Detroit, Miami and New York Giants were all penned as overrated teams this season and after one week of the playoffs they are all gone! NFL Divisional Playoffs: Betting Preview below!
Once again, the Sunday slate should be better viewing than the Saturday slate with arguably the two games of the round on Sunday. We also see all of the home teams as favourites. Last week in the Wild Card round all of the favourites won comfortably.
We also see all of the home teams as favourites. Last week in the Wild Card round all of the favourites won comfortably.
Saturday NFL Divisional Playoff Games
Seattle Seahawks + 4 @ Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta went into Seattle late in the season and if it wasn’t for a no-call on a pass interference to Julio Jones would have most likely defeated the Seahawks who have been below their best all year.
They’ve been lucky in the sense that their division that is usually very strong had an awful year. The Rams were horrible from November onwards, the 49ers horrible all year and the Cardinals well below their best after a slow start.
The Seahawks are usually battle hardened and this year appear very vulnerable. A win over Detroit last week at home means little given Detroit’s poor form outside of a dome and the general sense of how overrated the team was this season.
Atlanta has been one of the three best overall offenses in the NFL all year long and ranked fourth in overall DVOA while Seattle just cracked the top 20 for offense and ranked 10th overall.
Playing at home in the dome will help to shelter Matt Ryan and his array of weapons with the key battle taking place on the offensive line for the Falcons.
The Seahawks have slipped in a number of areas but they can still rush the passer as well as anyone. If they can rush Matt Ryan into some bad throws and potentially force an early turnover they’ll tighten the screws and turn it into a tight battle.
Suggested bet: Atlanta -4 @ $1.94
We hear it’s cold out.
Coincidence?
It’s the year of #MattyIce❄️. pic.twitter.com/S4E6lE4S90
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) January 7, 2017
Houston Texans +15.5 @ New England Patriots
It really is a crazy sight to see a Week 2 playoff game with a spread at 15.5, but that’s what we have here.
The Texans have been basically given no hope by oddsmakers and have received one of the biggest spreads of the entire season as they travel to Foxboro to attempt the impossible – beating Belichick and Brady at home off a bye week.
Here’s why the spread is so high;
Houston ranked 29th in overall DVOA this season while the Patriots ranked 2nd.
Tom Brady hasn’t lost to an AFC team at Foxboro in a DECADE.
Results of the Texans’ 4 trips to Foxboro to play the Patriots: 40-7 (2006), 42-14 (’12), 41-28 (’13), 27-0 (’16).
It’s Tom Brady v Brock Oswelier.
It’s impossible to make a case for the Texans winning this game. It just will not happen.
Best hope and narrative from a gambling perspective; Patriots start well and control the lead and the ball forcing a low overlal total.
Suggested bet: UNDER 45 total points
Tom Brady: “I thought we had only one bye week in the Playoffs?”
Coach Bill: “Nope we got 2 now…” pic.twitter.com/s2KGasFeMg
— Fake SportsCenter (@FakeSportsCentr) January 8, 2017
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Sunday (Monday AEDT) NFL Divisional Playoff Games
Pittsburgh Steelers +2 @ Kansas City Chiefs
The Steelers looked dangerous against the Dolphins last week but at the end of the day the Dolphins only beat one team above .500 for the entire season, so were they much of a challenge? The Kansas City Chiefs will prove to be exactly that.
The Chiefs excel at doing the fundamentals very well. They are a great special teams unit, they force turnovers and they don’t make silly mistakes with the ball. They are also pretty well coached.
The Steelers are certainly a considerably better home team and coming into Arrowhead will be a challenge with a fired up Chiefs team coming off a bye. You can bet also that the Chiefs have been preparing for Pittsburgh for two weeks (Miami were very unlikely to beat Pittsburgh last week).
You can bet also that the Chiefs have been preparing for Pittsburgh for two weeks (Miami were very unlikely to beat Pittsburgh last week).
The Steelers ranked 3rd in overall DVOA this year while the Chiefs ranked 7th. To beat the Steelers they’ll need to force turnovers and win the special-teams battle again.
The problem for the Steelers is that the Chiefs keep doing so against all opponents including big road games at Atlanta, Oakland and Denver.
If Steelers RB Le’Veon Bell can break the defensive line he has a real chance of exposing the inexperienced Chiefs linebackers while the Chiefs will be thinking if they can restrict him to under 100 yards they’ll win.
Watch and enjoy!
Suggested bet: NO BET
Re-live the best moments on our road to the #NFLPlayoffs. #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/dMJEQdh3cs
— z-Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 6, 2017
Green Bay Packers +4.5 @ Dallas Cowboys
The Packers are on a roll largely thanks to the heroics of Aaron Rodgers but also because of the improved offensive line play and some big plays on defense.
They’ll desperately need Jordy Nelson healthy though this week against the Dallas Cowboys who’ve been one of the five best teams in Football on our rankings since Week 7.
The Green Bay offensive line was exceptional at times last week against the New York Giants defense and one of the key battles will lie there once again.
Can the Cowboys pass rush get to Aaron Rodgers and force him to throw early, last week we saw just how deadly he can be if given time to set his feet and launch.
The Cowboys offensive line is also a thing of beauty to watch in full flight and they’ll be too much to handle for the Green Bay front again this week. That will allow Elliott to control the ball and the clock and keep Aaron Rodgers on the sidelines.
That game narrative lends itself to a small bet on the under!
Suggested bet: UNDER 52 points
LIVE: @Cover4 look to Sunday’s game against Green Bay. #FinishThisFight https://t.co/ayawEJ6KZC
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) January 10, 2017