NFL betting: Browns and Eagles open as road favorites ahead of wild-card weekend

Two road teams enter the NFL’s wild-card weekend as favorites.

The Cleveland Browns are 2.5-point favorites at the Houston Texans on Saturday afternoon, and the Philadelphia Eagles are 2.5-point favorites at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night. The Browns and Eagles are No. 5 seeds in the playoffs and are facing the division winners with the worst records in their conferences.

Both teams are on different trajectories entering the playoffs, however. The Browns had won four straight games before sitting most of their starters in Week 18 against the Cincinnati Bengals. Those victories locked the Browns into the No. 5 seed and allowed them to treat the final week of the regular season as a bye week of sorts for their most important players.

The Eagles entered Week 18 with a chance to win the NFC East but fell behind 24-0 to the Giants in the first half on the way to their fifth loss in their last six games. Philadelphia was 10-1 after beating Buffalo in late November and dropped all the way from the No. 1 seed in the NFC to a wild-card spot. The Eagles are banged up, too. QB Jalen Hurts suffered a finger injury against the Giants on Sunday and WR AJ Brown suffered a knee injury. WR DeVonta Smith sat out the game with an ankle injury.

Four home favorites

The two No. 2 seeds in the NFL playoffs are both favored by more than a touchdown Sunday. The Buffalo Bills took the No. 2 spot in the AFC playoffs with a win over the Miami Dolphins in Week 18 and are 9.5-point favorites over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers clinched a spot in the playoffs with a win over the Ravens and a Titans victory over the Jaguars, but may not have TJ Watt after he suffered a left MCL injury in the Baltimore game.

The Dallas Cowboys are 7.5-point favorites at home against the Green Bay Packers as Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy faces his former team. The Packers earned their way into the playoffs with a Week 18 home win over the Chicago Bears.

The Kansas City Chiefs are 3.5-point favorites over the Miami Dolphins on Saturday night as former Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill is set to play at Arrowhead Stadium as a member of a visiting team for the first time. The Chiefs beat the Dolphins 21-14 in Germany earlier in the season and the total for this game has already dropped to 43.5 as temperatures are forecast to be well below freezing in Kansas City on Saturday night and could be closer to 0 degrees.

The Lions, meanwhile, are 3-point favorites Sunday night against the Los Angeles Rams and Matthew Stafford. It’s Stafford’s first game in Detroit since he was traded to the Rams before the 2021 season and just the second time the teams have met since Stafford was traded for Jared Goff and a first-round pick. Detroit may not have rookie TE Sam LaPorta for Sunday night’s game after he reportedly suffered a bone bruise when he hyperextended his knee during the Lions’ Week 18 win over the Vikings.