NFL 2018/19 – The Wild Card Weekend is on
THE final week of the NFL regular season had games that felt like playoffs had already begun. Even the Dallas Cowboys vs New York Giants contest, which had no bearing on this weekend’s seeding, was a nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat encounter.
The visiting Dallas contingent rested the NFL’s rushing champion, Ezekiel Elliot (1,434 yards) and their narrow 36-35 victory was indicative of a very keenly contested match-up.
The Cowboys welcome the Seattle Seahawks into AT&T Stadium tomorrow (January 5) and, after struggling to beat the Arizona Cardinals last week, the Seahawks must be approaching this contest as JustBet 3-point underdogs with much trepidation. Seattle’s quarterback (QB) Russell Wilson has had a pretty good season throwing the ball and setting a number of personal and team records.
However, he has been sacked 51 times this season and the Dallas defensive front is very unforgiving. On the other hand, the Seahawks have defeated the Cowboys in their last three meetings including 24-13 last September. If Dallas are able to contain Wilson and create running lanes for Elliot, this one should be over early. If not, expect very close scoring with the winner being decided in the last possession.
In the games where the result really mattered, the Minnesota Vikings were at home against the Chicago Bears and they were in desperate need of a win or tie to book a spot into this weekend’s activities . They achieved neither.
In a microcosm of their entire season, the Vikings underperformed, suffered a 10-24 defeat and will have a ‘comfort-seat’ view of the playoffs. With the Viking loss, the Philadelphia Eagles got the break they needed and subsequently took care of their own business. They trumped the Washington Redskins 24-0.
In a season reminiscent of their championship run last year where Carson Wentz got injured and Nick Foles guided the team home, the Eagles booked their spot into Wildcard Weekend where they are going to face the Bears as JustBet 6-point underdogs late Sunday afternoon (January 6).
The Eagles have schooled the Bears in the last two meetings in previous seasons but, with the signing of linebacker Khalil Mack this season, the Bears have the NFL’s third rank defence looking to overrun Philadelphia’s 14th rank offence.
Nick Foles suffered a rib injury early in the fourth quarter last weekend but is reportedly ready to go on Sunday. He has led Philadelphia to three straight victories and is armed with a similar arsenal of weapons to what he had last season.
If there is any genuine weakness in the Eagles’ team it is their depleted and inexperienced secondary but the Bears are not really built to exploit that ‘chink in the armour’. If defence wins championships, Chicago will need their A-game to push past Philadelphia’s impressive offensive line. The Bears should win but will have an uphill task and surpassing the JustBet handicap may be a stretch.
The other critical game last weekend saw the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans clash in a win or go home encounter.
The Colts dominated in a 33-17 win and move on to visit the Houston Texans in the early game on Saturday as JustBet 3-point underdogs.
The last three meeting between these teams have been close encounters and they have split the results this season 34-27 and 24-21 on September 30 and December 9 respectively.
There is very little separating these teams and they both have the potential to pile up the points quickly so expect at least 50 points in total with less than 7 points separating the two. The Texans are expected to move on.
The other game slated for Wild Card Weekend is the Los Angeles Chargers playing away to the Baltimore Ravens. The Charges actually defeated the Ravens on December 22nd but start this encounter as JustBet 3-point underdogs based mainly on the fact that Baltimore boasts the NFL’s top-ranked defence and the second-place running offence. On the other side of the ball, the Ravens defence closed down the Cleveland Browns last weekend but couldn’t generate any telling offence themselves. The odds may be stacked against them but the Chargers could pull off a mild upset early Sunday afternoon.
The New Orleans Saints basically sat out Week 17 but are still firm JustBet favourites at $3.40 to win the Super Bowl while the Kansas City Chiefs occupy the second favourite spot at $5.25. The Los Angeles Rams are third favourites at $5.50 while the New England Patriots remain very relevant at $6.50.
The JustBet suite of betting options on NFL games continues to offer very attractive odds from the very basic WIN or DRAW to the more exotic MARGIN OF VICTORY. Visit one of the over 100 locations and place your bets on the prediction of your choice for maximum winnings… Get in the GAME!
The full schedule of games for Wild Card Weekend are provided with odds for the main bet options.
SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS 2018-2019
CODE TEAM ODDS101 NE PATRIOTS 6.50
102 PHI EAGLES 30.00
106 LA RAMS 5.50
108 NO SAINTS 3.40
109 DAL COWBOYS 25.00
113 KC CHIEFS 5.25
114 HOU TEXANS 25.00
115 LA CHARGERS 15.00
116 SEA SEAHAWKS 28.00
120 BAL RAVENS 14.00
125 IND COLĐS 25.00
131 CHI BEARS 9.00
WILD CARD WEEKEND SCHEDULE & ODDS
DATE TIME HOME TEAM AWAY TEAM MAIN MATCH BETS
MONEY LINE FINAL WITH
05/01/19 16:35 HOU TEXANS IND COLĐS 1.70 2.02 -2.5 1.83 1.87
20:15 DAL COWBOYS SEA SEAHAWKS 1.65 2.10 -2.5 1.77 1.93
06/01/19 13:05 BAL RAVENS LA CHARGERS 1.65 2.10 -2.5 1.77 1.93
16:40 CHI BEARS PHI EAGLES 1.40 2.70 -5.5 1.85 1.85
*Betting odds, handicaps and limits are subject to change.
*If an NFL Match ends in a tie after overtime is played, then all bets on “Money Line Bets” will be given odds
of 1.00 and all other bets will be settled based on the final score. Odds on NFL Money Line bets include the
outcome after regulation and overtime.