Wild Card weekend in the NFL is done and dusted—and not a moment too soon. Talk about an ugly slate of games. We basically saw five blowouts to go with one thrilling upset. Hopefully the quality goes up from here. Interestingly, the Lions saw their Super Bowl betting odds shorten despite not playing a game. Meanwhile, the Chiefs, who also didn’t play, were the only team in the top five on the odds leaderboard that saw their odds remain static.
All odds courtesy of Betovo.
|
Team |
Last Week’s Odds |
Current Odds |
Key Notes |
|
Detroit Lions |
+260 |
+275 |
The Lions’ odds shortened despite the fact that they did not play a game in the Wild Card round. |
|
Kansas City Chiefs |
+350 |
+350 |
Kansas City’s odds remained stable as the next two best teams in the AFC will face off this week. |
|
Philadelphia Eagles |
+425 |
+700 |
Philly played arguably the worst game for a winning team on Wild Card weekend yet saw the largest odds drop. |
|
Baltimore Ravens |
+450 |
+550 |
Baltimore beat the Steelers handily on Wild Card weekend. |
|
Buffalo Bills |
+550 |
+600 |
Buffalo is at home for the Divisional yet their odds are longer than Baltimore’s. |
They didn’t play a game, but you could argue that their chances of advancing through the Divisional Round improved when the Commanders, a No. 6 seed, upset on the weekend, which means that Detroit now plays the Commanders instead of the Rams. Getting a rookie QB—yes, even this rookie QB—in the second round is a gift, so their odds shortening from +275 to +260 despite not taking the field on Wild Card weekend does make somewhat sense. Another big reason the Lions are seeing their odds shorten despite sitting on their couches this weekend is that there is the potential for them to get several key players back from injury, including RB David Montgomery and rookie CB Terrion Arnold.
The team that saw the biggest jump up the leaderboard was the Eagles, whose Super Bowl betting odds were nearly cut in half from +700 to +425 after their Wild Card win over the Packers. It’s curious, because one could argue that Philly’s win over the Packers was the ugliest of the bunch on Wild Card weekend. They won by double-digits, but they were not convincing, and drama continues to follow them. Perhaps another reason for this odds shift is the fact that the Eagles already walloped their Divisional opponents, the Rams, earlier this year in Week 12. That was the Saquon Barkley game, but one would have to think that L.A. will try to stop the run first and foremost after that jarring 255-yard experience. That should open up some deep shots for Philly’s uber-talented receiving corps. It would be a huge surprise not to see this complete Eagles team in the Conference Championship.
The Ravens arguably had the most impressive win of the weekend and saw their odds shorten from +550 to +450, and yet they were leapfrogged on the odds leaderboard by the Eagles. The main reason for that is probably the fact that Baltimore is getting arguably the toughest test of the Divisional Round, as they head to Buffalo to take on the Bills. Buffalo is just behind Baltimore on the odds board, but they actually fell a few points further back after last weekend’s action. Baltimore is the slight favorite to win on the road, but whoever emerges victorious is likely to see their odds actually drop, as they will need to slay the Mahomes dragon the week after.
Alex is a recent graduate of Ryerson's Sport Media program in 2019 and has been contributing to BettingTop10 since 2020. He has worked in the field of sports and sports betting for several years, including writing for theScore and daily fantasy sports website FantasyPros as one of their lead NBA news writers. A dedicated sports fan and experienced sports bettor, Alex has the knowledge to provide you with the best betting advice and the sneakiest props no matter what the sport may be.
