The Divisional round of the NFL playoffs is officially set!
The NFL playoffs have already seen 6 games as the Wild Card round came to an end with the Houston Texans defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers in the final remaining matchup. And that means all the fixtures for the Divisional round of the NFL postseason are set.
The four games of the next round of playoffs will take place over the weekend, with two games being played on Saturday and the other two on Sunday. The Broncos take on the Bills in the first game of the Divisional round on Saturday, with the Seahawks playing the 49ers in the following game. On Sunday, we have the Patriots going up against the Texans, followed by the Bears and the Rams in the final game of the second round of the playoffs.
With that, let us now take a look at the markets and their opening odds and betting lines for the upcoming slate of games this weekend (Sourced via FanDuel).
NFL Wild Card Round Opening Odds and Betting Lines
The Divisional round of the NFL is all set, and here we take a look at the opening odds and the betting lines for all 4 games coming up this weekend.
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Biggest early favorites & totals
Looking at the early lines and odds for the Divisional round, the following are the biggest early favorites based on the spread.
The Seattle Seahawks are the biggest opening favorites at -7.5 over the San Francisco 49ers.
The Los Angeles Rams are the next big favorites at -3.5 against the Chicago Bears.
With respect to the early totals, the following games are expected to be the highest and lowest-scoring games.
The highest opening total is 50.5 for the Bears vs Rams NFC Divisional game.
The lowest opening total is 40.5 for the Patriots vs Texans AFC Divisional game.
The Denver Broncos will get ready for their first game of the postseason as the number one seed from the AFC had the last week off. Denver has been struggling on the offensive side of the ball, but for what it’s worth, the Broncos have managed to put up points when it matters the most. Denver does have one of the better defenses in the league. The Broncos open as slight underdogs in this game despite the bye week and the home-field advantage.
The reason for that is that they are going up against the reigning NFL MVP in Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. The Bills may not have been as dominant this season, but they have impressed in most of the games they played. Allen and James Cook have carried the bulk of the offensive load, and while the Bills’ defense isn’t the best, they have gotten the job done.
Seahawks vs 49ers odds, spread & total (Saturday, 8:00 p.m. ET, FOX)
The Seattle Seahawks play their first game of the postseason, and it will be against a familiar foe, the San Francisco 49ers. This game will be a divisional rivalry game between the two NFC West teams. The Seahawks and the Niners split their regular season 1-1 this time around, and both games were low-scoring ones.
Seattle opens as the favorite, and there are plenty of factors for that. First and foremost, the Seahawks, by virtue of the best record in the NFC, are well rested following their bye week. Secondly, they will be playing at home with ample crowd support. And thirdly, they are taking on a banged-up 49ers team that just lost its star tight end, George Kittle, last week to an Achilles injury.
On Sunday, the Patriots kick things off by hosting the Texans in an AFC matchup that has defense written all over it. Over the course of the regular season, the Texans finished as the second-best scoring defense, allowing just 17.4 points per game, whereas the Patriots allowed only 18.8 a game to finish fourth in the league.
Offensively, though, the Patriots were close to 29 points a game, while the Texans managed just under 25. Second-year quarterback Drake Maye has had a better season under center than C.J. Stroud, whose woes continued in the Wild Card game against the Steelers. Overall, the Patriots open as the slight favorites for this game.
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Bears vs Rams odds, spread & total (Sunday, 6:30 p.m. ET, NBC)
The last game of the Divisional round sees the Bears going up against the visiting Rams. Chicago gets its second game at home, and Los Angeles gets its second on the road. Despite that, the Rams open the Divisional round week as the favorites over the Bears.
Ben Johnson and company had an exciting game against the Packers last week, falling behind 21-3 at the half. Chicago rallied in the fourth quarter to eventually pull off a remarkable win, but the Bears will have to play much better on both sides of the ball against an aggressive Rams team.
The Rams’ game against the Panthers was also another tight game, but LA’s dominant offense, led by Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua, could be the reason they are the favorites in spite of being on the road and facing the Bears in colder temperatures.
The above odds are sourced from FanDuel. Use FanDuel to ace your betting game in all sports!
I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!
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