The NFL’s Super Wild Card Weekend has come and gone and, frankly, most of the games weren’t that “Super.”
It was a weekend filled with wild performances and even wilder moments, leaving many odds gamblers at MaximBet a bit perplexed. At some point during the Buffalo Bills-New England Patriots game there was a dildo on the field. Then, once they got Bill Belichick to step off it, somebody tossed a sex toy into the end zone!
Of the six games that took place from Saturday through Monday, only two were competitive past the first quarter. It’s almost as if the teams that squeaked into the playoffs as Wild Cards showed us exactly who they were in the regular season.
Did we think the Arizona Cardinals would somehow learn to win an important game when they’d lost four of their last five? Did we believe that Mike McCarthy’s nephew had used Madden 21 to teach the losing head coach how to properly manage the clock at the end of a game?
Did we see a world where a rookie QB who’s been in full meltdown mode for the last month, losing three of his last four, would somehow outperform a guy who was in the MVP conversation this season?
As easy as it may have been to navigate the wild cards, the Divisional Round is significantly tougher to nail down. Perusing the NFL odds, lines and totals at MaximBet, only one game spread is over -3.5 and the smallest over/under is 47.
All the home teams are favored and last year only one team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, won as a road dog in the divisional round. We also had a dog do the deed in the 2019-20 Divisional Round, with the Tennessee Titans knocking off the Baltimore Ravens. But in 2018-19, we had chalk, with all the home favorites winning out, decisively for the most part.
So, what’s going to happen this time?
NFL Divisional Round Saturday
Cincinnati Bengals at Tennessee Titans (-3.5)
The Titans are probably the worst team to get homefield advantage in the playoffs since, well, the Tennessee Titans in 2008. That Titans team, coached by one Jeff Fisher, did not finish 8-8, instead posting a 13-3 mark in the regular season only to lose 13-10 to the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round. Thirteen wins, 13-10 loss—leave it Jeff Fisher to find a way to make it look like he finished .500 even when he didn’t.
Derrick Henry is slated to practice this week and that means he might show up and play. How well and how long is anyone’s guess, but the Titans have been able to run the ball effectively without him.
Cincinnati won its first playoff game since Color Me Badd was sexing up everyone that C&C Music Factory hadn’t already made sweat a week ago. It’s been a good week to be a Bengals fan and they have a real shot, with their skill players, to make the 2021-22 Titans remember the 2008-09 Titans.
But the fact that the Raiders nearly stole the game in the final seconds last week gives me enough pause to say…
Take the Bengals at +3.5 and/or the Titans moneyline at -190.
San Francisco 49ers at Green Bay Packers (-6)
You want a fun fact? The 49ers and Packers have faced off in the playoffs three times since Aaron Rodgers took over as Green Bay’s quarterback. Twice at Lambeau Field and once in Santa Clara, and all three times the 49ers won. Only one of the three contests was even close.
The last time this very similar San Francisco team traveled to Green Bay in the 2019-20 NFC Championship, the Niners annihilated the Packers 37-20.
And there’s no kind of bovine boner pills or camel hemorrhoid suppositories Aaron Rodgers can take to fight that fact off.
Do I think the 49ers can win Saturday? Yes. Do I think they will? With Jimmy Garoppolo and Nick Bosa banged up, maybe not. But a touchdown is a lot. I think Captain Cow Wormer will be more than happy to get out of there with a field goal win.
Take the 49ers at +6 and/or the Packers moneyline at -250.
Adam Greene is @TheFirstMan on Twitter.
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