NFL Wild Card Round Underdog Picks and ATS Best Bets

The first round of the NFL playoffs is nearly upon us, and the stage is set for some epic battles along the way. The best of the best teams have made it to the next phase of the season, but from here on it’s win or go home.

The NFL Wild Card round brings us 6 pulsating games, 3 from the AFC and 3 from the NFC. There is a lot at stake, and while home teams will always carry an advantage, anything can happen on any given day. So, with that, it is now time to take a look at the top underdog picks and ATS best bets ahead of the crucial Wild Card matchups this weekend.

Our Top Underdog ATS Picks for the 2025-26 NFL Wild Card round

Here is a list of our top ATS underdog picks (Sourced via FanDuel).

Chicago Bears (+1.5) vs Green Bay Packers
Pittsburgh Steelers (+3) vs Houston Texans

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Chicago Bears (+1.5) vs Green Bay Packers

Line: Bears +1.5 with (-115) odds at FanDuel

One of the most anticipated matchups of this Wild Card round is the NFC North rivalry game between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. With the teams splitting their regular season 1-1, there is no concrete direction to lean towards.

Having said that, the Bears, who lost their last 2 games of the regular season, have been far more consistent after a slow start. They went on a couple of winning streaks with the odd loss sprinkled in between, but the main point is that the Bears’ offense has gotten better in the second half of the season.

The stage is set.
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) January 5, 2026

Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams are finally getting on the same page, while the run game consisting of D’Andre Swift and rookie Kyle Monangai is forming a formidable duo in the backfield.

Green Bay, on the other hand, has lost 4 games in a row to end the regular season and has been quite inconsistent down the stretch. Of course, injuries haven’t helped, and their biggest loss is that of Micah Parsons, without whom the Packers’ D-line hasn’t looked the same.

Expect Chicago’s elite offensive line to hold its own and allow the Bears’ run game to flourish, which incidentally is the third-best in the league. Moreover, Green Bay’s offense will be going up against a Bears’ secondary that leads the league with 23 interceptions this year.

Green Bay is 3-6 on the road this year and 1-5 as the away favorite, while Chicago is 5-3 at home and 1-0 as the home underdog this season.

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Pittsburgh Steelers (+3) vs Houston Texans

Line: Steelers +3 with (-105) odds at FanDuel

Two teams that finished the regular season in contrasting styles. After a slow start, the Texans ended their regular season with a commendable 9-game win streak, whereas the Steelers needed a last-second field goal to go wide by the Ravens to punch their ticket into the playoffs.

The Texans carry all the momentum, but most of that comes from their elite defense that ranks first in total yards allowed per game and second in points allowed per game with just 17.4. That stellar defense is also third in the league with 19 interceptions, but it’s the offensive side of the ball that has struggled.

👑 KINGS OF THE NORTH 👑

📝: https://t.co/vCLBehy4yy pic.twitter.com/tEWVtbavEm
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) January 5, 2026

Add to that the fact that the Texans, a primarily dome team based in Houston, will travel to Pittsburgh, where the temperature will be less than ideal, even though snow is not in the forecast for the game. C.J. Stroud and the Texans have faced difficulty in such conditions, losing to the Ravens and the Chiefs in years past, and perhaps that could be the biggest difference maker.

As for the Steelers, they have one of the better defenses in the league, and with T.J. Watt returning, it should be all the more menacing. The Texans have struggled to put points on the board, and the offensive line is 30th in pass-block win rate and dead last in run-block win rate, as per ESPN.

The above odds are sourced from FanDuel. Use FanDuel to ace your betting game in all sports!

Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Devavrat Kulkarni

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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!