NFL Wild Card Round Picks Straight Up, Odds & Spreads For All 6 Games

Welcome to our NFL Wild Card Round Picks Straight Up! We finally made it; the NFL playoffs are here! This year, things feel more wide open than ever. There is no single team that feels unstoppable; there is some expected bad weather this weekend, and we have already seen plenty of upsets throughout the regular season. Anything can happen!

So without further ado, it is time to bring you our expert NFL Wild Card Round Picks Straight Up. Below, you will find my picks, some highlighted matchups, and the odds and spreads for every game this week.

NFL Wild Card Round Picks Straight Up & Odds For All 6 Games

With the NFL playoffs here, we have some great matchups on paper for the Wild Card Round! In the following section, you will find my predictions, with the teams I anticipate coming away with a victory highlighted in bold. Odds are courtesy of BetMGM:

• Los Angeles Rams -625 vs. Carolina Panthers +450
• Green Bay Packers -120 vs. Chicago Bears +100
• Buffalo Bills -115 vs. Jacksonville Jaguars -105
• San Francisco 49ers +190 vs. Philadelphia Eagles -225
• Los Angeles Chargers +165 vs. New England Patriots -200
• Houston Texans -175 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers +145

NFL Wild Card Round Picks Straight Up: Houston Texans ML (-155 at DraftKings Sportsbook)

Let's not overthink this one. Don't turn to the social media stats telling you how great the Steelers are on Monday Night Football or how the Texans can only win on Saturdays during the playoffs; all of that is silly. The Houston Texans are the better football team.

After a slow start to the regular season, the Texans are entering the playoffs on a nine-game winning streak, boasting what I view as the best defense in the entire NFL. Offensively, they have overcome some early offensive line woes and found their groove. While I do respect the Steelers' pass rushing group and think they could help keep this game close, the rest of this defense and the offensive talent do not wow me at all.

Looking at the numbers, the Texans only sit at 18th in yards per game, but their defense has allowed for the second-fewest yards per game. Meanwhile, both the Steelers' offense and defense sit in the bottom ten in yards per game (25th and 26th, respectively). So personally, even with a homefield advantage for the Steelers, I would much rather bet on the team that has momentum, overcame injuries, and has a classic “defense wins championships,” mentality, rather than a team that stumbled into the playoffs due to a last-second missed field goal that seemingly lacks any sort of identity on either side of the ball other than some occasional vintage moments from Aaron Rodgers and Cam Heyward. I like the Texans to win this one outright.

NFL Wild Card Round Picks Straight Up: Jacksonville Jaguars ML (-105 at BetMGM Sportsbook)

I feel like the Jacksonville Jaguars are quietly one of the best teams in the NFL. They don't have any glaring weaknesses and finished the season 13-4 despite losing their first-round pick from this year's NFL draft, having a sophomore slump from last year's first-round pick, and, to top it all off, they are being led by a rookie head coach! While they might be underdogs here and going up against a reigning MVP who can flip any game on its head, I do like the Jags in this spot.

The Jaguars both offensively and defensively rank in the top 10 of most statistics. What sticks out the most to me, though, is their number one-ranked run defense, only allowing just over 85 yards per game on the ground. They face off against the league's leading rusher, James Cook, who, while incredibly talented, is not unstoppable. In fact, teams that were able to slow him down, like the Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles, were able to pull off the win. If anyone can replicate this sort of success in stopping the run, it is the number-one-ranked run defense of the Jaguars. That will force Josh Allen to try and throw on his Superman cape to win the game singlehandedly. While that might be scary to some, in the last two games we saw Allen play, he looked a little slower, as he deals with a foot injury. Personally, if I were on the Jags, I would much rather see a one-dimensional Bills' offense with a banged-up quarterback than allow them to dictate the game script. 

Meanwhile, the Bills have had one glaring weakness: their 28th-ranked run defense. While Travis Etienne might not be the most exciting name to rely on to beat the experienced and star-studded Bills, he has provided efficiency and reliability to an incredibly balanced Jaguars' offense that I think could help them walk away with the win. Despite Josh Allen certainly being a wildcard here, I like the value we are getting on what I view as the more talented and balanced team. Give me the Jags winning here at home. 

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This welcome bonus is straightforward and inclusive, giving you the chance to place wagers on any matchup you like during the NFL Wild Card Round. After registering through this offer, simply deposit at least $10 and place a qualifying bet of $10 or more.

As long as you bet at least $10 with your first bet, you're ready to just kick back and root for it to win. If it does, you’ll get $150 in bonus bets, even if you're betting a big favorite like the Rams over the Panthers! In other words, you’re getting 15/1 odds on anything when you become a new member with our BetMGM bonus code ALARM!

NFL Wild Card Round Spreads For All 6 Games Provided By BetMGM Sportsbook

We just unveiled our NFL Wild Card Round picks, and below are the spread odds for each matchup, provided by BetMGM Sportsbook:

• Rams -10.5 vs. Panthers +10.5
• Packers -1 vs. Bears +1
• Bills -1 vs. Jaguars +1
• 49ers -5 vs. Eagles +5
• Chargers +3.5 vs. Patriots -3.5 
• Texans -3 vs, Steelers +3

Be sure to come back and check out our NFL Wild Card Round Picks Against the Spread, or take advantage of our BetMGM bonus code ALARM by signing up now!