2020 NFL Divisional Round Preview: Betting Odds, Announcers, Rankings & More

So that was fun, right? Three games each day? Hard to beat. The ratings were down some from last year but that was to be expected; some people can’t watch 10 straight hours of football. And how about those alternate broadcasts? The Nickelodeon jam was an unquestioned win and likely opens the door for similar ideas down the road. This weekend there will be fewer games and all but all four Divisional Round matchups are going to have you glued to the sofa. Each Divisional Round preview below includes all the TV broadcast info, as well as odds for each game taken from here.

AFC

#5 Baltimore at #2 Buffalo

Date: Saturday, Jan. 16
Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
TV:
NBC
Line: Buffalo -2
O/U: 50

Rankings: Baltimore (scoring offense #7, scoring defense #2); Buffalo (scoring offense #2, scoring defense #16)

Trends: Baltimore (5-0 ATS in their last 5 games as an underdog); Buffalo (8-1 ATS in their last 9 games overall)

Announcing team: Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michelle Tafoya

Notes: This is one of the best games of the weekend because it probably has the best combination of quarterbacks — Lamar Jackson vs. Josh Allen. Both are electric and carried their teams in the Wild Card Round. That said, Josh Allen has played poorly against Baltimore in his career; he’s 0-2 vs. Baltimore while completing just 42.6 percent of his passes with a laughable 60.7 passer rating. These games were in 2018 and 2019, however, and he took a big step production-wise in 2020.

#6 Cleveland at #1 Kansas City

Date: Sunday, Jan. 17
Time: 3:05 p.m. ET
TV:
CBS
Line: Kansas City -10
O/U: 56

Rankings: Cleveland (scoring offense #14, scoring defense #21); Kansas City (scoring offense #6, scoring defense #10)

Trends: Cleveland (4-11 ATS in their last 15 road games); Kansas City (4-1 ATS in their last 5 playoff home game)

Announcing team: Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson

Notes: The Browns shocked everyone by jumping on the Steelers so hard last weekend. This is a different class of opponent, though, despite what the Steelers’ record was this season. The line backs this up. The Browns are playing with house money, though, just like last weekend, and they’ll have the nobody-believes-in-us factor for sure. Either way, expect a really exciting game with tons of points. The Browns have averaged 44.5 points per game in their last two road games vs. winning teams, and Kansas City, well, you know about their offense.

NFC

#6 LA Rams at #1 Green Bay

Date: Saturday, Jan. 16
Time: 4:35 p.m. ET
TV:
 FOX
Line: Green Bay -7
O/U: 45

Rankings: LA Rams (scoring offense #23, scoring defense #1); Green Bay (scoring offense #1, scoring defense #13)

Trends: LA Rams (6-1 ATS in last 7 games vs. winning teams); Green Bay (4-1 ATS in their last 5 playoff home games)

Announcing team: Kevin Burkhardt, Daryl Johnston, Pam Oliver

Notes: Despite leading his team to a win last weekend, Sean McVay hasn’t named Jared Goff the starter for this week’s game yet. It seems trust is waning in the former top pick. Green Bay has a Top 10 pass defense so it’s understandable; Goff was just 9-for-19 against Seattle. As for Green Bay, who’s coming off a first-round bye, it should be noted they got smoked 38-10 by Tampa Bay after their regular-season bye week.

#5 Tampa Bay at #2 New Orleans

Date: Sunday, Jan. 17
Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
TV:
 FOX
Line: New Orleans -3
O/U: 52

Tampa Bay: Scoring offense (#3), defense (#8)
New Orleans: Scoring offense (#5), defense (#5)

Trends: Tampa Bay (1-4 ATS in their last 5 games as a road underdog); New Orleans (5-0 ATS in last 5 games vs. Tampa Bay)

Announcing team: Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews & Tom Rinaldi

Notes: A matchup between two bonafide legends gets the Sunday Night primetime spot. They already played twice this year and neither game ended well for Tampa Bay; the Saints outscored the Bucs 72-26 this season. Tom Brady, however, has been lighting it up recently — 14 touchdowns, 1 interception in Tampa’s last five games — and the Bucs are riding a five-game winning streak. New Orleans offense didn’t set the world on fire against Chicago but they’re happy to have Michael Thomas back and involved. He caught his first touchdown of the 2020 season in the Wild Card game.