NFL
NFL Wild Card Weekend Preview: Cowboys can see off wildcard Packers
The NFL play-offs are here and this weekend features six exciting matchups in the lead up to the quest to make it to the Super Bowl.
We are going to cover two of the matchups to get you excited for the weekend ahead with one fixture from the AFC conference and one from the NFC conference. The Cleveland Browns travelling to Houston to face the Texans and the Dallas Cowboys hosting the Green Bay Packers. Expect a weekend of action, drama and hopefully lots of touchdowns!
Cleveland Browns @ Houston Texans
Firstly, we cover the opening AFC play-off game with the Cleveland Browns rolling into Houston to face the Texans. Last week, we covered the decisive match-up between the Houston Texans and the Indianapolis Colts where Houston was victorious as of the magic of rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud and wide receiver Nico Collins. Cleveland booked their ticket in a slightly calmer manner in week 17 with a 37-20 victory over the Jets, thanks to quarterback Joe Flacco.
Make no mistake, this Cleveland Browns roster is over-flowing with talent, on both sides of the ball. One player who has exceeded expectations is tight end David Njoku, who has become a top target for Flacco in the passing game. In his last 4 games, Njoku has gone for over 350 yards receiving so take the top tight end target David Njoku to get over 54.5 receiving yards at 5/6.
Last week, we previewed the Texans warned you about their offensive firepower. But one note to make from that game, the Texans failed to really establish the run-game and lead running back, Devin Singletary, could only muster 63 yards against the Colts from 24 attempts. Expect Singletary to go under 64.5 rushing yards at 5/6.
We are going to look towards the total points market and say the total is a bit low for this one. We should see at least 45 points combined, and therefore over 44.5 total match point at 10/11 seems like a reasonable enough bet.
Green Bay Packers @ Dallas Cowboys
Our second match-up looks over at the NFC wildcard fixture on Sunday, between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys. Quarterback Dak Prescott and his fellow Cowboys have been fantastic at home all season and will benefit once more from home advantage, but this is no pit stop for Dallas and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Packers cause an upset and take this one all the way into the dying moments. Jordan Love, Packers quarterback, has proved many wrong about his talent and may do so once more.
One bet we really like the look of is Dak Prescott to record the most passing yards at odds of 4/7. Love has been slingin’ it recently but doesn’t nearly put up the numbers of his opposition quarterback here. Furthermore, this Packers offence like to mix in the run game more than the Cowboys do and Prescott is freakishly good at racking up passing yards, game after game and year after year.
There’s not a lot of value in both the total points or spread markets in this one, so go ahead and take CeeDee Lamb, Cowboys wide receiver, to score an anytime touchdown at 13/20. Lamb is Prescott’s favourite target and is a heavily used redzone route runner. Dallas may score quite a few touchdowns and Lamb should step up to the plate for at least one of them.
