Our NFL picks against the spread for the divisional playoffs are now live. Four games will take place throughout the weekend, starting with the upstart Houston Texans visiting the Baltimore Ravens Saturday afternoon.
Do C.J. Stroud and the Texans have any shot as major road underdogs against the No. 1 seed in the AFC? After the Green Bay Packers visit the San Francisco 49ers Saturday night, the Detroit Lions will host yet another playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday afternoon.
Things come to a culmination later on Sunday with the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs visiting the Buffalo Bills. Can Kansas City pull off the minor road upset? Check out below for our NFL picks against the spread for the divisional playoffs.
Related: NFL Divisional Playoffs schedule
NFL picks against the spread: NFL Divisional Playoffs
| Game | Date, time |
| Houston Texans (+9.0) @ Baltimore Ravens | Jan. 20, 4:30 PM ET |
| Kansas City Chiefs (+2.5) @ Buffalo Bills | Jan. 31, 6:30 PM ET |
Houston Texans put scare into Baltimore Ravens
It was back in Week 1 that Houston fell to the Ravens in Baltimore by the score of 25-9. This represented Stroud’s first career regular-season start. He ultimately completed 28-of-44 passes for 242 yards without a touchdown or an interception.
The game itself was close heading into halftime with Baltimore leading by the score of 7-6. That’s when Lamar Jackson and Co. scored 15 unanswered points in the third quarter to put the thing away. For his part, Jackson was not great in the game (169 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT).
Fast forward several months, and things have changed big time for these two teams. Of Houston’s seven regular-season losses, only three came by single digits. That might have some thinking it makes sense to take Baltimore and the points.
That’s until we realize what the Texans did to a No. 1-ranked Cleveland Browns defense in the wild card playoffs. They put up 356 total yards and had multiple chunk plays. Stroud’s connection with stud young receiver Nico Collins is something to watch here.
We’re going to pick the Ravens to win at home in this one. But the nine-point spread just doesn’t make too much sense. Houston is a completely different team than Baltimore saw in September. It is playing inspired football. That should make the first game of the NFL Divisional Playoffs more competitive than Vegas thinks.
Related: Sportsnaut experts pick NFL Divisional Playoffs
Kansas City Chiefs pull off minor road upset over Buffalo Bills
A lot was made of the Chiefs’ Week 14 home loss to Buffalo and the drama that followed. Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid were both fined for criticizing officials after a penalty call on wide receiver Kadarius Toney. The Chiefs ended up falling by the score of 20-17, pretty much forcing them to take to Western New York in the NFL Divisional Playoffs.
What we saw from Mahomes and Co. in a 26-7 win over the Miami Dolphins last week changes the narrative some heading into Sunday’s game.
The previously-struggling Kansas City offense put up 25 first downs and north of 400 yards. Its dominant defense was more up to the task, giving up just 264 total yards and 13 first downs to a previously high-flying Dolphins offense.
As for the Bills, we almost have to take last week’s win over the Pittsburgh Steelers with a grain of salt. Pittsburgh was not playoff-caliber. Rather, the coaching of Mike Tomlin led this team into the postseason. It’s completely different going up against Mahomes compared to a journeyman like Mason Rudolph.
In the end, we’re going to boldly predict that Kansas City pulls off the road win in Western New York to advance to its sixth consecutive AFC Championship Game.
Related: NFL Playoff and Super Bowl predictions
NFL picks against the spread results
- Week 1: 4-1
- Week 2: 2-3
- Week 3: 1-3
- Week 4: 1-3
- Week 5: 2-2
- Week 6: 3-1
- Week 7: 3-1
- Week 8: 3-1
- Week 9: 0-4
- Week 10: 3-1
- Week 11: 3-1
- Week 12: 2-2
- Week 13: 3-1
- Week 14: 3-1
- Week 15: 1-2
- Week 16: 2-2
- Week 17: 1-3
- Wild Card round: 3-0
- Total: 40-32