12 Betting Facts About Wild Card Weekend

Wild Card Weekend is upon us. We have what appears to be four quality matchups to look forward to, from both a viewing and handicapping perspective. As we look ahead and attempt to predict the results of those contests, let’s take some time to revisit lessons from past years. Here are 12 nuggets of intel to keep in mind as you get set for this weekend’s games.

Playoff Pick’em: Play free for autographed prizes & FantasyPros subscriptions >>

Home-field advantage is no sure thing.
If we look back over the last dozen years of the playoffs, we find that home teams have only a slight advantage over visitors. For 48 Wild Card games stretching back to 2007, home teams are 25-23 overall. Over that span, home teams have swept the round twice, while road teams have turned the same trick just once. For last year’s playoffs, home teams were 1-3 straight-up. 

Favorites are winning 60 percent of the time in recent years…
Over the same time frame, favorites are 29-19 straight-up in the Wild Card Round. Clean sweeps have happened twice for favorites since 2007, but not once for underdogs. Last season, favorites were 1-3 in Wild Card games. 

…but underdogs are covering the spread 56 percent of the time.
However, taking the points has been profitable overall since 2007. Favorites are just 21-27 ATS over that span with clean sweeps twice. Underdogs have covered all four games three times during our targeted period, including last season.  

Only six Wild Card teams have won the Super Bowl.
The Wild Card system for the NFL Playoffs stretches all the way back to 1970. Only six teams have managed to enter the postseason as a Wild Card and end it by hoisting the Lombardi Trophy when all was said and done. The last team to do so was the 2010 Green Bay Packers.  

The Bills haven’t won a playoff game since 1995.
Buffalo is 0-4 in its last four trips to the postseason, losing in the Wild Card Round each time. They were on the road for the last three of those contests, including their most recent appearance in 2017, when they lost 10-3 to the Jacksonville Jaguars. All-time, the Bills are 14-16 in postseason games and 3-4 in Wild Card games.  

The Texans bounced in the Wild Card Round twice in their last three playoff appearances.
Houston is 3-5 all-time in the postseason. All three of those victories have come in the Wild Card Round, as the team is winless in Divisional Playoff games. Over their last three playoff appearances, they have been knocked out in the Wild Card twice, including last season’s 21-7 defeat to the Indianapolis Colts. 

The Titans are 8-5 all-time in the Wild Card Round.
The playoff history of the Titans includes the franchise’s time as the Houston Oilers. Historically, the team is 8-5 in the Wild Card Round and 15-20 overall. The Titans last made the playoffs in 2017. They stunned the Chiefs with a 22-21 road win in the opening round, but they fell to the New England Patriots the following week by 21 points. 

This will be the Patriots’ first game in the Wild Card Round since 2010.
New England is a regular in the NFL postseason, but the Wild Card Round has been foreign territory for them for nearly a decade. They snagged a Wild Card spot after the 2009 season and went on to drop a 33-14 home decision to the Baltimore Ravens. The Patriots’ overall playoff record is 37-20, but it’s just 4-4 in the Wild Card Round. 

The postseason hasn’t been kind to the Vikings.
Minnesota’s postseason history includes an 0-4 record in the Super Bowl. For all-time playoff games, their record stands at 20-29, and it’s 6-7 in the Wild Card Round. The team’s last postseason appearance came in 2017. They took down the New Orleans Saints in the Divisional Round before getting smoked by the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship.

The Saints are riding a three-game Wild Card winning streak.
New Orleans is 9-11 overall in the postseason and 4-5 in Wild Card games. However, the team has gotten the job done the last three times it played in this round, with two of those victories coming at home. In last year’s playoffs, the team handled the Eagles in the Divisional Round before falling to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC title tilt. 

The Seahawks are 8-5 overall in the Wild Card Round.
The Seahawks were bounced from this round last season via a 24-22 road defeat to the Dallas Cowboys. That loss snapped what had been a six-game winning streak in Wild Card games. Since the 2003 season, the team is 6-3 for the opening weekend of the playoffs. Seattle’s all-time record in the postseason stands at 16-16 and 8-5 in the Wild Card Round.

The Eagles are 4-1 in their last five postseason games.
Philadelphia had a stellar undefeated run through the 2017 playoffs, and they followed that up by going 1-1 a season ago. The recent run snapped a dreadful stretch in which the team was riding an 0-3 postseason streak, losing each of those games in the Wild Card Round. Philadelphia is 23-22 all-time in playoff games and 8-8 in this round.

Sign up now at PointsBet and a $100 bonus when you bet $50 >>

Christopher Feery is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Christopher, check out his archive and follow him @cmfeery.