NFL Wild Card Weekend Odds and Lookahead Lines: Four Bets to Make This Weekend

Get a jump on NFL Wild-card Round odds & lookahead lines, along with four bets to place before lines begin to move for next week. Find updated NFL Wild-Card odds below.

2024 Wild-card Round NFL Odds & Lines

Lookahead NFL odds & Lines for the 2024 Wild-Card Round

2024 NFL Wild-Card Round Betting Picks

Only 13 games remain in the NFL season, and six of them will take place at the end of this week when the wild card round gets underway. Featuring every playoff team but the Ravens and 49ers, the action figures to be unpredictable. Or is it?

Let’s take a look at which NFL bets to lock in early for Wild Card Weekend.

Los Angeles Rams (+3.5) vs. Detroit Lions

There aren’t serious injury concerns surrounding the Rams, which is one major reason for LA’s late-season surge. The Lions, on the other hand, set themselves up for concern by playing key starters in Week 18, and they’re paying for it by potentially entering the playoffs without TE Sam LaPorta. LaPorta doesn’t appear to be dealing with a serious injury, but his status for Saturday night doesn’t seem favorable, even with a full seven days to recover.

Based on Matthew Stafford’s experience, news about LaPorta’s injury, and the realization that the Lions’ vulnerable defense might not match up well with the Rams’ dynamic trio of weapons (Kupp, Nacua, Williams), expect the Rams to be a popular pick to either win or keep this game close as the week rolls on. The Rams are an attractive bet as long as this line exceeds a field goal.

Philadelphia Eagles (-2.5) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Eagles are struggling, but this line feels like a worst-case scenario right now. If any positive news comes back on A.J. Brown with the extra day of the rest, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Philadelphia solidify its status as a favorite.

The Buccaneers have a remarkably streaky offense that has struggled over the last several weeks. Baker Mayfield looked out of sync with his receivers, and Rachaad White’s brief burst of efficiency wasn’t entirely sustainable.

The Eagles’ defense has sunk to new lows, but is Mayfield in position to truly take advantage of it right now? He’s performed in the playoffs before, but so has this Eagles team. Philadelphia almost certainly isn’t going back to the Super Bowl, but that doesn’t mean they can’t win this game semi-comfortably just as they did when they shut the Bucs down earlier in the season.

Pittsburgh Steelers (+9.5) vs. Buffalo Bills

It’s very tough to win in Buffalo, even when the Bills aren’t playing their best. The Steelers very likely won’t walk out of upstate New York with a win, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the money was on Pittsburgh keeping the game competitive as kickoff approaches. A frigid, gritty battle is one the Steelers can at least hang around in.

The Steelers have prided themselves on avoiding costly mistakes with Mason Rudolph at quarterback, and the Bills are a team that happens to make a few too many mistakes on the offensive end. The absence of T.J. Watt will make it more difficult for Pittsburgh to force those mistakes, but the Bills showed in Miami that the offense could beat itself enough to keep this game within single-digits – just as it did against the depleted Dolphins in the playoffs last January.

Houston Texans Moneyline (+126) vs. Cleveland Browns

Line movement may be limited here, but momentum is expected to be on the Texans side heading into Wild Card Weekend. The Browns beat Houston when C.J. Stroud wasn’t available, but the world learned in Week 18 that Stroud is a massive difference-maker. The offense recovered from a bit of a rough patch after Tank Dell’s injury, and the defense could gain back top pass-rusher Jonathan Greenard while WR Noah Brown has a chance to return for the offense.

The Browns’ defense remains strong and well-coached, but with a few injuries piling up in recent weeks and a 3-4 record in road games (outside of a Week 18 loss without most key starters), Cleveland is absolutely vulnerable enough in Houston for Texans moneyline to appeal.