a trend like that to continue, but you may want to keep it in mind when handicapping the totals for this week’s games. Odds are that we’ll see totals adjusted at least slightly for this round.
There are some big favorites this week and with good reason. Wildcard teams don’t tend to do well in this round. They did play an extra game after all, while their opponents all had an extra week to rest and prepare. The 49ers, Ravens, and Chiefs are all favored by a touchdown or more, while the Packers are favored by 4.5 points. Historically speaking, the favorites in these situations have done well advancing to the next round (29-12, 70%), but not nearly as well against the spread (19-21-1, 47.5%). This of course is a small sample and nothing to use to try to predict this week. We only offer it as additional information you can use to handicap the games. Simplistic logic, and the narrative you’re likely to hear leading up to the games, would make you think the rested team would blowout their wildcard opponents, but the numbers show this simply isn’t the case.
Below you will find all of the odds for this round of the playoffs. We’ll also post a link to a free betting preview for every game as they become available. Best of luck with your betting this weekend!
NFL Divisional Round Odds (From Bookmaker)
| Date/Time | Matchup | Spread | Total | Preview |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat Jan 11th 5:35 PM |
Minnesota Vikings San Francisco 49ers |
7 -7 |
44 | Preview |
| Sat Jan 11th 9:15 PM |
Tennessee Titans Baltimore Ravens |
9.5 -9.5 |
47 | Preview |
| Sun Jan 12th 4:05 PM |
Houston Texans Kansas City Chiefs |
9.5 -9.5 |
51 | Preview |
| Sun Jan 12th 7:40 PM |
Seattle Seahawks Green Bay Packers |
4.5 -4.5 |
47 | Preview |