After struggling a bit down the stretch, Blake Bortles and the Jacksonville Jaguars will look to regain their focus and dispatch Tyrod Taylor and a Buffalo Bills team that was extremely fortunate to get into this season’s playoffs. Now, that they’ve gotten into the postseason, let’s find out if the Bills can pull off the huge upset in their playoff opener or whether they’re going to fall to a Jacksonville team that was one of the biggest surprises in the league this season and command the NFL spread for this contest.
Besides, Jacksonville ranked a stellar fifth in scoring (26.1 ppg) and stupendous second in points allowed (16.8 ppg). Prior to their last two games, Jacksonville had won three straight and six of their previous seven games. The Jags, to a man, are saying they need to get back to rushing the football like they have all season long.
“That’s who we are. There’s no doubt about it,” receiver Allen Hurns said. “Yeah, there’s been some games where we’ve passed the ball pretty well, but our run game is who we are as the offense. Of course, we want to be balanced, but in order to be balanced, you’ve got to get the running game going, no matter what it is.
“If we’ve got to find out different personnel, run out of three-wides, or whatever it may be, we’ve all got to get on the same page and get this thing rolling because we want to win in the playoffs and we’re going to need our running game.”
Bills vs. Jaguars NFL Spread & Game Preview
Bend but don’t break. 👊
Bills defense shows up in playoff-making victory: https://t.co/YR9PGLYiAm pic.twitter.com/OilPbfOvla — Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) 2 de enero de 2018
- When: Sunday, January 7, 2018, 1:05 PM ET
- Where: EverBank Field, Jacksonville, FL
- TV: CBS
- Radio: 550 AM (Buffalo) / 92.1 FM (Jacksonville)
- Streaming Option: NFL Live
- NFL Spread: Jacksonville Jaguars -9 (Over/Under at 39.5 points)
Weather Forecast
- Partly Cloudy: 14°C/58°F
- Humidity: 65%
- Precipitation: 0%
- Cloud Cover: 47%
- Wind: 10 mph ENE
- Stadium Type: Open
NFL Betting Advice for the 2018 Playoffs Wild Card Round
Team Records
- All: Buffalo Bills 9-7 / Jacksonville Jaguars 10-6
- Home: Buffalo Bills 6-2 / Jacksonville Jaguars 6-2
- Away: Buffalo Bills 3-5 / Jacksonville Jaguars 4-4
- ATS: Buffalo Bills 8-6-2 / Jacksonville Jaguars 9-7
- Over/Under: Buffalo Bills 8-8 / Jacksonville Jaguars 8-8
Why Bet on the Buffalo Bills Odds at +9?
Why bet on the Bills in their wild-card opener? Well, because Jacksonville hasn’t looked good over the last couple of weeks and the Bills have a pair of elite playmakers in Tyrod Taylor and LeSean McCoy. The Bills rebounded back from their Week 16 smackdown against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots to get past the lowly Dolphins 22-16 this past weekend to give themselves a chance to get into the postseason. When the Baltimore Ravens got upset by the Cincinnati Bengals 31-27 later on in their Week 17 finale, the Bills snapped the league’s longest active losing streak at 17 years. “We know a lot of people didn’t necessarily have at the top of their boards or picked us to go to the playoffs,” Taylor said. “We embrace that underdog role. It’s not the finish for us, it’s the start of something special and we need to carry it over to the playoffs.” Buffalo is also playing good football coming into this contest having won three of their last four games and four of six overall. However, it should be noted that two of those wins came against the lowly Dolphins and another against the injury-ravaged Colts. Buffalo ranked a modest 22nd in scoring this season (18.9 ppg) while finishing 18th in points allowed (22.4 ppg).Why Bet on the Jacksonville Jaguars Odds at -9?
Why bet on Jacksonville in their wild-card opener? Well, because they’re simply a better team than Buffalo in all three phases of the game! The Jaguars dropped their final two regular-season games by falling to the 49ers 44-33 in Week 16 and losing to Tennessee 15-10 in their regular season finale this past weekend, but I’m thinking these late-season losses will help the Jags regain their focus in their wild-card opener. “I think that we’re going to go back and plan and take a good look at things,” head coach Doug Marrone said. “We’re not going to be out there celebrating the new year. We’re going to be working and seeing what we have to do to get ourselves ready.”
Besides, Jacksonville ranked a stellar fifth in scoring (26.1 ppg) and stupendous second in points allowed (16.8 ppg). Prior to their last two games, Jacksonville had won three straight and six of their previous seven games. The Jags, to a man, are saying they need to get back to rushing the football like they have all season long.
“That’s who we are. There’s no doubt about it,” receiver Allen Hurns said. “Yeah, there’s been some games where we’ve passed the ball pretty well, but our run game is who we are as the offense. Of course, we want to be balanced, but in order to be balanced, you’ve got to get the running game going, no matter what it is.
“If we’ve got to find out different personnel, run out of three-wides, or whatever it may be, we’ve all got to get on the same page and get this thing rolling because we want to win in the playoffs and we’re going to need our running game.”
Latest Wild Card Round Betting Trends
- Bills are 4-2 ATS in their last 6 games
- Bills are 4-2 SU in their last 6 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Buffalo’s last 6 games
- Jaguars are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games at home
- Jaguars are 7-3 SU in their last 10 games
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Jacksonville’s last 6 games
