Early best bets for NFL Divisional Round

Where respected handicappers have placed their bets already

Jan 15, 2025

∙ Paid

MGM signage — Photo by Marcos Nieto on Unsplash

Many people think the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs is the best weekend of football all season, and with this upcoming slate it’s hard to argue.

The Kansas City Chiefs (-8.5 vs. Houston Texans) are looking for a three-peat, but have to get by C.J. Stroud and a solid Texans defense first.

The Detroit Lions are 9.5-point home favorites against the Washington Commanders, which is by far the biggest playoff favorite the Lions have been in their franchise history.

The Philadelphia Eagles (-6) look to slow down a Los Angeles Rams team that crushed my beloved Minnesota Vikings on Monday night.

And in likely the best game of the weekend, the Buffalo Bills (+1.5 vs. Baltimore Ravens) could be underdogs for the first time at home since they joined the NFL in 1970.

“Ravens-Bills is the most heavily bet game of the weekend by far,” Thomas Gable, sportsbook director at The Borgata in Atlantic City, told me today. “A little more money on the Bills right now, but not much. Pretty evenly bet game thus far.”

Below, I’ve aggregated 25 bets that respected handicappers have already placed on the weekend’s NFL playoff games for you, along with public betting information and betting splits from DraftKings and BetRivers.

If you haven’t already, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. It’s only $8/month and you’ll get access to my Substack Lives, the paid chat and more. I’ll add to this file and send out a new post on Satuday morning with more information from oddsmakers and aggregated best bets.

Good luck with your wagers!