By Sunday’s Week 18 slate included some of the wackiest games of the season, beginning with Jacksonville upsetting Indianapolis and concluding with a stunning finish between the Raiders and Chargers.
Jacksonville became just the fourth team in the Super Bowl era to win multiple games as a 14-point underdog in the same season. Oddsmakers avoided a disastrous result when the Raiders beat the Chargers on a last-second field goal in overtime, as many bettors created parlays involving a Jaguars win along with a tie between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
The Borgata in Atlantic City had the odds of a Chargers-Raiders tie bet down from 50/1 to 11/1, according to David Purdum of ESPN. PointsBet had seven figures worth of liability on a tie.
None of Sunday’s results did much to change the top of the Super Bowl betting market, though. Green Bay remains the ‘chalk’ to win the title at +380, while Kansas City is +450 and Buffalo is +750.
Tennessee made one of the largest adjustments, jumping from 12/1 to +850 after clinching the No. 1 seed in the AFC. The Titans will have a bye before facing the lowest remaining seed in the divisional round.
No. 4 Cincinnati is a 6.5-point favorite against Las Vegas and No. 3 Buffalo is a 4.5-point favorite against New England. Elsewhere in the AFC, No. 2 Kansas City will try to take care of business as a 12.5-point favorite in its matchup against No. 7 Pittsburgh. The Steelers were able to claim the final playoff spot in the conference by virtue of their win over Baltimore and Indianapolis’s loss to Jacksonville.
In the NFC, Green Bay is the +160 ‘chalk’ to advance to the Super Bowl. Like Tennessee, the Packers will be sitting out during Wild Card weekend. Veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers remains a monster favorite to win the MVP award, moving from -400 to -500.
No. 2 Tampa Bay is an 8.5-point favorite vs. Philadelphia and No. 3 Dallas is a 3-point favorite vs. No. 6 San Francisco. Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is +400 to win the MVP.
The opening round of the playoffs will conclude on Monday night when No. 4 Los Angeles is a 4-point favorite against No. 5 Arizona in a battle of NFC West teams. The Cardinals have only covered the spread once in their last 10 games against the Rams, but they are 8-1 ATS in their last nine road games.
