Some thoughts, ruminations, and belly-button gazing as we head into “Super Wild Card Weekend,” which is either going to be the most exciting football weekend of the year or the meh appetizer before the main course that is the divisional round.
Look at the potential matchups week: Bengals at Bills, for starters. Cowboys at Eagles on the table. The Vikings at San Francisco could be a barnburner, as could the Chargers at the Chiefs.
But first, the Bengals, Cowboys, Vikings, Bills, 49ers, and Chargers have to win, which is not promised, and, in same cases, barely expected.
First up, the Bills and 49ers. Sportsbooks are all over both teams this week, with the Bills a consensus 13-point favorite over the Dolphins (at Caesars and others) and the 49ers 9.5-point favorites over the Seattle Seahawks at DraftKings and elsewhere.
Either team losing would be a tremendous upset. Let's move on.
Next up, the Bengals. They get'Red Hot Rasky's “team of destiny”'nod, coming in third in the rankings (behind the 49ers and, of course, the Bills). They also have the backing of the books, giving 9.5 points to the Ravens at PointsBet and everywhere else. They have a moderately stiffer test against their division rival Baltimore, but the Ravens will be without Lamar Jackson.
Yes, Jackson is injured, but … well, this daily update from Adam Schefter does feel just this side of snarky.
Thirty eight days after he sprained his PCL, Ravens' QB Lamar Jackson missed another practice and he is on track to miss his sixth straight game.