NFL Playoffs: Tight Odds Splitting Bettors
The Divisional Playoffs begin this Saturday and all four home-favorite games are pretty evenly split among early bettors.
In Saturday's games, 52% like Tennessee giving three points to Baltimore, and 43% like Carolina giving 10 points to Arizona.
On Sunday, 59% like the NY Giants giving four-points to Philly and 36% like Pittsburgh giving six points to San Diego.
That's a far cry from last week when all four home teams were underdogs, and the betting public was heavily in favor of the visitors, giving them more than 80% support in every game.
Home dogs ended up going 2-2 straight-up and ATS last week with Arizona and San Diego getting the job done on Saturday, and road favorites Baltimore and Philadelphia being victorious on Sunday.
Looking at the first game this week, it begins on Saturday afternoon with the Tennessee Titans (13-3) giving three-points to the Baltimore Ravens (12-5).
On paper, this is set to be the best game of the weekend as both teams are extremely physical, want to run the ball and rely on their defense to win.
The Ravens are the faster and the more physical of the two and the question is whether Tennessee quarterback Kerry Collins can withstand the pass rush or will he end up throwing interceptions like Miami's Chad Pennington did last week.
The Saturday night game features the Carolina Panthers (12-4) giving 10-points to the Arizona Cardinals (10-7). This is the only big spread of the weekend and it makes sense even though Arizona looked very good at home last week in beating Atlanta.
Arizona is not a great away team, losing their last two on the road to Philadelphia and New England by a combined score of 95-27. Carolina is also a perfect 8-0 at home this season, with a 5-2-1 ATS mark.
The early game on Sunday has the New York Giants (12-4) giving four-points to the Philadelphia Eagles (10-6-1). These NFC East rivals know each other intimately and you can be sure the Giants were rooting for the Eagles to lose so they could face warm weather Arizona instead.
These teams split their regular season meetings but the Eagles won the last one 20-14 in the Meadowlands just four weeks ago. Don't think that doesn't play into the psyche of both teams.
The final game of the weekend has the Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4) giving six-points to the San Diego Chargers (9-8). These teams met in mid-November in Pittsburgh with the Steelers sneaking out with an 11-10 win. The Chargers had plenty of chances to win that game and they did cover the 4 ½-point spread.
The Chargers lost their next two games after the loss to Pittsburgh but they reeled off four straight to end the season and claim the AFC West. They then pulled off a great mini-upset of Indianapolis last week and no team is playing with more confidence right now despite the injury to LaDainian Tomlinson.
It's the ‘never-say-die' attitude of San Diego which is why more bettors like them this week than any other team. Out of the early bettors, 64% are backing the Chargers this Sunday.
In addition to the odds for this weekend's playoff games, make sure you check out all our future odds including our recently updated Super Bowl Odds.
We are also offering Primetime Props for the Divisional Playoffs. The popular promotion was a huge hit during the regular season as well as during Wild-Card Weekend.
