A wonderful NFL season has finally hit the business end as the playoffs begin with the Wild Card round this weekend.
After a highly entertaining regular season this weekend, twelve teams will go head-to-head in a series of games to determine who will continue into the post-season.
We’ll look at three games involving the Seattle Seahawks taking on the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday, the Miami Dolphins game with the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, and the Dallas Cowboys clash with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
We’ll break down the exciting match-ups, give you our best free NFL picks, and see if we can earn you some extra cash for the end of the weekend.
Learn more about how to bet on the NFL here.
Seattle has had a really mixed season going 9-8, with their recent 1-3 run potentially costing them a place in the playoffs.
But after a three-game skid against the Carolina Panthers, 49ers, and Kansas City Chiefs prior to that, they won their last two games against the New York Jets and then claimed a huge overtime win over the Los Angeles Rams to take their spot in the Wild Card round.
The 49ers have been in tremendous form, winning each of their last ten fixtures to manage to claim their spot at the top of the NFC West with a regular season record of 13-4.
They ended the season scoring 37, 37, and 38 points in their final three games against the Washington Commanders, Las Vegas Raiders, and Arizona Cardinals.
San Francisco will hone in on attempting to limit Walker, as he can be the engine of the Seattle offense. Putting the game in Smith’s hands will be an effective route to limiting points, as he has passed for less than 240 yards and five total TDs in his last four games.
Purdy has passed for 2+ TDs in all games where he has guided the offense, but he was held to 217 passing yards in the first meeting, and he has topped 240 passing yards just once.
The level of intensity gets turned up in the postseason, and Purdy could flame out on some early drives, which he’ll need to do to help them here.
Ultimately, I expect McCaffrey to give the 49ers the edge, and Kittle can bust loose for a big play, but both teams will have their fair share of struggles offensively, with both teams’ biggest strength being their defense.
That should give the Under a big chance to land, just as it has in each of Seattle’s last four games in a row.
Check out our review for BetUS sports betting here.
Miami always blew their playoff spot by losing five games in a row before they managed to claim a really tense 11-6 win over the Jets in week 18.
The 49ers, Los Angeles Chargers, Bills, Green Bay Packers, and New England Patriots all claimed wins against them recently. They ended the season with a 9-8 record for the regular season, finishing behind the Bills in the AFC East.
As for the Bills, their record has been brilliant this season and they’re currently on an eight-game winning streak which includes the aforementioned win over the Dolphins in mid-December.
Their regular season record of 13-3 is one of the very best in the entire NFL, only bettered by the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs.
Unless Tua Tagovailoa is surprisingly cleared to play, then the Dolphins haven’t got a hope in hell of stopping the Bills from covering the spread here.
Buffalo got things rolling in all three phases last week and should be able to carry that momentum over here. The special teams and defense should set up some short fields for Allen and co. to work with, leading to plenty of scoring opportunities which they took.
The Bills finished the regular season 8-7-1 against the spread, while Miami finished with a 9-8 ATS record. Add to that the fact Buffalo was 4-3 ATS as a home favorite this year, while Miami was 4-1 as the road underdog.
With the spread set a -10.5 and the Bills the clear favorites to progress, they should hit it with relative ease if they perform as they did last week.
Check out our review for BetOnline sports betting here.
Dallas has had a stellar season so far and had already claimed their playoff spot before their very disappointing loss to the Washington Commanders last weekend.
The Cowboys have so far managed to rack up a 12-5 record for the season, with two different four-game winning streaks helping them to separate themselves from the rest of their division.
Tampa somehow managed to finish top of the NFC South despite a losing record of 8-9 for the season.
Their season ended with a heavy defeat to the Atlanta Falcons in the final game, which snapped their two-game winning streak after wins over the Cardinals and Panthers.
The market has overvalued the Bucs all year long, as proven by their 4-12-1 record against the spread.
Getting the Cowboys at less than three points is possible at minus money, but having them within one scoring possession at even money is way too good to turn down.
Simply put, Dallas is the better team here. I don’t buy into their recent struggles, especially their loss against the Commanders, where the Cowboys essentially had nothing to play for unless the brilliant Eagles lost too.
The Cowboys are 9-7-1 against the spread, while The Buccaneers are 4-12-1 against the spread. When the two teams met in week 1, it was Tampa that came out on top, but with Tom Brady in his worst season since 2003 and the Cowboys far better and stronger, this should be an easy win.
About the Author
Daniel is a football writer who has a great thirst for the Premier League and other major European leagues. A lover of the beautiful game and a firm believer that the eye test is better than statistics. Also an avid MMA fan.
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