An Unprecedented Wild Card Weekend Setup Wild Card Weekend kicks off today with something the NFL playoffs have never seen: four road favorites. The Rams, Packers, Bills, and Texans are all favored to win on the road. For the first time in league history, a No. 2 seed is an underdog to a No. 7 … Read more
Two Historic Losing Streaks Meet on Monday Night Monday Night Football brings an unusual collision of postseason futility. The Pittsburgh Steelers, on a six-game playoff losing streak dating to January 2017, host the Houston Texans, who are 0-6 in road playoff games in franchise history. One of these streaks ends Monday night at Acrisure Stadium. … Read more
Six Games, Six Opportunities Wild Card weekend opens tomorrow with six games spread across three days. The public has already placed their bets. The lines have moved. And somewhere in this weekend’s slate, value exists for those willing to look past the obvious narratives. We’ve spent this week examining historical playoff underdog performance, why public … Read more
Division Champion at Home, Getting Points Against a Skidding Rival The Chicago Bears enter Wild Card Weekend as NFC North champions, hosting their first playoff game since the infamous “Double Doink” loss in 2018. They finished 11-6, won their division for the first time in seven years, and secured the conference’s second seed. Their opponent? … Read more
The Jaguars Are Home Underdogs Despite an 8-Game Winning Streak The Jacksonville Jaguars haven’t lost since early November. They’ve won eight straight games. They’ve covered the spread in all eight of those games. They finished the regular season 12-4-1 against the spread, the best mark in franchise history. And they’re underdogs at home in the … Read more
The Rarest Playoff Spot Home underdogs in the NFL playoffs are unicorns. The seeding structure ensures division winners host wild card teams, and those division winners are typically favored. You might see two or three home underdogs across an entire postseason. Some years, none at all. But when they appear, home playoff underdogs have been … Read more
The Panthers Are Making History for the Wrong Reasons Carolina finished 8-9. They lost their season finale to Tampa Bay. Their point differential sits at -69, the fourth-worst by any playoff team in NFL history. And yet the Panthers are hosting a playoff game on Saturday against the Los Angeles Rams. The opening line? Panthers … Read more
The January Betting Surge Something changes in the betting market every January. Millions of casual bettors who ignored NFL spreads all season suddenly want action on the playoffs. They download apps, make deposits, and start placing bets. Most of them back favorites. This isn’t speculation. Sportsbooks track ticket counts and handle percentages. During the regular … Read more
The Numbers Don’t Lie Since 2017, playoff underdogs have covered the spread in approximately 61% of all postseason games. That’s not a typo. While the public floods sportsbooks with action on favorites every January, the dogs keep cashing tickets. The Wild Card round is where this trend shines brightest. Over the past eight postseasons, underdogs … Read more