There seems to be a reason why the league put the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers games in early slots during NFL Wild Card Weekend.
Both are Super Bowl contenders and boast the No. 2 seeds in their respective conferences. They are also taking on vastly inferior divisional opponents at home this coming weekend.
San Francisco (13-4) is slated to host the Seattle Seahawks (9-8) at 4:30 PM ET on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Bills (13-4) will play host to a struggling Miami Dolphins (9-8) team Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.
In what shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, these two teams boast the highest point spreads of NFL Wild Card Weekend. Below, we check in on how the early odds look for all six matchups over the three-day span.
Related: Ranking all NFL Wild Card Weekend games
NFL Wild Card Saturday features streaking San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco currently finds itself as 10-point favorites per BetMGM. It’s the second-highest point spread of the weekend behind the aforementioned Bills (more on that later).
There’s certainly a reason for this. These 49ers head into the playoffs with 10 consecutive wins. That span has seen them pull off double-digit victories seven times, including a blowout 38-13 triumph over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 18.
All said, San Francisco outscored its opponents 10.2 points per game in the regular season. During that 10-game winning streak, said margin stood at 16.1 points per outing. For its part, Seattle boasted a 4-5 record away from home during the regular season — losing those five games by an average of over nine points. It has also lost its past three matchups against San Francisco by nearly 12 points per game.
Related: Sportsnaut’s NFL Playoff and Super Bowl predictions
Buffalo Bills open as huge Sunday favorites against the Miami Dolphins
It’s not yet known who will be under center for Miami come Sunday afternoon at 4:00 PM ET in Western New York. After suffering a third concussion of the season back in Week 16, Tua Tagovailoa’s status for the playoffs remains up in the air. Veteran backup Teddy Bridgewater missed Week 18’s win over the Jets with a broken pinky finger.
This left things up to rookie seventh-round pick Skylar Thompson who completed 20-of-31 passes in an ugly win over the Jets in Week 18. Said victory came after a five-game losing streak for the Fins.
As for Buffalo, it came out victorious in Sunday’s return to action following the scary situation surrounding safety Damar Hamlin. It was an emotional return to the field for a Bills team that has now won seven consecutive games by an average of 10.2 points heading into the playoffs.
The only real saving grace here for Miami is Josh Allen’s turnover issues. An NFL MVP candidate earlier in the season, Allen has accounted for 13 turnovers over the past 10 games. This could keep things closer than anticipated.
Related: NFL Playoff power rankings
Full NFL Wild Card odds
| Away | Home | Date | Time (ET) | TV Info |
| Seahawks | 49ers (-10.0) | Jan. 14 | 4:30 PM | FOX |
| Chargers (-1.5) | Jaguars | Jan. 14 | 8:15 PM | NBC, Peacock |
| Dolphins | Bills (-10.5) | Jan. 15 | 1:00 PM | CBS, Paramount+ |
| Giants | Vikings (-3.0) | Jan. 15 | 4:30 PM | FOX |
| Ravens | Bengals (-6.5) | Jan. 15 | 8:15 PM | NBC, Peacock |
| Cowboys (-3.0) | Buccaneers | Jan. 16 | 8:15 PM | ESPN/ABC |