After 18 weeks of brutal and bruising NFL regular season action, the NFL Playoffs are finally here.
The BetDeluxe team is chomping at the bit for the first set of fixtures on Sunday as it goes through all the previews and tips for a big weekend of American Football.
Cincinnati vs. las vegas
16th january 8:30am
The Cincinnati Bengals begin this NFL Wild Card week with a massive game in Ohio against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Both teams enter the playoffs with identical records of 10-7 through the regular season, but it is the Raiders who bring in huge momentum to this game.
Las Vegas locked in its playoffs spot with a pulsating 35-32 win over the Chargers last week and have a four-game winning streak.
But the Bengals will look back at their 32-13 victory against the Raiders back on November 21 as proof that they can progress to the next phase of the playoffs.
The running game of the Bengals is what hurt the Raiders back then and all eyes will be on Joe Mixon who dominated in the Bengals’ win with two touchdowns and 123 rushing yards.
Suggested Bet: Cincinnati Bengals -5.5 at $1.91
buffalo vs. new england
16th january 12:15pm
he New England Patriots and the Buffalo Bills meet this weekend in NFL Wild Card Round playoffs action at Bills Stadium.
New England managed to go 10-7 this season after snagging a playoff spot despite a Week 18 loss to the Miami Dolphins.
As for Buffalo, it went 11-6 this year and hit this game having defeated the struggling New York Jets in its final regular-season encounter.
In a game that pits two gun quarterbacks together, the form of Josh Allen and Mak Jones is going to be critical.
Allen comes into the game with QB an effort of 239 yards and two scores against the Jets, while Devin Singletary rushed for 88 yards and a touchdown.
Buffalo has scored 27 or more points in five straight games, so its offence is on song at the moment.
Allen’s experience over Jones in the gun might just be what proves the difference in this.
Suggested Bet: Buffalo Bills -3.5 at $1.90
tampa bay vs. philadelphia
17th january 5:00am
The defending Super Bowl Champions are in action when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers host the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday morning in Tampa.
Tom Brady will be looking to take another step towards cementing his status as not only the greatest ever quarterback to play the game, but the best ever player to grace the field.
The off-field and on-field dramas caused by Antonio Brown have definitely been a distraction for Brady and his troops.
It might be the angle the Eagles need to cause an enormous upset, but from a pure football point of view, the Buccaneers hold sway with a -8.5 favourites tag.
In games this season when favoured by 8.5 points or more, the Buccaneers have gone 7-4 against the spread.
Doubt the Eagles have the capacity to stop the Buccaneers from charging into the next week of playoffs, but it will be a great learning experience for young quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Tampa Bay to cover the spread.
Suggested Bet: Tampa Bay Buccaneers -8.5 at $1.91
dallas vs. san francisco
17th january 8:30am
The Cowboys’ train rolls back into Arlington when Dallas meets the San Francisco 49ers at AT&T Stadium in the first week of the NFL playoffs.
The 49ers produced an enormous comeback against the LA Rams in Week 18 to book their spot in the playoffs, while Dallas crushed their divisional foe the Philadelphia Eagles with a 51-26 victory.
Dallas is favoured to win this game with the spread set at -2.5 and it might very well be a lock considering how well Dak Prescott and his offence is chugging along.
Prescott has averaged 302.2 yards with 2.7 touchdowns and 0.7 interceptions on 36 pass attempts per game through his last six contests.
He has posted 3+ passing touchdowns in five of those six games in what has been ominous warning to the NFL that this Dallas team cannot be taken lightly.
The Cowboys also boast the best ATS record in the NFL with a 13-4 tally.
Sure, San Francisco will put up a fight, but the Cowboys scoring power is just too much to handle.
Suggested Bet: Dallas Cowboys -2.5 at $1.86
kansas city vs. pittsburgh
17th january 12:15pm
The Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes will attempt to stamp their authority and return to their dominating ways when they battle the Pittsburgh Steelers in an NFL Wild Card matchup.
The Chiefs secured the AFC West for a sixth consecutive season and will begin their quest to go one better than their Super Bowl defeat last year.
Standing in their way is a Steelers team which has already had the experience of do-or-die clashes this season.
Pittsburgh has won for of its last six games and are coming off back-to-back must-wins over Cleveland and Baltimore.
Ben Roethlisberger might be getting long in tooth and has thrown more intercepts than usual this season, but he has come up trumps when the Steelers have needed him most.
However, Mahomes and his crew have already tallied up a massive 36-10 win over the Steelers this season and it is hard to see anything changing in this one.
The gulf in class between the teams in enormous and it will show in this contest.
Suggested Bet: Kansas City Chiefs -12.5 at $1.91
