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AFC Wild Card Notes

VegasInsider Staff
VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert
4 minute read
NFC Wild Card Notes

Saturday, January 5, 2019

AFC – Indianapolis at Houston– 4:35 p.m. (ESPN)

Opening Line (12/30/18): Houston -2, 47 ½

Indianapolis Road Record: 4-4 SU, 5-3 ATS
Houston Home Record: 6-2 SU, 4-4 ATS

Head-to-Head: The visitor won and covered both games in the regular season but the first encounter from Indianapolis in Week 4 could’ve and probably should’ve been a tie. Colts head coach Frank Reich decided to go for a first down in overtime and the club missed, which allowed Houston to win 37-34 in the extra session. That victory helped the Texans run off nine straight wins but sure enough, Indy snapped that winning streak and got revenge in Week 14 with a 24-21 road win over Houston.

Colts quarterback Andrew Luck owns a 6-4 career record versus Houston which includes a 3-2 mark on the road. The last four meetings at Houston were decided by five points or less.

Playoff Notes: The Colts haven’t been in the playoffs since the 2014 regular season. That season, they defeated the Bengals in the Wild Card round at home before upsetting Denver on the road in the Divisional Playoffs. Unfortunately, the club was blasted 45-7 by the Patriots in the AFC Championship. Indianapolis is 3-3 with Luck in the playoffs, 2-1 in Wild Card games and 1-3 overall on the road.

Houston went 1-1 in last year’s postseason, defeating a short-handed Oakland squad 27-14 at home in the Wild Card before losing 34-16 at Foxboro in the Divisional round. Head coach Bill O’Brien is 1-2 all-time in the playoffs. Houston as a franchise is 3-4 overall, 3-1 at home.

Total Notes: The Texans saw the ‘under’ go 9-7 on the season and 5-3 at home. The defense surrendered 15.3 points per game in their final four at NRG Stadium, which led to a 3-1 ‘under’ record.
Indianapolis saw its total results go 8-8 this season, 4-4 both home and away. The Colts offense was a tad shakier on the road (24.2 PPG) but they posted 28 and 33 points in their last two games, which led to ‘over’ tickets.

Including a split in this year’s regular season meetings, the ‘under’ has gone 6-2 in the past eight encounters between the pair.

Sunday, January 6, 2019

AFC – L.A. Chargers at Baltimore – 1:00 p.m. (CBS)

Opening Line (12/30/18): Baltimore -3, 41 ½

L.A. Chargers Road Record: 7-1 SU, 7-1 ATS
Baltimore Home Record: 6-2 SU, 3-5 ATS

Head-to-Head: The Ravens defeated the Chargers 22-10 in Week 16 as four-point road underdogs in a primetime game played on a Saturday from Los Angeles. Prior to this encounter, the pair split two regular season games from Baltimore in 2014 and 2015 and the outcomes were decided by a combined four points (29-26, 34-33).

Playoff Notes:  The Chargers haven’t been in the playoffs since the 2013 regular season.  They went 1-1 in the playoffs, winning the Wild Card game at the Bengals before losing to the Broncos in the Divisional Playoff round. QB Philip Rivers is 4-5 all-time in the playoffs but make a note that Los Angeles is 3-0 in Wild Card games.

This will be the first trip to the playoffs for Baltimore since the 2014 regular season. The Ravens went 1-1 SU and 2-0 ATS in that postseason. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh owns a 10-5 SU and 11-4 ATS all-time playoff record and what’s really impressive is that only two of those games were at home, both victories.

Total Notes: The Chargers saw their total results split evenly (8-8) this season but they had a 5-3 ‘over’ lean on the road. Los Angeles averaged slightly more points on the road (26.9 PPG) this season than at home (26.6 PPG). The Bolts made three trips to the Eastern Time Zone this season and scored 31, 36 and 33 points. Along with winning each game, the ‘over’ connected in all three as well.

Baltimore watched the ‘under’ go 9-7 this season which included a 4-4 total record from M&T Bank Stadium. The Ravens defense (17.9 PPG) is ranked second in scoring and including the first meeting with the Chargers, they only allowed 17 PPG in four games versus the AFC West this season.
 

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