Ricky Dimon
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The NFL playoffs are here. Fourteen teams still have hopes of making it to the Super Bowl and ultimately lifting the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Twelve will be in action this coming weekend, with only the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers – the top seeds in their respective conferences – earning byes. Now that the first-round matchups are set, it’s time to look ahead to the start of postseason play.
Make sure you check out our NFL predictions as we add our picks on the side and total for every game. For now, let’s break down the NFL Super Wild Card Weekend opening lines and give our best early bet to make.
NFL Wild Card Weekend opening lines and odds
Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing.
Cleveland Browns -2 (-110) vs Houston Texans +2 (-110) — Saturday
Miami Dolphins +3.5 (-112) vs Kansas City Chiefs -3.5 (-108) — Saturday
Pittsburgh Steelers +9.5 (-110) vs Buffalo Bills -9.5 (-110) — Sunday
Green Bay Packers +7 (-110) vs Dallas Cowboys -7 (-110) — Sunday
Los Angeles Rams +3.5 (-110) vs Detroit Lions -3.5 (-110) — Sunday
Philadelphia Eagles -2.5 (-115) vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers +2.5 (-105) — Monday
Best early bet for NFL Wild Card Weekend: Houston Texans +2 over Cleveland Browns (-110)
The Texans and Browns are probably the 2 best stories of the 2023 NFL season and they will go head-to-head in the wild-card round of the playoffs. For a few reasons, I think Cleveland’s story is the one that will come to an end. Joe Flacco’s renaissance has been fun to watch, but there is only so far a team can go when dealing with so many injuries. In addition to Deshaun Watson being out, Nick Chubb was shelved by a knee injury several months ago. The Browns have done very well despite those setbacks, but at some point, it is going to catch up with them. That point may be now – when they have to go on the road in the playoffs.
Meanwhile, Houston has a ton of momentum after securing a playoff berth on Saturday with a hard-fought win over Indianapolis and then being gifted the AFC South title one day later when Jacksonville lost to Tennessee. I will roll with CJ Stroud at home all day long. Although I like the Texans on the money line, as well, grabbing the 2 points may be a good idea in a game that could be relatively low-scoring and close.
We’ll have NFL picks for every Wild Card Weekend game
