The Wild Card round didn't disappoint as we saw some hard fought divisional matchups, none of them more surprising than the Dolphins going toe-to-toe with the Bills, starting a third-string rookie quarterback in Skylar Thompson. And, the Bengals narrowly escaped at home on the back of a Sam Hubbard 98-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown. Let's take a look at this weeks divisional round games.
**All betting lines from bet365.com** (Updated Jan. 21)
Jacksonville Jaguars (10-8) @ Kansas City Chiefs (14-3)
The Jags came all the way back from a 27-point deficit last week to knock off the Chargers in the final moments of the 4th quarter. If you've been watching the Jags all season, they've had some great late game heroics to squeeze out some victories and they will need more this week as they play the Cinderella role heading into Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs are coming off a bye -- something they're comfortable with as Andy Reid is 28-5 and Patrick Mahomes is 9-1 -- and will be looking to score early and often. I think the Chiefs' defensive front can sustain pressure on Trevor Lawrence and if he makes mistakes like he did in the first half last week, he won't be able to come back on these Chiefs. Pick: Chiefs, 31-23.
Line: Chiefs -9.5
ML: Chiefs
Spread: Jaguars
New York Giants (10-7-1) @ Philadelphia Eagles (14-3)
There have been questions surrounding the health of Jalen Hurts leading up to this game as both of these teams met in Week 18 and Hurts looked limited. If we look back to their Week 14 matchup, the Eagles had their way with the Giants, in a 48-22 win and it was Miles Sanders that led the way with 155 total yards and two scores. The biggest key in that game was the Eagles defense limiting Saquon Barkley to 48 total yards. Brian Daboll's offense will need much more from their star running back this weekend if the Giants want to pull off the upset. Hurts has had a little more time to recover with the bye week and even though he might not be 100 percent yet, he should be healthy enough to be a difference maker. Pick: Eagles, 27-20.
Line: Eagles -8
ML: Eagles
Spread: Giants
Cincinnati Bengals (13-4) @ Buffalo Bills (14-3)
This was the much anticipated AFC matchup that people wanted to see after both of these teams were unable to finish their Week 17 game. Josh Allen turned the ball over three times last week against the Dolphins and narrowly escaped with a win -- he will have to protect the ball much better in this game as to not give Joe Burrow and the offense added opportunities. That being said, the Bengals have already ruled out Alex Cappa and Jonah Williams for this game, so the Bills might be able to send the house more consistently on Burrow. I think the Bengals would normally be able to move the ball steadily on this Bills' defense, but with the offensive line injuries this creates problems and Allen should be less careless with the football in this game. Pick: Bills, 27-20.
Line: Bills -6
ML: Bills
Spread: Bills
Dallas Cowboys (13-5) @ San Francisco 49ers (14-4)
The Cowboys exercised some road playoff demons with a dominating performance of the Bucs last week, 31-14. They had constant pressure on Tom Brady in that game and will need more of the same against Brock Purdy this week. The key to the upset will be forcing Purdy into turnovers -- the Cowboys led the league with 33 takeaways -- and taking advantage of short field position. I liked what I saw from Dak Prescott last week as he was very poised in the pocket, but this 49ers team is solid at every position and it will be a tough challenge this week. Pick: 49ers, 26-23.
Line: 49ers -4
ML: 49ers
Spread: Cowboys
Results
Wild Card Round
ML: 6-0
ATS: 3-3
Overall
ML: 184-93
ATS: 144-124-9
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