The Wild Card Round has not even started, but sportsbooks have already posted lookahead lines for hypothetical Divisional Round matchups.
Let's look at all of the available lines before diving into some of the more interesting matchups.
Divisional Round Hypothetical Lookahead Lines
| Hypothetical Matchups | Favorite | Spread | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore Ravens vs. Buffalo Bills | Bills | -1 | O/U 52.5 |
| Minnesota Vikings vs. Detroit Lions | Lions | -3.5 | O/U 52.5 |
| Green Bay Packers vs. Detroit Lions | Lions | -3.5 | O/U 53.2 |
| Minnesota Vikings vs. Philadelphia Eagles | Eagles | -4 | O/U 45.5 |
| Los Angeles Chargers vs. Kansas City Chiefs | Chiefs | -4.5 | O/U 50.5 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Philadelphia Eagles | Eagles | -6.5 | O/U 50.5 |
| Los Angeles Rams vs. Detroit Lions | Lions | -6.5 | O/U 53.5 |
| Houston Texans vs. Kansas City Chiefs | Chiefs | -7 | O/U 43.5 |
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Rams @ Lions (DET -6.5)
The line for this hypothetical matchup sits at -6.5 with Detroit as the favorite, which means the oddsmakers are expecting a similar result to the season opener. The Lions won that game by 6 on the road.
If these two teams meet in the Divisional Round, it is important to note that the Lions have lost several defensive players who played key roles in that Week 1 victory, namely Aidan Hutchinson, Carlton Davis III, Derrick Barnes, and Malcolm Rodriguez.
They will likely get David Montgomery back from injury, but Detroit’s high-powered offense may still struggle as Los Angeles’s defense capped off an incredible season by holding their opponents without a touchdown for three straight games.
It is also worth mentioning that these are the only two teams to earn a win over the Minnesota Vikings this season (all by multiple scores), who the Rams will have to get through once more if they hope to see this rematch come to fruition.
Ravens @ Bills (BUF -1)
This is a highly anticipated rematch despite how poorly it ended for Buffalo the first time around.
The total seems high at 52.5 considering the Bills’ lackluster 10-point performance against Baltimore in Week 4, so it’s safe to assume that Buffalo’s recent uptick in scoring (27.27 points per game before the bye compared to 34.16 after) had some effect on this spread.
The fact that this game would be played in Orchard Park this time around also had some influence on this number, as Highmark Stadium in January is one of the last places any team wants to end up.
Chargers @ Chiefs (KC -4.5)
This matchup is particularly interesting because, as dominant as this Chiefs team appeared all season, the Chargers continuously played them close.
Both of their regular season matchups were decided by one score with their second meeting in Kansas City coming down to a Harrison Butker field goal as time expired.
In fact, of the Chargers' six losses this season, only two of them ended in multiple-score deficits.
The total seems high at 45.5 as neither of the first two matchups between these teams broke 36 points total, but this could be partially due to the return of Isiah Pacheco, who did not play when these teams first met in Week 4.
