The playoff paths beyond this weekend won’t be plotted until Monday night, but the format for setting the schedule is straightforward.
The top seeds in each conference—the Ravens and 49ers—will host the lowest remaining seed during the divisional round. If all home teams hold serve at home, then Houston would travel to Baltimore while Tampa Bay would head to San Francisco. Moving down a seed line, the third-seeded Chiefs and Lions would visit the Bills and Cowboys, respectively.
A single upset could substantially change things, though. And if this wild-card round lives proves especially wild, the playoff bracket would be dramatically different.
Oddsmakers, for what it’s worth, think things could get chaotic, particularly in the 4-5 matchup, as both road teams are favored. The Eagles are three-point favorites over the Buccaneers. The Browns are two-point favorites over the Texans. Maybe that’s extra motivation for the home teams to perform. Maybe it’s simply a reflection of the fact the more talented teams is the visitor.
The Bills (minus-9) and the Cowboys (minus-7) are the strongest favorites of the weekend, so those contests could be relatively drama-free. Oddsmakers don’t expect the same for the 3-6 clashes, though, as the point spreads suggest nail-biters are ahead of the Chiefs (minus-4.5) and the Lions (minus-3).
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