The third year of the NFL’s expanded playoffs begins Saturday with what the league has dubbed Super Wild Card Weekend, a three-day event that includes a Monday Night Football playoff game for the second season.
The NFL announced the schedule late Sunday night, and, perhaps not surprisingly, the marquee matchup of the Dallas Cowboys against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers gets the Monday night spotlight. The Bucs won the NFC South but did so with a paltry 8-9 record, so they’re 3-point underdogs against Dallas in this spot on the Monday morning line at at FanDuel Sportsbook.
One more team is a road favorite: The Los Angeles Chargers are 1½-point chalk at the Jacksonville Jaguars in a game to be played Saturday night.
The Cincinnati Bengals, last year’s AFC champions behind former LSU stars Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase, are 6½-point favorites over the Baltimore Ravens in a Sunday game that’s a rematch of a Week 18 meeting won 27-16 by the Bengals. The Ravens, however, are expected to have quarterback Lamar Jackson back for this one.
On the weekend, the early games feature the two biggest favorites: On Saturday, it’s the San Francisco 49ers against the Seattle Seahawks, who snuck into the playoffs as the NFC’s No. 7 seed when the Detroit Lions upset the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night. The 49ers are 10½-point favorites.
Then on Sunday, the Buffalo Bills, fresh off an emotional victory over the New England Patriots with their teammate Damar Hamlin watching from a hospital bed, get back to action. Their opponent is the Miami Dolphins, who made the playoffs because of their win and that Patriots loss Sunday but are 11-point dogs in this spot.
Here is the complete list of odds and
Lines from FanDuel Sportsbook as of Monday afternoon (all times Eastern)
Bye weeks
AFC: No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs
NFC: No. 1 Philadelphia Eagles
Saturday, Jan. 14
NFC: No. 7 Seattle Seahawks (+10½, ML +430, o/u 42½) at No. 2 San Francisco 49ers (-600), 4:30 p.m., Fox
AFC: No. 5 Los Angeles Chargers (-1½, ML -125, o/u 47½) at No. 4 Jacksonville Jaguars (+105), 8:15 p.m., NBC
Sunday, Jan. 15
AFC: No. 7 Miami Dolphins (+11, ML +430, o/u 44) at No. 2 Buffalo Bills (-600), 1 p.m., CBS
NFC: No. 6 New York Giants (+3 (-120), ML +130, o/u 47½) at No. 3 Minnesota Vikings (-3 (+100), ML -155), 4:30 p.m., Fox
AFC: No. 6 Baltimore Ravens (+6½ (-105), ML +240, o/u 43½) at No. 3 Cincinnati Bengals (-6½ (-115), ML -305), 8:15 p.m., NBC
Monday, Jan. 16
NFC: No. 5 Dallas Cowboys (-3 (-105), ML -155, o/u 45) at No. 4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+3 (-115), ML +130, o/u 45), 8:15 p.m., ABC/ESPN
