The road team won all four games in the playoffs for the first time on Wild Card weekend in NFL history.
Now, those four road teams are going to be back at it against clubs which had the whole week off to prepare for their foes in the divisional round of the playoffs.
NFL Divisional Round Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Chiefs (45.5) at Patriots (-4.5) (Saturday, 4:35 p.m. ET)
Packers (50) at Cardinals (-7) (Saturday, 8:15 p.m. ET)
Seahawks (44) at Panthers (-3) (Sunday, 1:05 p.m. ET)
Steelers (OTB) at Broncos (-7) (Sunday, 4:40 p.m. ET)
It's worth noting that three of the four meetings here in the divisional round of the playoffs are rematches, and in two of the three cases, the team which won the opening meeting is favored to complete the two-game sweep.
However, if we learned nothing else last week, it's that beating the same team in the same situation twice in a short span of time is really tough. The Seahawks should've been beaten in Minnesota, while the Steelers probably should've ultimately blown a game which could've gone either way against the Bengals.
That said, it's a new week, and these four games should all be fantastic.
The first of the duels pits the hottest team in the league against the defending champs. The Chiefs and Patriots get together in the one matchup in the second round of the playoffs that isn't a rematch, but for our money, this was the toughest game to line. Kansas City has won 11 games in a row, but the Pats are the Super Bowl holders, and they're darn near impossible to beat in Foxboro in January.
New England didn't play well down the stretch of the season, but it's expected that men like Sebastian Vollmer, Julian Edelman, Dont'a Hightower and Chandler Jones are all going to be back in the fold after they all missed the end of the regular season. That makes New England a significantly better team. Look at what Minnesota's defense did when it got back three of its starters against a Seattle team which smoked it just a few weeks ago. The effect could be even greater for a dominant team like New England.
The Cardinals embarrassed the Packers just a couple weeks ago at home to lock up the NFC West title and a first round bye. Since then though, Green Bay's offense woke up just a bit. Protection was great for Aaron Rodgers against Washington, and it's tough to imagine that Arizona is going to get nine sacks once again like it did against Green Bay the first time around.
Still, in spite of the fact that the Cards won the first meeting 38-8, the spread and total remain virtually the same. Arizona was -6 with a total of 50 on December 27, and it's set at -7 with a matching total of 50 here in the second round of the playoffs. That 50 is the highest total in the divisional round.
The closest of the four spreads comes in Charlotte, where the 15-1 Panthers are likely being completely disrespected against the Seahawks. Seattle looked miserable against the Vikings on Sunday, and if not for a backyard type of play by Russell Wilson on a bad snap which went over his head, the offense probably never would've scored.
It does feel like it's been a while since Carolina's 27-23 win in Seattle on October 18, and we must admit that these are significantly different Seahawks from that game. Cam Newton's signature moment in his MVP season came when he led the Panthers back from down 23-14 with under four minutes left in the game to stun the Seahawks, and he can cement him legend in Charlotte with a win in this game.
The total of 44 is the lowest of the weekend, though the Denver/Pittsburgh number might ultimately be lower than that.
Ben Roethlisberger suffered a shoulder injury in the third quarter against Cincinnati but came back to lead the game-winning drive. Big Ben isn't expected to practice much of this week for the Steelers, while Antonio Brown seems to be alright after taking a jarring hit from Vontaze Burfict on the final offensive snap of the game of meaning in Cincinnati.
Still, until Roethlisberger is given the green light for certain, this spread is going to remain open only for small limits. The Broncos, who are giving the keys to their season back to Peyton Manning after benching Brock Osweiler in Week 17, opened at -7, though if Roethlisberger plays and is practicing by Thursday or Friday, that number could surely come down from there.
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