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The NFL's postseason begins with Wildcard weekend as six teams square off in the NFC Conference. The San Francisco 49ers wait in earnest as the #1 seed – they will take on the lowest-ranked remaining opponent in the divisional round.
Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams and Green Bay Packers battle it out for the remaining three slots in the next round.
We preview the three contests from a betting perspective.
#7 Green Bay (9-8) @ #2 Dallas (12-5)
Dallas, who boast a 16-game winning streak at AT&T Stadium, welcome the Green Bay Packers in the Wildcard Round, with a blowout victory very much in their crosshairs. The Cowboys are –7.5-point favourites going into the contest, which feels about right given the matchup.
'America's Team' have a home points differential of +172 – meaning on average they beat opponents by 21.5 points per game. Dallas have beaten fellow playoff teams Philadelphia by 20 and Los Angeles by 23 on home turf, with a one-point win over Detroit the outlier. A 13.5-point, two touchdown win, at 17/10 is a backable shout.
Dallas has also averaged 37.4 points per game in home games this season, with only the Detroit Lions able to keep the Cowboys under 30 points. However, points totals of 10, 20 and 19 in three of their last four games, make the Under 27.5 points at 29/20 a punter's gamble.
Eyeing the player props markets, Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott, who has 10 250+ yard passing performances in his last 12 games, goes up against the ninth-ranked Packers' pass defense. Prescott also has multiple touchdown passes in 10 of his last 11 starts. 250+ yards and two touchdowns combined is a 20/23 parlay addition.
His number one target will once again be wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. The pass catcher has back-to-back 13 reception games over the last two weeks, with touchdowns in 10 of his last 14 outings, and boasts over 71 receiving yards in 11 games out of 17 this season. A 75+ yard, eight reception day with a touchdown pays at 9/5.
Defensively, Micah Parsons to record a sack (10/21) and DaRon Bland to intercept Packers' quarterback Jordan Love (17/4) are also worth considering.
For Green Bay, QB Love has seven performances of 250+ passing yards in nine games and multiple touchdown passes in eight of nine. 250+ yards and two touchdowns is 8/5 in this matchup.
Parlay: Dallas Cowboys by –10.5, Dallas under 30.5 points, CeeDee Lamb anytime touchdown, 75+ receiving yards and eight receptions, Dak Prescott 250+ passing yards and two touchdowns – 35/1
#6 Los Angeles (10-7) @ #3 Detroit (12-5)
It's the Matt Stafford Bowl as the Los Angeles Rams' quarterback returns to Michigan to take on the Detroit Lions. Detroit is a –3.5-point favourite to advance to the divisional round, while a Money Line bet on the LA Rams, who have won seven of their last eight games, could be the play at 6/4.
The Rams have scored over 21 points in seven consecutive games, and a jump to over 27.5 points (33/20) - against a Lions defense that has allowed the likes of Chicago, New Orleans, Green Bay and the LA Chargers to top that mark – could be a solid play.
There are many options in the player props market, with the wide receiver position of interest. Detroit's Aman-Ra St. Brown was the NFL leader in 100+ yard receiving games with nine and has four performances of six plus receptions and 90+ yards in the last four games – with a touchdown in each. 75+ receiving yards, six catches and a touchdown would pay out at 2/1.
LA, meanwhile, boasts Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua on the outside. Kupp has four 100+ yard games on the season and touchdowns in four of his last five starts, whilst Nacua set new NFL rookie records for receptions (105) and receiving yards this season (1,486). Nacua has four 84+ yard performances and four five reception performances in his last six games. Kupp to score an anytime touchdown (6/5) and Nacua to record four receptions for 75+ yards (10/11) are reasonable bets.
Rams' quarterback Stafford has been on a tear in his last six starts throwing for over 258+ passing yards in five of six matches, and multiple touchdowns in five as well. 250 passing yards and two passing touchdowns is a solid 11/10 price.
Parlay: Los Angeles Rams to win, Rams to score over 20.5 points, Aman-Ra St Brown to record six receptions and 75+ receiving yards and Matt Stafford to throw for 250 passing yards and two passing touchdowns – 23/4
#5 Philadelphia (11-6) @ #4 Tampa Bay (9-8)
Six weeks ago, the Philadelphia Eagles were in the race to be the #1 seed, while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were battling it out just to make the postseason. The Eagles have since gone 1-5 to drop to the #5 seed, with the Bucs securing the NFC South crown in Week 18.
Despite hosting the worst defense in the NFL over the last month, Philadelphia is considered a –3.0-point favourite on the road. It may be worth jumping on the Tampa side of that line, especially given the Eagles could be without wide receivers AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith.
Over the past seven games Philadelphia has allowed 27, 35, 25, 20, 33, 42 and 34 points, so the Buccaneers should enjoy their day on offense – over 23.5 points (8/5) or 27.5 points (16/5) are very much in the ballpark.
Philadelphia has also given up 27 touchdowns to wide receivers in 2023. Tampa wideouts Mike Evans and Chris Godwin should feast on a porous Eagles' pass defense. A five reception, 50+ yard day for Evans would pay at (20/21) with a Godwin four reception, 50+ yard performance priced at 10/3.
In addition, the Eagles have allowed nine quarterbacks to throw for over 250+ passing yards and allowed 10 multi-touchdown pass games in 2023. Baker Mayfield, who has three performances over 283 passing yards over the last four weeks, should be able to muster over 233.5 passing yards and over 1.5 passing touchdowns for a 11/5 double.
Inversely, it's difficult to support any of the Eagles' offensive unit to excel – given recent form and the injury list at the wide receiver position. With both Brown and Smith are out, it was Quez Watkins who picked up the slack against the New York Giants in Week 18.
Parlay: Tampa Bay Buccaneers by –2.5 points, Tampa Bay Buccaneers over 23.5 points, Baker Mayfield over 200 passing yards, Mike Evans with five receptions and 50 receiving yards – 11/2.
Money Line treble: Dallas, Los Angeles, Tampa Bay – 6.31/1
Touchdown Scorer treble: CeeDee Lamb, Amon-Ra St Brown, Cooper Kupp – 7.55/1
