We have three weeks remaining in the 2018 regular season in the National Football League, but many of the league’s division races have already been locked up, but the race for the wild card slots in both conferences is still raging. If Chicago and Dallas both win this weekend, they will clinch the NFC North and East, respectively, leaving it to the wild card contenders to tangle over the fifth and sixth seeds. The parity in the league seems to be greater than ever, as even such two-loss teams as New Orleans and the Rams have shown some major flaws in the last few weeks. What can we anticipate in the NFL postseason? Here are some NFL betting predictions for you to consider.
2018 NFL Postseason Betting Predictions
Week 15 NFL Power Rankings: 1. @Saints 2. @Chiefs 3. @RamsNFL 4. @Patriots 5-32. https://t.co/2iRLwcgE0m (via @HarrisonNFL) pic.twitter.com/BtP50TBie5
— NFL (@NFL) December 11, 2018
NFC
The Saints and Rams have clinched the NFC South and West, respectively, and since each team has just two losses, it would require a major collapse for either of them to lose the bye through the wild-card round. Chicago and Dallas are likely to clinch their divisions soon, if not this week, but both of them will be looking for that third seed so that they don’t have to host Seattle in the wild-card round (and if you saw Seattle demolish Minnesota last week, you know why). If Seattle beats San Francisco this week, they will clinch that fifth wild card position. But who will come in sixth? Minnesota, Green Bay, Philadelphia, Carolina, Washington, the Giants, Detroit and Tampa Bay all remain as contenders, although some have more flaws than others. Washington has lost two quarterbacks to season-ending injuries, and Carson Wentz may miss this week’s game for the Eagles. Minnesota’s offense has fallen off the table — they fired their offensive coordinator on Tuesday — and they are the most likely team to take the last wild card. But I’m not counting out Aaron Rodgers until the Packers are officially eliminated, as a loss in Chicago this week would do. I see the Rams eking out the Saints for the top seed in the NFC. Both teams have relatively easy schedules, but the Saints have an intriguing opponent in Week 16 as the Steelers come to town.Predictions: Saints, Rams, Bears and Cowboys win divisions
- Rams, Saints take byes (Rams earn top seed)
- Seahawks, Vikings take wild card slots (Seahawks fifth seed)
- Seattle beats Dallas and Chicago beats Minnesota in the wild card round
- Rams beat Chicago, New Orleans beats Seattle
- New Orleans beats the Rams to win the NFC
AFC
This side of the bracket is much less settled than the NFC. The Kansas City Chiefs have clinched a playoff spot at 11-2, but they haven’t clinched their division, as the Chargers are a game back heading into the teams’ clash on Thursday night. New England, Houston and Pittsburgh lead the East, South and North, respectively, but no one has clinched a playoff spot in that group, let alone a division title. Kansas City still has a high-flying offense and has a couple of nailbiter losses to New England and the Rams as their only blemishes. Every other team in the AFC has taken some troubling losses, such as the Patriots’ rout at the hands of the Titans. Houston had a nine-game winning streak end in disappointing fashion last week. Pittsburgh has led the North for a while but has been on a skid lately, losing to Denver and then to Oakland, of all teams. Baltimore is coming on strong lately, with the switch to Lamar Jackson at quarterback, and could well catch the Steelers in the division.Predictions: Chiefs, Patriots, Texans, Ravens win division
- Chiefs, Patriots take byes (Chiefs top seed)
- Chargers, Colts take wild cards (Chargers fifth seed)
- Chargers beat Baltimore and Houston beats Indianapolis in wild card round
- Chargers beat Kansas City, New England beats Houston
- New England beats the Chargers to win the AFC
