NFL Divisional Round preview, predictions & best bets

The NFL’s top seeds start their postseasons on Saturday as the Green Bay Packers host the San Francisco 49ers and the Tennessee Titans host the Cincinnati Bengals. We’ve got picks in those two matchups as well as Sunday’s Los Angeles Rams vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Buffalo Bills vs Kansas City Chiefs games in our NFL Divisional Round preview.

Cincinnati Bengals (+3.5) at Tennessee Titans (-3.5)

Joe Burrow and Jamarr Chase carried their dominant regular season play into the postseason as Burrow passed for 244 yards and two touchdowns and Chase caught nine passes for 116 yards in Cincinnati’s 26-19 win at home over the Las Vegas Raiders. Cincinnati (11-7-0) carries a 4-1 straight up and 5-0 against the spread record over its last five games into this matchup against the Tennessee Titans (12-5-0).

All eyes will be on Derrick Henry in this Saturday’s game. Tennessee’s star running back returns after having missed each of the team’s last nine games with a leg injury. The Titans were 6-2 with Henry in the lineup, and if he is in his normal form this week, Tennessee is going to be awfully tough to beat. But given how well Burrow and the Bengals have played, this should be a close game, so we’ll take the 3.5 points on offer with the top NFL betting sites.

San Francisco 49ers (+6) at Green Bay Packers (-6)

The San Francisco 49ers (11-7-0) rode their top tier defense to a 23-17 upset win over the Dallas Cowboys last weekend. That defense will be put to the test this Saturday against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers (13-4-0). Rodgers was outstanding during the regular season with 4,115 passing yards, 37 touchdown passes and only four interceptions.

When these two teams met in San Francisco back in September, Green Bay edged out a 30-28 win. Look for a similar type of game here; the 49ers are good enough on defense to keep this one close, even if Rodgers should eventually lead his team to victory at home.

Los Angeles Rams (+3) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-3)

The Los Angeles Rams (13-5-0) looked like a legitimate Super Bowl contender in a dominant 34-11 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Monday night. Then again, so did the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers (14-4-0), who had no trouble rolling to a 31-15 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Tampa Bay is 8-1 (7-2 ATS) over its last nine games and Los Angeles is 6-1 (5-2 ATS) over its last seven.

This is a tough one to predict. Tampa Bay is missing so many key players on offense that going against a defense like Los Angeles’s seems like a huge obstacle. But with Tom Brady under center, no postseason obstacle is too large. We’re leaning towards the Rams in this one as they seem to be the more complete team at the moment with injuries factored in, even though betting against Brady is never an easy proposition in the playoffs.

Buffalo Bills (+1.5) at Kansas City Chiefs (-1.5)

Josh Allen had 308 passing yards and five touchdown passes in the Buffalo Bills’ 47-17 win over the New England Patriots last weekend. Patrick Mahomes had 404 passing yards and five touchdown passes in the Kansas City Chiefs’ 42-21 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Two red-hot quarterbacks, two red-hot teams. This one should be a ton of fun.

Who will win? We’re leaning towards the Chiefs. Kansas City (13-5-0) hosted Buffalo (12-6-0) and lost 38-20 back in October, but that was back when the team was in the midst of a 2-4 slump to start the season. The Chiefs are 11-1 (7-5 ATS) since then and are a completely different team on defense. Kansas City’s postseason experience and home field advantage should propel the Chiefs to a win in this one.