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The NFL is a week-to-week struggle, and a fight for only one reason, and that reason is to make the playoffs. Every team sets its goals at the beginning of the season and the playoffs are a part of this. It matters not what happened the year before.
Look at the Jets, the Lions, the Texans, the Broncos, and any team that missed this year’s playoff scene – what are they looking for next year? The playoffs. NFL teams do not start their season out by saying “let’s get a win or two”, no, they start the season knowing they can win and beat anybody if they have a plan that works and if their players follow that plan.
This year’s playoff teams have all earned their place and we are going to see fantastic games and the very best matchups. Anybody can beat anybody; every team has a chance to advance. Find a great offshore bookmaker to complement any domestic bookie that you may be using.
Look for the best lines and odds, not only in the NFL but also in the NBA, NHL, and MLB. Every serious player must have more than one online bookie in their back pocket. Get your bets in now for what’s sure to be a fantastic NFL Wild Card Weekend.
Raiders (10-7, 8-9-0 ATS) @ Bengals (10-7, 10-7-0 ATS)
Odds: Bengals -5.5, 49
The Raiders have won 4 consecutive games and they hung on by a thread in all of them. What matters is not whether they hung on or not, what matters is the score at the end of the day. They have “scoreboard” and they are here, in this year’s Wild Card game against the AFC North Champion, Cincinnati Bengals. The Raiders must be given credit, this team has been through “some stuff|” this season! The firing of John Gruden was a shock, to say the least, and he deserves the credit for the playoff appearance. play with patience, and run, run, run, all day long. Do not get in a shootout, and they have a chance.
The Bengals come in with the same record as the Raiders, and they are beatable at home. They have won 3 of the last 5 games but lost a big one to the 49ers in OT, at home, back on December 12th. Last week’s loss to Cleveland can’t be counted, the Bengals can’t be handicapped with that loss in mind. Two weeks ago, they beat the Chiefs 34-31, the week before, they beat the Ravens 41-21, and the week just after the 49er’s loss, they beat Denver, 15-10. What the Bengals can’t do is get in a “grind it out slugfest”, which will fall into the Raiders hands. This game must be up-tempo, fast-paced, and have a score that runs well over 49 combined.
Both the Raiders and the Bengals have some injuries to deal with, that offsets. The Bengals and Burrow have proven they can win a big game. As much as we love the Raiders heart, and as much as we love their effort over the last few weeks, we have to like the Bengals to outscore the Raiders and win this football game, having said that, we think this contest stays oh so very close.
Pick: Raiders +5.5, Under 49
Patriots (10-7, 10-7-0 ATS) @ Bills (11-6, 9-6-2 ATS)
Odds: Bills -4, 44
The Patriots have proven many people wrong; they have proven their fans wrong, and a dime on a donut says they have proven Tom Brady wrong. Bill Belichick is the GOAT of NFL coaches. The man can’t be beaten, he’s the best there ever was and maybe someday, someone will come along and be better, but right now, he’s the best and he has proven it so without a quarterback that many say is also the GOAT. Who knows, who cares? What we know is the Patriots can play football and they earned this playoff game. Mac Jones is proving to be solid, is he Tom, NO, but who is? The good news for Jones is his weapons, he has them in Harris and Meyers.
The Bills offense is clicking once again and although this team has seen its fair share of ups and downs, they are fighters that never give up. The Bills can be beaten at home, they have been beaten at home by this Patriots team. Often, we the public, tend to look at the negative too closely, but then one does that when considering plunking money down. The Bills have won the last 4 consecutive games, their last loss came against Tampa in OT, 27-33, and the week before against these Patriots, 10-14. The two have beaten each other, in each other’s house. The Bills have dialed it up on defense and we think this game plan works in the cold, back in Orchard Park.
When the Bills go all in, they are tough to beat. When they have tee times on their mind, they are easy to beat. This game is going under the total, this will be a slugfest in the cold and as we said above, we love the home team in a playoff game. Not to mention the Bills are the better team and they are healthy.
Pick: Bills -4, Under 44
Eagles (9-8, 8-8-1 ATS) @ Buccaneers (13-4, 9-8-0 ATS)
Odds: Buccaneers -8.5, 49
Both teams come into this game with a boatload of injuries, we will not focus on this, what we will look at is the real probability, and who has a bigger heart to get it done in a playoff game. This is the kind of game that would be easy for most folks to take their eyes off the ball. This one looks like an easy pick, but is it? The Eagles have won 4 of the last 5 games, however, those 4 games came against Washington, the Giants, Washington, and the Jets. To end the season last week, the Eagles were pounded by the Cowboys, in Philly, 51-26. Does that game count, aftercall it was the last game of the season and it didn’t matter? YES, it matters, it counted. The Eagles don’t look ready to face the reigning Super Bowl Champions.
The Buccaneers are doing their thing and their offense is clicking, the defense is clicking, and Brady is clicking. We are not crowning this football team, we are not giving them another ring, what we are doing is pointing out that they have come back around after some sketchy performances against the Jets, and a BAD loss to the Saints, at home in Tampa, 0-9. It is bothersome they managed to put up a goose egg against the Saints, and in their backyard to boot. Is this team flawed? Could be, but we must give them the benefit of the doubt with a quarterback like Brady, and against a team that backed its way in this year’s playoffs.
8.5 is a lot of points to lay in a playoff game, however, this is Tom Brady, and this is in Toms back yard. We must believe the Buccaneers have made adjustments after the horrible performance against the Saints and the lackluster win against the Jets.
Pick: Buccaneers -8.5, Under 49
49ers (10-7, 9-8-0 ATS) @ Cowboys (12-5, 13-4-0 ATS)
Odds: Cowboys -3, 51
The classic playoff matchup between the 49ers and the Cowboys, only this time, there is no Dion Sanders! Here I am (referring to myself, a journalism “no-no”) oh well, the journalism gods will have to forgive me! I remember those matchups like it was yesterday; I was a kid, but wow, did the passion for watching great football sink in with me. The 49ers have had their share of “rotten years” however, they have had some fantastic years with a couple of Super Bowl wins. The Cowboys have had close to nothing. The “rotten years” are long over but wow, there have been much too many mediocre years. The fans will never go away. They love their Cowboys, as well as 49ers fans, they are faithful to the end.
This game will be fun, and the history makes it fun, however, the looming question is – Are the 49ers equipped to win a playoff game on the road, in Dallas, or anywhere? The problem we are having with this one is the 49ers linebacking core – it’s a beat-up battle zone and nearly all of them are listed as “questionable” for this game. Listen, this is a problem. The Cowboys offense found itself last week against the Eagles, to the tune of 51 points. The 49ers have found a playoff opponent that makes adjustments well. Mike McCarthy is certainly different and he has his idiosyncrasies, but the man makes adjustments well and he recognizes when they are necessary, hi most embarrassing moments have proven to be the best thing for the Cowboys to get back on track. After losing to Denver, 16-30, they bounced back with a 43-3 win over Atlanta, they lost in KC, 9-19, then against the Raiders on Thanksgiving, 33-36. They went on to rattle off 4 consecutive wins, then a loss to Arizona, 22-25. The only game the Cowboys were totally out of, was the Denver loss.
The 49ers and Garoppolo have shown a lot of heart down the stretch, however, we can’t get past the Tennessee loss. The Cowboys will be ready for this game and will not spot the 49ers 10 points in the first half as Tennessee did. The Cowboys move upward and onward.
Pick: Cowboys -3, Over 51
Steelers (9-7-1, 8-9-0 ATS) @ Chiefs (12-5, 8-9-0 ATS)
Odds: Chiefs -12.5, 46.5
The Steelers come into this playoff matchup having lost to their opponent three weeks prior by a score of 10-36. The Chiefs smacked these guys and the final score doesn’t reflect the level of awful the Steelers were at that day. They were terrible and this one game is not the only incident of terrible this season. Then on the other hand, what we see is a Steelers team that believed in themselves and a team that showed up to play “Steeler Football”. It all started in week one with a 23-16 win over Buffalo, in Buffalo, then 3 consecutive losses, then 4 consecutive wins over Denver, Seattle, Cleveland, and Chicago. Here is what we love about the Steelers in this game… They have nothing to lose and they will be playing this thing for Ben, it could be his last game, ever. We also love the fact that when push came to shove against the rivals, they won all 4 games, 2 against the Ravens, and 2 against the Browns.
The Chiefs have the best “one-two-punch” in the game, with Mahomes and Travis Kelce. In the early going of the season, we saw the Chiefs not look so good, and we saw a team that struggled to fit its image. After the Tennessee loss on October 24th, they picked it up with 8 consecutive wins and 9 of 10, with the one loss coming by way of the Bengals, 31-34. Last week the Chiefs backfield was exposed in Denver. The DB core and cover two are suspect for the chiefs, had it not been for a late fumble, the Broncos would have won the game. The Steelers will make adjustments and will keep this close and threaten to win, they may win, but we like the Chiefs on the money line but too rich for our blood at – 800.
The Chiefs are a team with great offensive weapons and when they run the ball, they are even better. The Steelers play well when they are motivated, how can they not be motivated for this one?
Pick: Steelers +12.5, Under 46.5
Cardinals (11-6, 10-7-0 ATS) @ Rams (12-5, 8-9-0 ATS)
Odds: Rams -4, 49.5
The Cardinals ended this season on a strange note, and overall, the season was… for a lack of anything better – weird. Yes, they won 11 games and 4 of their 6 losses came in the last 5 weeks of play. We have to say, some of the Cardinals losses were ugly. The Seattle loss was ugly, 30- 38, the Colts loss was ugly on offense, 16-22. The Lions loss was the ugliest of all, 12-30, and the Rams loss on the 13th of December, 23-30. Of the 4 losses in the last 5 games, the Cardinals have allowed 30 points per game. They will not win a playoff game allowing 30 points or more. Not against the Jets, not against the Rams, not against any team! Murray has been stellar this year with 3787 yards passing, 24 TDs, and just 10 INTs. The weapons are there for the Cardinals on offense, but not on defense.
The Rams are not blowing teams out, they are scoring a pile of points, however, they tend to play pound for pound with the competition. Look at the 49ers loss last week, 24-27 in OT, the Raven win the week before, 20-19, the Viking win the week before that, 30-23, the Seattle win on December 21 st , 20-10, and the Arizona win back on the 13th, 30-23. The Rams have done what they were expected to do – win, but they blew nobody’s door down. Vegas sees this, they saw it for sure and they set the line accordingly this week. They are skittish on 7, 8, 9, or 10 points. The Rams have the firepower to win this game with weapons such as Stafford who has been superb, and Kupp who is having an MVP season.
The Rams laying -4 is a fair number and we must take it. The Cardinals have shown they have the goods on offense but certainly not on defense.
Pick: Rams -4, Over 49.5
This past NFL season brought joy to bettors and certainly some frustration along the way. The good news – frustration is not normal, winning is normal and we have found what works. The best online sportsbooks are now offering fantastic deposit bonuses that will match up to 100% or less, depending on what you prefer. If you would rather play cash only then you have many great options. Be sure to have several bookmakers – have at least one for “cash only” and at least one for “bonus play”.
This week’s Wild Card action offers something for every fan. You can believe you will see some high-scoring games and at the same time, you will see some of the best defense of the entire year. No matter what it is that you love the most about the NFL Playoffs, you will find something that you can bet on and win money. Winning is what this gambling thing is all about! Good luck.
