'Let's Get Wild!'
Sharpen pencils, post season games are among the most difficult to handicap. Oddsmakers have only a few games a week to create a line instead of the usual sixteen, so count on point spreads being pretty tight in these WIN-And-Move-On games. That's confirmed by our reliable NFL database that tells us over the past five years during Wild Card Weekend Favorites have covered the point spread 9 times, Underdogs got the money 10 times with 1 Push. Taking a long-term view, much the same. In ten years, Favorites covered the point spread 19 times, Underdogs 20 and 1 push. Totals are a different story and here we begin to uncover some meaningful trends. The most obvious that jumps out is the tendency for Wild Card games to go 'Under' posted totals. The past 10 years there have been 15 'Over', 25 'Under' with short-term trends on the same path with 9 'Over', 11 'Under'. A final few betting nuggets as it applies to Wild Card participants. The Ravens are on a 4-0 ATS streak in these 'Put-Up-Go-Home games including 3-0 ATS when travelling. Bengals enter a cash draining 0-5 ATS in this round. During the past five years, teams heading into the Wild Card Round off a loss (Bengals, Cardinals, Lions) have a 6-9 ATS record including 0-5 ATS when playing in a hostile venue.
Sharpen pencils, post season games are among the most difficult to handicap. Oddsmakers have only a few games a week to create a line instead of the usual sixteen, so count on point spreads being pretty tight in these WIN-And-Move-On games. That's confirmed by our reliable NFL database that tells us over the past five years during Wild Card Weekend Favorites have covered the point spread 9 times, Underdogs got the money 10 times with 1 Push. Taking a long-term view, much the same. In ten years, Favorites covered the point spread 19 times, Underdogs 20 and 1 push. Totals are a different story and here we begin to uncover some meaningful trends. The most obvious that jumps out is the tendency for Wild Card games to go 'Under' posted totals. The past 10 years there have been 15 'Over', 25 'Under' with short-term trends on the same path with 9 'Over', 11 'Under'. A final few betting nuggets as it applies to Wild Card participants. The Ravens are on a 4-0 ATS streak in these 'Put-Up-Go-Home games including 3-0 ATS when travelling. Bengals enter a cash draining 0-5 ATS in this round. During the past five years, teams heading into the Wild Card Round off a loss (Bengals, Cardinals, Lions) have a 6-9 ATS record including 0-5 ATS when playing in a hostile venue.
