Betting Advice for the 2018 NFL Wild Card Round

This coming weekend features the wild card round of the NFL playoffs. The Buffalo Bills got in at the last minute, thanks to Cincinnati completing a comeback at Baltimore in the season finale to send the Ravens home early for the winter, and Atlanta shut down Carolina at home in their season finale to punch their postseason ticket. Let’s look at some NFL Wild Card betting insights for you for this first round of the postseason.

Betting Advice for the 2018 NFL Wild Card Round

The @NFL Wild Card & Divisional schedule pic.twitter.com/7sMXVxoNac

— Michael Signora (@NFLfootballinfo) January 1, 2018

Saturday, January 6

Tennessee at Kansas City (4:20pm ET, ESPN)

The Titans are also 7.5-point underdogs in their road playoff game as they head to Kansas City. Tennessee had lost three in a row going into their win over Jacksonville, and they pulled off a must win against a Jaguars team that did not seem particularly motivated. However, the Chiefs have been a mystery too. They won their first five games, and they also won their last four. However, in the middle came a seven-game stretch in which they only won once. Their competition down the stretch (Oakland, the Chargers, Miami and Denver) has not been particularly inspiring, but they did take care of business emphatically when the Chargers came to town with an upset and playoff contention on their minds. Their offense had sputtered during that seven-game stretch but appears to have come back to life, as they have scored at least 26 points in each of their last five games. I see the Chiefs winning and covering.

Atlanta at L.A. Rams (8:15pm ET, NBC)

What about the Falcons? They did get that win in their finale to enter the postseason, but the defending NFC champions have a real battle on their hands when they head to Los Angeles. The Rams did lose their finale, but they sat Jared Goff, Cooper Kupp and Todd Gurley to rest them for the wild card game. They struggled ina  Week 16 win at Tennessee but routed Seattle on the road in Week 15, 42-7. The Rams have an explosive offense and an intimidating defense, and I don’t see the Falcons keeping up with them. The early line has the Rams favored by six, and I like them to cover.

Sunday, January 7

Buffalo at Jacksonville (1:05pm ET, CBS)

The line for Buffalo and Jacksonville opened at Jacksonville (-7.5) and quickly slid down to Jacksonville (-7) as early action came in on the Bills’ side. If we look at the Bills’ last five games, we see a pair of wins over Miami (by 14 total points), a six-point overtime win at Indianapolis and a pair of losses to New England by a combine 41 points. So while the Bills are excited to end the NFL’s longest postseason drought, expecting them to go down to Jacksonville and even cover may be a little bit much. They did go down to Kansas City the Sunday after Thanksgiving and knock off Kansas City, 16-10, but the Jaguars are not going through the same sort of offensive slog that the Chiefs were at that point in time. They haven’t looked that great against elite competition down the stretch, though — they did rout Indianapolis and Houston, but both of those teams were playing backup quarterbacks. Losing in San Francisco in Week 16 and at Tennessee in Week 17, so they’re not exactly entering the postseason on a high note. I think Jacksonville can take care of the Bills at home, but this could turn into a grinder of a game. Right now, I’m leaning toward taking the Bills with that touchdown.

Carolina at New Orleans (4:40pm ET, FOX)

The fourth wild card game features Carolina heading to New Orleans. If this game were in Carolina, I would like the Panthers, but the Saints traditionally play much better in front of their fans in the Superdome. Carolina could have taken the fourth seed with a win over Atlanta but couldn’t get out of their own way against the Falcons. The Saints lost to Tampa Bay, 31-24, in their season finale, as the flaws in their pass coverage (which they had mostly eliminated this season) re-emerged. The Saints are favored by six points in this game, but while I see the Saints winning, this playoff game between two NFC South rivals will be closer. Give me Carolina to cover.