Expert NFL Bets for All 6 Super Wild Card Weekend Games
NFL Best Bets is a recurring series featuring professional sports handicappers' picks for the most intriguing matchups for each week of the professional football season. Here are their top betting picks from all six Super Wild Card Weekend games.
Seattle Seahawks are a 9-point favorite at San Francisco 49ers. The forecast calls for rain and 10-20 mph winds. Wild Card Weekend unders are 16-8 (67%) over the past five postseasons.
The Seahawks were one of the surprising teams this year. They were often picked to finish last in their division. Now they are going to play the San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs. The Niners have beaten Seattle twice this season.
The 49ers are the better team, but they are playing a division rival Seattle. Seattle has won six of the last 10 games between these two teams. The 49er pass defense is ranked in the middle of pack. San Francisco ranks sixth with 26.5 points per game and Seattle is ninth with 23.9 points.
Los Angeles Chargers are a 2.5-point road favorite at Jacksonville Jaguars. Wild Card weekend dogs playing an opponent who missed the playoffs the previous season are 10-1 ATS (91%) over the past five postseasons. Appelbaum recommends taking the Jaguars +2.
The Chargers are playing the Jaguars in the Wild Card Game. Brandon Staley used his starters in a meaningless game last Sunday. The Jaguars won a tough game against the Titans in Week 18. Doug Peterson's team has done a great turnaround under him this year.
The Jaguars and Chargers are playing a rematch of an early-season game. The Jaguars won the first game 38-10. Both teams have solid defensive units. Jaguars allow only 20.6 points per game and the Chargers allow 22. 6 points.
Buffalo Bills are at Miami Dolphins. The line has been all over the place. Appelbaum is going to bet the under. The Dolphins are 10-6 to the Under.
Skylar Thompson will start at quarterback for the Dolphins against the Bills. The Dolphins are in the playoffs for first time since 2016. Mac Jones played well against Buffalo on Sunday. Gable is going to lay the points with the Buffalo Bills against New England Patriots.
Dolphins are without their starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and backup Teddy Bridgewater. The Bills' defense is second in the league in allowing just 17.9 points per game. Last week against the Jets, the Dolphins won the game 11-6.
New York Giants are a +3 underdog at Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings are 13-4 but they are -3 in point differential. Daniel Jones is 16-5 ATS in his career as a road dog.
The Vikings and the New York Jets played each other in the regular season. Minnesota won 27-24 less than a month ago. Both teams finished with negative point differentials. The Vikings' starting guards have allowed more sacks and more quarterback pressures than any other tandem in NFL this season, so I'm going to take the points with NewYork.
The Vikings beat the Giants 27-24 in a rematch of a regular season game. The Vikings have made a habit of winning close games all season. Neither team is very good on defense. Appelbaum is betting on the Bengals to win the Super Bowl. The total has fallen from 43.5 to 40. 5. It's a divisional-under-system match.
The Ravens are without their star quarterback Lamar Jackson. The Bengals put up 27 points on them on Sunday. Gable's bet is 7.5 points for the Bengals. Gables would bet a touchdown with the Cincinnati Bengals at that price.
The Ravens are playing the Bengals in the wild card round. The Ravens have scored the second-fewest points on the season. They lost to the Cincinnati Bengals by 11 points last week. The Bengals are the favorite. Ravens fans should bet on their team to win.
Dallas Cowboys are a 2-point road favorite at Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The line has been reduced from Dallas -3 to -2.5. Appelbaum likes the Bucs as a buy-low "bad" ATS team (4-12-1) against a sell-high "good" team.
Tampa won their division but they didn't deserve to host a playoff game this year. The Cowboys are 1-4 this season and Dak Prescott has thrown 11 interceptions since week 12. Tom Brady is 7-0 against the Cowboys in his career.
The game is a rematch of a regular season game. The Cowboys won the game in Week 1. Tom Brady has never lost to the Cowboys. Tampa is going to play Tampa +2.5. The line opened at -3 and immediately dropped to -2,5, so check the odds before making bets.
