There are eight teams left in the hunt for the Lombardi Trophy — the prize for the winner of the Super Bowl, the world champion in professional football. Four teams fell in the wild card round last week: New England, Buffalo, Philadelphia and New Orleans all entered the offseason with questions to answer ahead of the 2020 campaign. For the eight remaining teams, each has strengths, and each has flaws. For the NFL betting enthusiast, each of these games should bring suspense and excitement — and there are things you should consider before you lock in your wagers.
2020 NFL Divisional Round Betting Guide
Locked in. 😈 pic.twitter.com/PqZwGB4Uu6
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) January 11, 2020
Saturday, January 11
Minnesota (+7) at San Francisco (4:35 pm ET, NBC)
Minnesota won’t get a lot out of Kirk Cousins in this game. San Francisco only permitted 169.2 yards per game in passing, tops in the league. However, they were vulnerable to the running game, giving up 112.6 yards per game on the ground. In games where opponents ran for more than 140 yards, the 49ers were 1-2. Dalvin Cook’s high game performance this year was 154 yards. He looked fresh and aggressive against New Orleans in their wild card win, and I expect the Vikings to ride him in the Bay. Will it be enough to deliver a win? I’m not sure — but I’m taking the Vikings to cover in a game that I see coming down to a final drive.
Tennessee (+9.5) at Baltimore (8:15 pm ET, CBS)
This will be another game where the running game takes off. Derrick Henry led the league with 1,540 rushing yards for the Titans and ran for 182 against New England. As a team, Tennessee was third in the league, running for almost 139 yards per game. Baltimore ran for 3,296 yards as a team, 206 yards per game, best in the league. That broke the league’s record for team rushing yards, which had stood for 41 years. In addition to Mark Ingram II carrying the ball, the Ravens of course have Lamar Jackson at quarterback who will take off and run. I don’t see Tennessee winning, or even covering, but their running game will make Baltimore sweat until they pull away in the fourth quarter.
Sunday, January 12
Houston (+9.5) at Kansas City (3:05 pm ET, CBS)
Houston beat Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium in Week 6, but Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes II was still hobbling around in recovery from a knee injury, and Tyreek Hill only played half the game after missing five games recovering from an injured clavicle. Hill is back at full speed now, and he should find plenty of room to operate against a Houston secondary that has been generous all year long. They gave Josh Allen room to operate in the wild card game, but Allen missed a number of open looks in the second half, which played a factor in Houston’s come back win over the Bills. Kansas City didn’t have sack leader Chris Jones in that game; they were missing left tackle Eric Fisher. They are healthy now and should take advantage of Houston, winning and covering.
Seattle (+4.5) at Green Bay (6:40 pm ET, FOX)
I like Seattle to win this game, even though a win would go against Russell Wilson’s record in cold weather games. The kickoff temperature is forecast around 23 degrees; Wilson has four touchdown passes, six picks and a completion percentage under 57 in three career games where the temperature was lower than 30 degrees at kickoff. He has a 1-2 record in those games, but the win came in a crazy game in Minneapolis (the year the Vikings played at the University of Minnesota’s stadium), as Minnesota kicker Blair Wlash missed a 26-yard field goal in extremely frigid conditions. Wilson has never won in Green Bay. So if you like numbers, go with those, but the Packers seem fragile and overblown to me, ready for a fall.
