The Los Angeles Rams have two quarterbacks, a perennial All-Pro defensive tackle and their most consistent receiving target dealing with injuries as they prepare to visit the Green Bay Packers in Saturday’s NFC Divisional Playoff game.
That has bettors flocking to the Packers despite a 6.5-point spread. Ninety percent of the spread line handle and 83 percent of the total bets at DraftKings were backing Green Bay as of Thursday.
The Packers’ -315 moneyline is also being backed by 82 percent of the handle and 79 percent of the total bets. The 45.5-point Over/Under is seeing 75 percent of the bets placed on the Over.
The top-seeded Packers are being offered at +375 to win the NFC Championship. The Rams, coming off an upset at Seattle, are longshots at +2000.
In the game against the Seahawks, backup quarterback John Wolford was knocked out with a stinger and replaced by Jared Goff, who had undergone thumb surgery less than two weeks before. Wolford has been ruled out for Saturday and Goff is expected to start at Lambeau Field.
Defensive tackle Aaron Donald has vowed to play through a rib injury suffered last weekend, while wide receiver Cooper Kupp’s status remains uncertain after suffering a knee injury late against the Seahawks.
Meanwhile, the Packers are coming off a bye week following a six-game winning streak to close the regular season.
The Buffalo Bills are only 2.5-point favorites at home against the Baltimore Ravens, but the AFC East champions are being backed by 73 percent of the spread line bets and 63 percent of the handle.
The action is more split on the moneyline, with the Bills (-141) backed by 54 percent of the bets and 51 percent of the handle to beat the Ravens (+123). The 50-point Over/Under is seeing a whopping 75 percent of bets back the Over.
The Bills are the No. 2 seed in the AFC and being offered at +600 to reach the Super Bowl. The fifth-seeded Ravens are being offered at +800 after winning at Tennessee last weekend.
The Saturday forecast for Buffalo calls for a 40 percent chance of snow, which could greatly impact both offenses. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson said he has never played football in the snow.
“That definitely would be my first time playing football in the snow — Saturday, if it does (snow),” said Jackson, a native of Pompano Beach, Fla. “Hopefully, it doesn’t.”
The Bills were able to lasso Jackson a few times in last season’s meeting at Buffalo. He managed just 40 yards on 11 rushes with a long of 16 yards, but Baltimore won the game 24-17 as Jackson threw for three touchdowns while accumulating 145 passing yards. Bills quarterback Josh Allen passed for 146 yards and a score.
While the Bills are slight favorites, the Ravens certainly don’t view themselves as underdogs. Last weekend, they shut down Tennessee 2,000-yard rusher Derrick Henry (40 yards on 18 carries) and they have a deeper recent history of playing in big games than Buffalo does.
“We’ve got a team full of tough players who are going to go to battle and who are going to scratch and claw for each other,” Baltimore cornerback Marcus Peters said. “It’s an organizational DNA built for January, which is exactly why the Ravens are the playoff team no one is excited to see.”
