NFL Playoffs 2018: Best teaser picks against the spread (ATS), Wild Card Round
By Dan Salem
With only four games in the Wildcard round, we are picking teasers! Crazy ten point teasers well worth your money. Best teaser picks against the spread (ATS) for the NFL Playoffs 2018.
A wild Week 17 delivered a less-than-ideal first round of the NFL playoffs 2018. We have interesting matchups in the NFC for sure. But the AFC appears to simply be biding its time until a Patriots-Steelers final. Waiting isn’t fun, though. What is fun is picking teasers!
There is no better way to ring in the playoff year than with four-team, 10-point, crazy teasers! These are destined to fail miserably, because no sane person ever wagers on a four-team teaser. But with four games this weekend, it only seemed apropos. Your best teaser picks against the spread!
Two brothers from New York, Dan Salem and Todd Salem, debate the NFL Playoffs 2018 in today’s NFL Sports Debate.
Regular season records ATS:
Dan’s record ATS: 18-16
Todd’s record ATS: 14-20
Lines this week come courtesy of SportsLine via CBS Sports. We’ll move each game 10 points for the four-team teaser.
Todd’s Teaser:
Kansas City Chiefs +1 (from -9) vs. Tennessee Titans
Atlanta Falcons +16.5 (from +6.5) at Los Angeles Rams
Buffalo Bills +19 (from +9) at Jacksonville Jaguars
New Orleans Saints +3 (from -7) vs. Carolina Panthers
The four games this week fall into similar camps. All four home teams are favored by at least a touchdown but fewer than double digits. Both AFC favorites are giving nine on early lines. Not all four underdog opponents are created equal though. Let’s take them one by one.
Tennessee stinks. I don’t see any way it wins outright in Kansas City to kick off the postseason. You should always be hesitant to take the points if you don’t believe the underdog can win outright. Sliding the line to essentially even – all the Chiefs have to do is win straight-up – is the safest play in this entire wildcard round.
I feel differently about Atlanta. The Rams are actually my favorite team in the NFC playoffs. I think they are incredibly balanced and talented on both sides of the ball. But the Falcons have enough to pull an upset. The best performance from the Falcons can certainly win multiple playoff rounds. Inconsistency and sloppiness have plagued them, but all they have to do is keep this game within shouting distance to cover.
For the Bills, they don’t have a high ceiling and will most definitely not make a playoff run. But I don’t see Blake Bortles covering 19 points in a playoff game, thank you very much. Love the Jags defense, but this is an easy pick in this tease.
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Lastly, Carolina has me worried lately. The Panthers don’t feel right, even as they battled to three wins in their final four games. The Saints defense has fallen off from its heights early in the year, but the teaser allows me to slide New Orleans from a heavy home favorite to getting a field goal. Carolina may pull the upset, but it should be a close game either way, and I’ll back the home Saints.
Dan’s Teaser:
Tennessee Titans +19 (from +9) at Kansas City Chiefs
Atlanta Falcons +16.5 (from +6.5) at Los Angeles Rams
Buffalo Bills +19 (from +9) at Jacksonville Jaguars
Carolina Panthers +17 (from +7) at New Orleans Saints
The theme of the wildcard round of the NFL Playoffs 2018 is parity. All four of the teams in each conference respectively are damn even. Only the Chiefs stand slightly above their AFC wildcard peers, yet even Kansas City lost to the Jets and Giants this past season. Perhaps you think the LA Rams are a cut above, but this is a ten point teaser. I expect zero blowouts.
I’m going all-in with the road teams in the wildcard round. Each road team is getting nearly a touchdown or more, meaning they are getting over two touchdowns in our four-team ten point teaser. Two scores is too many points to pass up. Atlanta will play the Rams close. Carolina is not getting blown out by the Saints. Buffalo is capable of beating the Jaguars. Only the Titans scare me, but they’ve been competent all season. Tennessee won’t lose by three touchdowns, so I feel confident taking 19 points.
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Win or lose, the road teams simply must cover. I’m starting each of our four wildcard games with a commanding lead. That’s how you handle a playoff teaser. Let the NFL Playoffs 2018 begin!