NFL Wild Card Weekend Betting Tips And Predictions

Knockout football begins this weekend with a slate of six Wild Card games in the NFL Playoffs. The first two games take place on Saturday, rolling into Sunday morning.

Then, you’ll get to see three games unfold through Sunday and into Monday morning before an early Tuesday morning kick-off in the UK to decide which four teams will make it to the Divisional Round.

Amping up the pressure on all of the teams involved, these are the NFL betting tips for the Wild Card Weekend games.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens

Both hailing from the AFC North, the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers couldn’t be further apart in terms of form.

The Ravens, ending as the 12-5 divisional champions, are on a four-game winning streak. For the Steelers, it’s the opposite. They may enter with a 10-7 regular season record, but that’s weighed down by four successive losses.

Playoff time hasn’t been particularly fruitful for either team. Lamar Jackson is 2-4 in the postseason, having thrown six interceptions and losing three fumbles. In their last four playoff appearances, the Steelers have lost all four.

Being divisional rivals, we do have a good sample size for the head-to-head. The most recent tie in Baltimore saw the Ravens walk away as the 34-17 winners on 21 December 2024, but that was their first win in five meetings.

Even with the Steelers skidding so late in the season, they should make this a tough game. So, the NFL betting tips here go to the Steelers at +10 on the spread, but Derrick Henry to beat the over of 97.5 total rushing yards.

Denver Broncos at Buffalo Bills

Josh Allen has been the catalyst for a record-breaking season. The Buffalo Bills became the first in NFL history to score 30 or more passing and rushing touchdowns with a franchise record 62 total touchdowns and 525 points.

On the flip side in this game, you have the most menacing defence in the NFL. The Denver Broncos finished with the third-fewest points allowed, recorded the most sacks, and allowed a second-best 4.9 yards conceded per play.

It was an exceedingly strong campaign for a Broncos team that looked to be in turmoil towards the end of last season, especially as they gave the ball to rookie Bo Nix – who paid back that faith and then some.

Last season, these two teams met at low points for both. The Broncos trumped the Bills 24-22 at Highmark Stadium by containing Allen to a mere 177 passing yards and just 13 on the ground. The Bills then sacked their OC.

Of the 62 touchdowns scored, exactly 50 per cent have gone through James Cook and Josh Allen, with only three of those 31 scores clocking in some air yards.

The Broncos are staunch against the rush and allow more than double (10-22) scores to passing attempts. Even with this being the case, it’s easy to see the Bills teasing Cook towards scrimmage before Allen runs off with the rock.

The NFL Wild Card betting picks for Buffalo vs Denver go to Josh Allen scoring an anytime touchdown and, from the NFL Bingo market, at least one of Sutton, Mims Jr, Cook, or Shakir scoring a touchdown.

Washington Commanders at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

In their last outing, the Washington Commanders were down but made the smart call to rest Jayden Daniels late against the Dallas Cowboys due to leg soreness. Marcus Mariota stepped up to win the game 23-19.

Few Commanders fans, or even those in the organisation, would have expected the 2024 NFL season to go as it did. Now, coming into the postseason, the Commanders are riding five wins on the bounce with a 12-5 record.

Over in Florida, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had to dust off a rough segment of their schedule and make the most of a weaker run to clinch the NFC South.

Led by the ever-hungry Baker Mayfield, they claimed six wins from their last seven after the 23-20 loss to the San Francisco 49ers just before their bye. At the close of the season, the Bucs had a good-for-fourth 502 points scored.

What everyone’s expecting here is a proper firefight with the offensive units moving the sticks early and often. Happily leaning into these expectations, the NFL picks here go to over 50 total points and both Mike Evans and Terry McLaurin to score anytime touchdowns.

It’s the business end of the season in the NFL, and the Wild Card Weekend picks are going to the Steelers keeping it fairly close, Allen to keep up his rampant scoring habit, and lots of points when the Commanders meet the Bucs.