It’s good to be a Wild Card.
That’s at least the narrative that oddsmakers are putting forward. Three of the four Wild Cards this weekend are favorites, with only Green Bay as the lone underdog — by a point at NFC East winner Washington.
Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Seattle opened as favorites this weekend for their games. The Seahawks, with the fourth-best odds to win the Super Bowl, are the biggest favorite at 5.5 points against Minnesota.
Seattle defeated the Vikings 38-7 earlier this season.
The Steelers and Chiefs also defeated their Wild Card opponents earlier this season. Kansas City beat Houston in week 1 and is now favored by three points, while Pittsburgh recently defeated Cincinnati 33-20, and is a 2.5-point favorite.
This weekend’s odds go hand-in-hand with the most recent Super Bowl projections. There’s a three-way tie for the best odds to win the NFL’s top prize. New England, Arizona and Carolina are +450 to win the Super Bowl.
The Seahawks, which have made the championship game two consecutive years, are the No. 6 seed, but owners of the fourth-best odds, along with AFC No. 1 seed Denver at +600.
Pittsburgh, also a sixth seed, is next at +900.
Houston owns the worst odds at +6600, while the Redskins are +4000. Those odds for the Redskins are a far cry from where they started the season. Washington opened the season with the third-worst odds of any NFL team to win the league’s final game at +12500.
Even as of mid-November, Washington was at +20000.
Green Bay, Cincinnati and Minnesota are +2200, +2500 and +2800, respectively.
If betting on what teams will get to the Super Bowl, the Panthers, Patriots and Broncos own the top spots in those categories. Carolina is +200 to win the NFC, while New England and Denver also are +200 to win the AFC.
In the NFC, Arizona is at +225 and Seattle is +325. Then a major drop-off occurs, with Green By at +900, Minnesota at +1400 and Washington at +1800.
In the AFC, Pittsburgh owns the third-best chance to represent the conference in the Super Bowl at +450. Kansas City is +700, Cincinnati is +1000 and Houston has the worst chances of any team remaining to make the Super Bowl at +2800.
