The Seattle Seahawks crushed the Minnesota Vikings when those NFC teams met back in Week 13. The Seahawks will get a chance to beat the Vikings in Minnesota for a second time this season as a road betting favorite when the teams do battle on Wild Card Weekend.
The Seahawks opened as 5-point road favorites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com against the Vikings for their Wild Card matchup, with Seattle having topped Minnesota 38-7 and easily covering the 3-point spread on the road when they met in early December. Seattle is also coming off a blowout victory, knocking off the Cardinals in Arizona by a 36-6 score to close out their regular season schedule on Sunday afternoon.
The Vikings, meanwhile, won the NFC North title with a 20-13 win at Green Bay in Week 17, sending the Packers on the road to face the Redskins in Washington in the NFC's other Wild Card Weekend matchup. Washington opened as a 1.5-point home favorite for the contest; the Redskins rode a season-ending four-game winning streak to the NFC East division title.
The Seattle at Minnesota matchup will kick off at 1:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, with the Green Bay at Washington matchup then getting underway at 4:40 p.m. ET. The Carolina Panthers and the Arizona Cardinals have first-round NFC playoff byes and await the winners.
In the AFC the Cincinnati Bengals will play host to the division rival Pittsburgh Steelers in a Wild Card Weekend matchup, with the Bengals having lost 33-20 at home to the Steelers as a 1-point favorite when they last met in Week 14. Cincinnati topped the Steelers 16-10 as a 1-point underdog at Pittsburgh in the Week 8 battle between the two teams at Heinz Field.
Cincinnati opened as a slim 1-point favorite against Pittsburgh for their matchup, while the other AFC contest for Wild Card Weekend has the Kansas City Chiefs as an opening 3-point favorite on the road against the Houston Texans - who were left standing as the AFC South champions for this season. The Texans fell 27-20 to the Chiefs back in Week 1, losing that game as a 1-point home underdog.
The Kansas City at Houston matchup kicks off Wild Card Weekend at 4:35 p.m. ET on Saturday, with the Pittsburgh at Cincinnati matchup following at 8:15 p.m. ET. The Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots will have the two first-round byes in the AFC.
NFL Wild Card Weekend betting lines
Seattle -5 at Minnesota
Kansas City -3 at Houston
Green Bay at Washington -1.5
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati -1