Sunday Football

With the second round of the NFL playoffs kicking off this weekend, we're down to eight teams left. Sunday's games open with a rematch of a much-heralded regular season duel that was cut short weeks ago due to unforeseen tragedy. While Damar Hamlin's terrifying injury rightfully put a stop to that last matchup between the Bills and Bengals, it feels only right to watch these teams finally battle on the big stage 👇

• Josh Allen and co. are coming off of a disappointing win (if such a thing is possible?) in the opening round, which saw them often flounder vs. a far inferior Miami squad led by a third-string rookie QB

• Cincinnati's Wild Card experience was nearly identical, as the Bengals barely snuck past a Ravens squad also missing their star signal caller 👀

On the NFC side, the Cowboys are fresh off a season-defining blowout win over Tom Brady's Bucs, but they'll have their work cut out for them vs. a dominant 49ers squad. San Francisco looks like the most complete team in the league, yet all eyes will be on "Mr. Irrelevant" aka Brock Purdy to see if the rookie QB will finally slip up

• Dallas' QB situation has also been the subject of much discussion due to Dak Prescott's regular season woes, but he dispelled all of the doubters in a magnificent Wild Card performance 🔥

• Don't forget that San Fran knocked the Cowboys out last year...in Dallas

Bengals vs. Bills Betting Preview (subject to change)

• Spread: Bills -5.5

• Moneyline: Bills -240 (bet $240, win $100), Bengals +198 (bet $100, win $198)

• Over/Under: 49.5

Cowboys vs. 49ers Betting Preview

• Spread: 49ers -3.5

• Moneyline: 49ers -205, Cowboys +172

• Over/Under: 46.5

Heavyweight Matchups

While I think the spread for Bills-Bengals (Bills -5.5) is a bit steep given that Cincinnati has appeared relatively equal to Buffalo for much of the season, the Bills obviously have home field advantage, which is a lot in Buffalo. The Bengals' biggest issue in the Joe Burrow era has been protecting their star QB - they made shoring up the offensive line a clear offseason focus, but the unit ended up looked shaky last weekend 😳

The injury bug has hit Cincinnati at the worst possible time — they will likely be missing three starting offensive linemen on Sunday 😬

• While the Bills have dealt with their own injuries, most notably to defensive anchor Von Miller, they still possess a strong, physical defensive unit

• Both defenses will admittedly have their hands full with a superstar QB lining up on each end, but the Bengals' injury woes are starting to look too large to overcome

• If Josh Allen can clean up the turnovers and connect with top WRs Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis for some signature bombs, I like Buffalo's odds in this one 🦬

I'm shocked that the Cowboys-49ers spread is tighter than Bills-Bengals, but Vegas has been bullish on Dallas all season. To be fair, the Cowboys are clicking on all cylinders heading into this one, as Dak is coming off of the finest performance of his career. With Dak accumulating an insane five total TDs last week, and Micah Parsons wreaking havoc on the defensive end, Dallas looked like a force to be reckoned with in the Wild Card round 😤

• However, the 49ers present a monumentally larger challenge than the Bucs' squad that finished below .500. San Francisco possesses all the defensive tools to make Dak's like a living hell in this round, and likely add to his league-leading 15 INTs

• Purdy won't need to reinvent the wheel in order to remain undefeated this season, as he can rely on the superb athletic talents of Deebo Samuel, Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle to rack up yards after the catch 💪

This one should be really fun, let me know who you're riding with 👇

For My Parlay Gurus

Let's be honest — each of these four squads have the talent in place to win a Super Bowl, although some (sorry Cincinnati) may be too injury depleted to finish the job. Still, I like both home teams to take care of business in hard-fought matchups. I think the Bengals lose a shootout but still beat the spread, while the 49ers end up pulling away to win by a touchdown 👇

• Bengals +5.5 @ Bills: -110

• 49ers -3.5 vs. Cowboys: -114

$100 on this bet would win you $258 — if we hit, make sure you email [email protected] for a chance to win up to $100*. Many will enter, only some will win 😉

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