Preview:

Despite a bit of a slow start to the NFL season and the even higher than normal rate of horrendous officiating, the regular season wrapped up with an exciting Sunday flex game to put the seeding, and subsequently, the Wild Card round into place. This year offers some newcomers to the dance, some veteran teams, and a couple of teams that are used to, and probably should have received first round byes.

Over the past several seasons we have achieved our highest percentage of wins during the first two rounds of the NFL playoffs, a streak we greatly we like to extend in 2019-20. We’re breaking down all four contests in what should be some very good football and letting you know what we’re wagering on. Even though the opportunities for volume betting in football are now heavily reduced, the quality is there if you’ve been tracking these teams throughout the year. Here’s our breakdown:

AFC WILD CARD GAME ONE

Buffalo Bills vs. Houston Texans

vs.
Buffalo Bills (10-6) ATS(9-5-2) at Houston Texans (10-6) ATS(7-8-1)
Saturday January 4th
4:25pm
NRG Stadium – Houston, TX
Houston Texans -3 (+105)
Over/Under 42.5 (-110)

Speaking of newcomers and veteran to the Wild Card round, the first game of the weekend sets up between the upstart Buffalo Bills and a team that is no stranger to the Saturday game, the Houston Texans. Both teams elected to rest their starters in week 17 as this game was pretty much baked into place and with each team suffering a meaningless loss, they enter the game with matching 10-6 records. The team strengths here are mostly opposite as Houston relies on a high scoring attack to cover up for what has been a somewhat weak defense, while Buffalo’s conservative play on offense has forced it’s cohesive defensive unit to carry the load.

THE BUFFALO BILLS ON OFFENSE:

During the regular season the Buffalo Bills offense provided some glimpses into being a creative and dynamic unit, yet ranked only 23rd in overall total offense. What helped them in their journey to the playoffs was a combination of making timely clutch plays in fourth quarters, and taking good care of the football in close games. They’ll be looking to continue that trend Saturday, but as they hope to make their mark in the playoffs they’ll need to do more than just play at a solid and clean level, they will need to control time of possession and score touchdowns in the red zone. Everything with the Bills offense is predicated on being able to run the football and that will fall to impressive rookie Devin Singletary and veteran Frank Gore to play their best ball of the season. Singletary has gained an early reputation of being a tough to tackle and powerful back taking after his mentor Frank Gore, which is something Buffalo has to take advantage of in this game. The Texans have had trouble stopping physical running backs as witnessed by the stomping that Derrick Henry put on them just a week ago, although in fairness, they were rotating several backup players. Even when healthy though it has been an issue for this team, one that they hope the return of their leader and future Hall of Famer J.J. Watt will help with. Watt is officially going to be active after missing most of the season with a torn pectoral muscle and is anxious to get back on the field with his defense. It’s always tough to know what kind of impact a player will have after such a long layoff, but it’s safe to say that Watt will give them a boost both on the field and emotionally, especially in a home game.

Whether or not the Bills can run the ball will certainly be a key, but the play of their young signal caller Josh Allen will be critical as well. Allen has performed pretty well in big situations and actually had some of the more impressive 4th quarter stats in the entire league. One reason for this is improved play from an offensive line that was overhauled and has come together nicely in 2019. While they don’t necessarily have any stars upfront, Mitch Morse at center has provided the stability and leadership needed while left tackle Dion Dawkins play has improved quite a bit since his rookie season. There will be an interesting chess match between Texans defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel and Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll with the pressure packages and zone blocking which will be another important battle. Down the field there is also sure to be some good matchups as the Bills speedy receivers will need to come up big, specifically on third downs to keep the offense on the field. Free agent wide receiver John Brown quietly put together a really good season and Cole Beasley exceeded the expectations the team had of him as a marquee slot receiver. The good thing for Houston is their corners tended to play better against the smaller and quicker receivers than they did against the bigger and more physical receivers. Don’t be shocked if the Bills have some plays for hometown favorite Duke Williams and rookie tight end Dawson Knox to add that physicality into their game plan. As is always the case with this Bills offense you can plan to see a lot of Josh Allen running the ball, both on designed plays and when the pocket collapses in the passing game. Texans linebacker Zack Cunningham will play a big role in containing Allen from making big plays with his legs.

THE HOUSTON TEXANS ON OFFENSE:

If you were going to try to sum up the Texans offense this season in one word you’d almost have to go with inconsistent. At times this team has looked like the most explosive offense in the league feasting on big plays and racking up points, while in other instances they struggle to simply record first downs and have been unable to score touchdowns. It’s not necessarily a big secret that one of the corresponding reasons has been the availability of wide receiver Will Fuller who is one of the most efficient deep threat talents in the league. Fuller is trending to play and if he’s healthy he will be the most important player in this game. Of course all-world receiver DeAndre Hopkins will be the best receiver in the game, but he will be matched up quite a bit with the Bills lone Pro Bowler in cornerback Tre’Davious White. White was the highest rated cornerback in the league by PFF and watching that individual battle with Hopkins will be some top notch football. Because of the emphasis on holding down Hopkins, the Texans need Fuller at full speed to do something most teams haven’t done against the Bills, hit the home run ball. Kenny Stills can also be a factor and if he and Fuller are out there, this Texans team becomes really tough to defend.

Early in the season the Buffalo Bills were getting run over defensively something that they’ve done better with in the second half of the season. Even though Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier and head coach Sean McDermott’s philosophy is geared towards stopping the run first, they’ll adjust a bit based on Deshaun Watson’s ability to scramble and make plays down the field with the earlier mentioned receivers. That should give Carlos Hyde an opportunity to grind out some solid gains on first and second down keeping the Texans in very manageable situations. Kudos to the Houston brass for patching together what ended up being a very effective running game after losing Lamar Miller in the preseason. The combination of Hyde and Duke Johnson are the type of tandem that could give them Bills trouble if they’re in a soft zone or two deep coverage to prevent big plays. Speaking of moves by the Texans, the addition of Laremy Tunsil at left tackle proved to be a nice acquisition at keeping Watson upright. Tunsil is banged up, but word is he’ll be fine for gametime and trying to keep Jerry Hughes and the Bills pass rush at bay. Buffalo has not been great at generating sacks which is good news for the Texans as their record when Watson has time to throw versus when he’s under constant pressure is pretty night and day. Somewhat lost in the myriad of star players for Houston are their two tight ends Darren Fells and Jordan Akins who have provided big red zone targets to Watson and checkdowns when he’s under pressure. The Bills have been the top team in the league at taking away opponents tight ends, although their attention will be focused on other positions Saturday.

KEY STATS: – The Bills are 7-1-1 ATS in their last 9 road games
– The Texans are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games as a home
favorite

PUBLIC MONEY: – Buffalo Bills 52%

THE SKINNY:
This game has the ability for a play, although we’ll likely be waiting until before kickoff to make a final decision on what we’re going to do with it. There are a few important variables to really watch for before placing a bet on this one in our opinion. First off, betting the over/under doesn’t seem feasible based upon Houston’s feast or famine personality on offense. Is this a game where they drop 35 and make it look easy, or finish with 12 points struggling throughout? Jumping back to the spread, getting a key number certainly seems like it could be important if you believe this will be a close game, which we certainly do. The Texans opened as 3 point favorites and while the line stayed at 3 early on the odds have moved quite a bit. If this is a 2.5 line, Houston becomes a much more appealing play than they are at 3. The Bills could certainly win this game, and if they don’t, could stay within a field goal so that’s definitely an option. If it’s a one score game, which again, we think should be the case, the option to tease Buffalo to +9 is definitely something you can consider. Their defense should be able to do enough to keep this game within a touchdown as even their losses to teams like Baltimore, New England twice and Philadelphia were all within a touchdown. With all of that to consider there is one true “x” factor in this game and it’s the not so well hidden secret of the value of Will Fuller to this Texans team. If Fuller is not able to go on Saturday, we’ll be locked in on the Bills for sure. If he is slated to start and it seems like hes 100%, the shift could move to Houston, especially if the line ends up at 2.5. It’s rare that we’d base a wager off of one player that isn’t a quarterback, but the numbers don’t lie when it comes to Houston’s wins/losses and offensive production with and without Fuller in the lineup.

BetCrushers Lean: Buffalo Bills +3
Buffalo Bills 23, Houston Texans 20

AFC WILD CARD GAME TWO

Tennessee Titans vs. New England Patriots

vs.

Tennessee Titans (9-7) ATS(8-7-1) at New England Patriots (12-4) ATS(8-7-1)
Saturday January 4th
8:10pm
Gillette Stadium – Foxborough, MA
New England Patriots -4.5 (-110)
Over/Under 43.5 (-110)

The New England Patriots find themselves in somewhat unfamiliar territory playing in Wild Card Saturday for the first time in a while, as they’ll host the Tennessee Titans. New England suffered one of the more surprising losses in recent memory as they couldn’t close out a win against the Dolphins on their home turf which, would have given them a much needed first round bye. Tennessee needed a win to secure their own playoff berth, that they pulled off against a Texans team that was resting some key starters in preparation for their own playoff match. The Titans offense has been rolling since Ryan Tannehill took over the reigns as starting quarterback, meanwhile, the Patriots are desperately trying to find any kind of spark to get their offense to be more consistent and explosive.

THE TENNESSEE TITANS ON OFFENSE:

We’ll admit we were a little cynical when Mike Vrabel inserted Ryan Tannehill into the starting lineup for Marcus Mariota after the Titans slow start this season. All Tannehill did was lead the Titans to the playoffs and put up QBR numbers during his starting stretch that were only bested by three other quarterbacks in the league. Tannehill faces his toughest challenge to date against a stingy and angry New England defense playing at home coming off of a poor showing against the Miami Dolphins. Of course, as well as Tannehill has played you have to give a big chunk of the credit to the league’s leading rusher Derrick Henry for constantly providing stacked boxes and a lot of single coverage to receivers on the outside. Henry also led the league in yards after contact, not surprisingly, so it will take an arsenal of Patriot defenders to bring him down, something Bill Belichek certainly understands. As we know Belichek always starts by trying to take away what his opponent does best and in this game that is clearly stopping Derrick Henry. New England will be committed to not letting Henry get running downhill and put the burden of beating them squarely on Ryan Tannehill’s shoulders. We’d have to agree that’s definitely the correct philosophy here, but Tannehill certainly has shown that he can make the plays when necessary.

A lot of Henry and the Titans success will rest on how well his offensive line can push at the line of scrimmage against the Patriots. As well as NE played throughout the season, their run defense and pass rush slowed a bit down the stretch against better competition. Expect a spirited effort from their defense and look for a rebound from Pro Bowl corner Stephon Gilmore who was thoroughly whipped by Davante Parker last weekend. Gilmore will be shadowing A.J. Brown around the field and because of Henry he won’t have help most of the time. Tennessee is going to need to find a third weapon in this game with matchups that are more in their favor. Some possible suspects are Corey Davis or Johnnu Smith at tight end, each have the ability, although not the history, to take on this role.

THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS ON OFFENSE:

Who would have guessed a visiting Tennessee team would have the hotter quarterback in Gillette Stadium for a playoff game? Tom Brady put the loss against Miami squarely on his shoulders and although he does deserve some of the criticism it continues to be a team effort with the lack of production for the NE offense. Let’s start with a running game that is really just pushing to keep teams honest at this point, not at all making big plays or helping to sustain offense. The Titans have had their own issues defensively upfront so you can expect Josh McDaniels to give it another go with Sony Michel and Rex Burkhead to see if they can get anything going. Don’t be shocked if James White gets a larger percentage of the snaps in the playoffs as the Pats have been resting him a bit where they can and Brady likes to lean on him in critical situations. The Dolphins bracketed Julian Edelman all game and he had his lowest production of the season as he continues to fight through various injuries. Titans head coach Mike Vrabel who knows Bill Belichek’s system as well as anyone will also be focused on taking Edelman away and forcing someone else to make plays in the passing game. While James White will probably be one of those players, this could be a game where Mohammed Sanu has a larger role in the offense than we’ve seen since they acquired him before the trade deadline.

In the passing game we’ve seen Tom Brady’s completion percentage continue to tumble as he’s leading the league in a stat that you don’t necessarily want which is throwaways. PFF has this offensive line ranked right around the middle of the league, and that could be generous when you watch the pressure Brady has been under. The Titans meanwhile finished 13th in the league in quarterback sacks and with the lack of a deep play ability are sure to bring pressure and try to disrupt the timing of the short passing game of New England.

KEY STATS: – The Titans are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games
– The Patriots are 3-4 ATS in their last 7 games
– The total has gone over in 9 of the last 10 Titans games
– The total has gone over in 4 of the last 5 Patriots games

PUBLIC MONEY: – Tennessee Titans 58%

If you check the long-term trends for a game like this you’ll see a bunch of things that fall into New England’s favor. We definitely like to study trends, but they can be very overrated when it really comes to handicapping a game and specific matchups. In this case it would make more sense to study recent trends from this season, which shift the advantage over to the Titans. When taking all of these things into consideration you still have to factor in New England’s record in Foxboro during the playoffs and the winter as well as the Brady/Belichek factor. The early money has been coming in on the Titans and that actually seems like the right play when you look at the way these two teams are trending and you consider getting 4+ points. The way that number falls against the public money however, this certainly seems like it could be one of those games New England wins by a touchdown. Gun to our heads we’d probably have to take the Titans, but fortunately, we don’t because there are some better opportunities out there. Another option is also to tease the Titans and get them to +10.5. With the way New England’s offense has been playing, it’s tough to picture them beating a good team by more than single digits. Perhaps the best option here is look at playing the total of over 43.5, which is a relatively low point total. The weather looks like it should be ok on Saturday, although you’ll want to wait a bit to make sure that forecast doesn’t change. Both of these teams have been hitting the overs pretty routinely and with that total, it seems like that trend is likely to continue.

BetCrushers Lean: New England Patriots -4.5
New England Patriots 29, Tennessee Titans 24

NFC WILD CARD GAME ONE

Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans Saints

vs.

Minnesota Vikings (10-6) ATS(9-7) at New Orleans Saints (13-3) ATS(11-5)
Sunday January 5th
1:05pm
Mercedes-Benz Superdome – New Orleans, LA
New Orleans Saints -8 (-110)
Over/Under 48.5 (-110)

We’ll hear a lot about a rematch of the Minnesota Miracle playoff game from two seasons ago, as the current version will being played in the Superdome in New Orleans. The Vikings enter the game with the usual question around Kirk Cousins and his ability to win a big game against a quality opponent. The Saints are the biggest favorite of the weekend and to potentially advance to the Super Bowl out of the Wild Card teams as they’ll look to break the recent string of bad luck that has haunted them in the playoffs. Minnesota should be as healthy as they have been in the past six weeks and will need to play well on both sides of the ball to pull off what would be a legitimate upset in the Bayou.

THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS ON OFFENSE:

The return of Dalvin Cook at running back for the Vikings is no small topic as any chance this team has of pulling off an upset will rest on the broad shoulders of Cook on the offensive side of the ball. That may not seem like it would be the case with the strong game that Mike Boone had in relief last weekend against the Bears, but make no mistake about it, when Cook is in the lineup and running effectively this is a different offense. We’ll focus a bit on Kirk Cousins in a minute, after taking a look at this Vikings offensive line. This line is mostly healthy and has the ability to control this game against the Saints line missing some key contributors on the interior. Can this O-line do enough to get Cook moving the chains? If they can, they’ll be able to keep up on the scoreboard and they’ll also find success throwing the football.

On paper, Minnesota looks really good when you examine their matchups in the passing game. Kirk Cousins is coming off of his best season as a pro, Adam Thielen says he’s back to 100% and Stefon Diggs has been making plays all season. There is some depth at the tight end position with veteran Kyle Rudolph and rookie Irv Smith, Jr. and coordinator Kevin Stefanski has drawn up some nice plays this season. The Saints are banged up on the secondary which leaves them vulnerable if Cousins can get the protection he needs to take advantages of those mismatches. Linebacking play will be big here as underrated A.J. Klein and Demario Davis have to help in both run support and in zone pass coverage. With that all it sure seems like the Vikings are going to rack up points with ease, right? Notice we started this section with “on paper”… There are a couple things here that don’t work in the favor of the Vikes, most notably the noise in the Superdome. Opposing teams have struggled for the last decade in this building with hearing snap counts, false starts, and just the excitement of the crowd in the dome. Minnesota is familiar with playing in a loud dome, except the roles of the crowd and noise will obviously be reversed. This brings us to the elephant in the room, and that of course is the historical trends of quarterback Kirk Cousins, who we mentioned we’d address. We’ve all heard the static noise about Cousins inability to win important games, and it’s certainly a fair topic. If the Vikings don’t win this game, it certainly could be due in part to Cousins struggling, but it also could just be that he’s competing against a really good team in their building, hence the reason they’re an eight point favorite. Make no mistake about it though, the Vikings need Cousins to play well if they’re going to have a shot on Sunday. Piggybacking on that, Dalvin Cook has to keep the Saints defense honest and pick up some first downs so the weight of the game on offense doesn’t fall solely on Cousins.

THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ON OFFENSE:

One of the hottest offenses in the league resides in New Orleans as Drew Brees has things rolling since returning from his thumb injury. The re-emergence of Alvin Kamara and the running game only makes this offense more frightening for the Vikings who could be without middle linebacker Eric Kendricks who has had his best season as well leading the defensive unit. The Vikings have been pretty good against the run this year, but if Kendricks can’t go, that group becomes weakened a bit. With the star power in this game, there won’t be a ton of focus on the big men, but the Saints offensive line and the Vikings defensive line are both elite squads and will certainly be fighting it out for a few hours. The matchup between Saints tackle Ryan Ramczyk and the Vikings Danielle Hunter pits two of the best at their respective positions against each other. It’s the big guys in the middle for Minnesota that will be responsible for slowing down Kamara and former Vikings Latavius Murray in the running game. Don’t be surprised if Sean Payton looks to work around those guys and plays the short passing game as opposed to just running the ball straight into the line.

Moving to that passing game, Payton and Drew Brees have to like their opportunities when you look at how the Vikings have struggled in the secondary. It’s hard to find a player that’s fallen off more year over year than Minnesota’s cornerback Xavier Rhodes. He was playing at a Pro Bowl level and something has happened this year that has him ranked near the bottom in the league and even being temporarily benched. No one has been able to cover the Saints Michael Thomas this year and with Rhodes struggling, it’s going to take quite a bit of planning from Mike Zimmer to figure out how they’re going to slow Thomas down. The challenge the Saints provide opponents right now is if you want to roll a safety like Anthony Harris or Harrison Smith over to help with Thomas, you’re generally going to be stuck covering tight end Jared Cook with a linebacker, a matchup that Brees loves to exploit and has gotten more comfortable with in the second half of the season. The other thing Brees has done really well is mixing up an additional option in the passing game and that’s often someone different each week. Ted Ginn, Tre Smith, Taysom Hill? Who’s the unexpected touchdown scorer going to be?

KEY STATS: – The Vikings are 1-6 ATS and SU in their last 7 games
as a road underdog
– The Vikings are 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games against
teams with a winning record
– The Saints are 4-1 ATS the spread in their last 5 games

PUBLIC MONEY: – New Orleans Saints 60%

The spread on this game seems about right despite the fact the Saints have been blowing opponents out recently. If you were lucky enough to get on the over when it was at 46.5 you scored as this game should have a lot of points scored, at the very least by the Saints. That total is already sitting around 50 which also seems more like where this game might fall. We’ve been high on this Minnesota team all season, however it seems like this will be where their season comes to an end. Brees and Payton are on a mission and this team is really strong, and even stronger playing at home. The Vikings could keep this game relatively close or they could get blown out, but it’s really difficult to make a case for them finding a way to win. Because of that, this game has textbook teaser written all over it as you can get this down to New Orleans -2 with a two-team 6 point teaser. That seems to be the easiest way to win this game, if you have a pairing or partner you’d like to match it with.

BetCrushers Lean: New Orleans Saints -8
New Orleans Saints 31, Minnesota Vikings 22

NFC WILD CARD GAME TWO

Seattle Seahawks vs. Philadelphia Eagles

vs.

Seattle Seahawks (10-6) ATS(7-8-1) at Philadelphia Eagles (13-3) ATS(7-9)
Sunday January 5th
4:40pm
Lincoln Financial Field – Philadelphia, PA
Seattle Seahawks -2.5 (-110)
Over/Under 46 (-110)

Falling only a couple of inches at the end of the week 17 Sunday Night Football game has forced the Seattle Seahawks on the road to play the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card finale. The Seahawks have had their challenges on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, yet somehow are right in the mix of the NFC playoffs and enter this contest as a slight favorite. The Eagles can make that claim as well as Carson Wentz has guided a cast of unknown practice squad players through a winning streak that allowed them to capture the NFC East. The battle of the birds is a war of attrition featuring two quarterbacks that will likely keep their teams focused and in for a full sixty minute contest.

THE SEATTLE SEAHAWKS ON OFFENSE:

Losing three running backs in the span of two weeks is about as bad luck as you can have entering the playoffs. Combine that with losing a game at the end that you could have won that would have given you home games and a bye and the Seahawks have to be a bit deflated despite being in the postseason. If there are two people in this league that can get the team refocused it’s head coach Pete Carroll and quarterback Russell Wilson. They’re not going to get any sympathy from the Eagles when it comes to injuries so they’ll need to figure out how to have some balance against the number three ranked Philly run defense. Travis Homer played effectively against the 49ers and Marshawn Lynch was at the very least an emotional boost for the team. The Hawks shouldn’t anticipate doing much on the ground, so their focus should be on doing just enough to keep the pass rush honest and converting on 3rd and short type situations. Fletcher Cox started the season slowly but has really come on of late and the return of Tim Jernigan from his early season injury has helped with their interior rotation.

For Seattle, their best bet is going to be to let Russell Wilson do what he does best, which is play some backyard football and air things out against the much maligned Philadelphia secondary. That will start with good protection, something that could be lacking as left tackle Duane Brown hasn’t been able to practice at all this week and may not suit up on Sunday. Give that edge to Philly as Brandon Graham has made a living out of pushing around weaker tackles throughout his career and we watched backup George Fant struggle on national TV in week 17. Wilson will be forced to move around, which is not the worst thing in the world for the Seahawks as he’ll be able to buy some time giving his receivers the ability to get open and down the field. Although he struggled a bit down the stretch, Tyler Lockett is the type of receiver that can give the Eagles secondary fits. D.K. Metcalf continues to improve in his rookie season and he should have some success in this game as well. We could talk a little about the Eagles injuries in the secondary, but whether they’ve been playing starters or backups they’ve have their issues either way. Despite the secondary concerns, this Philadelphia defense knows that it needs to bring it’s “A” game to help out their limited offense so expect them to play really well.

THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES ON OFFENSE:

One of the craziest and most impressive stats was the one that flashed stating Carson Wentz is the first quarterback to throw for 4,000+ yards without having any wide receiver over 500 yards receiving. Take a second to read that again and appreciate just how remarkable that accomplishment is and how much credit Wentz deserves for getting this team to the NFC East title. He’ll give it his best shot Sunday with his cast of Greg Ward, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside and some practice squad guys lined up out wide. One thing that would really help Wentz is if he has his Pro Bowl tight end Zach Ertz available coming off of his rib injury. It looks like he could be a gametime decision, and he’s a true game difference maker on this offense. With Ertz and Dallas Goedert the Eagles can safely run their offense in it’s true form even if it is with backup receivers. Wentz has proven he can make it work with whoever is suited up, yet you know he would love to have Ertz against a Seahawks secondary that has had their own problems as well. On the injury front, Quandre Diggs is questionable for the Hawks, and he is also an important piece in their defensive plan.

What would make the most sense for Doug Pederson and the Eagles is to try to establish their running game not only to provide some cover for the limited passing game, but also because they should own a matchup advantage against the Seahawks who are allowing almost 5 yards per carry to opposing teams and are in the bottom third in the league. Miles Sanders is also listed as questionable for the Eagles, however they will have the services of Jordan Howard and last week’s NFC offensive player of the week, Boston Scott. The Philly offensive line is big and should be able to get a push at the line of scrimmage even missing some cogs in that unit as well.

KEY STATS: – 9 of the 10 Seahawks wins in 2019 have been by one
score or less
– The total has stayed under in the last 6 Eagles home
games

PUBLIC MONEY: – Seattle Seahawks 61%

Seattle has ironically had issues winning games at home with the 12th Man this year, but they have been lights out on the road going 7-1 and feasting on teams on the east coast. The Eagles meanwhile have been left for dead and just keep finding ways to win when they need to. The public thinks Russell Wilson is the safer playoff bet and with the spread less than a field goal you can certainly buy into that stance. It might just be a hunch or wanting to see some practice squad players finding success, or for the BetCrushers keeping our NFC Champion pick before the season started alive, but the Eagles could find a way to win this if they can get a few things to bounce their way. What seems a lot more easy to predict is that these teams will probably play a full four quarter game that could end with a a field goal or touchdown deciding the winner. With Philly getting 2.5 points on several books, this is another good opportunity to tease them to 8.5 through the one score game.

BetCrushers Lean: Philadelphia Eagles +2.5
Philadelphia Eagles 23, Seattle Seahawks 20

WHAT WE ARE PLAYING:

You’ve had a chance to check out our leans and predictions for all four of the Wild Card weekend matchups. Based upon our evaluations and rankings, here are the bets that we are locked in on: