NFL Divisional Round Dark Horses & Betting Picks

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Check Out 1-2 Punch of Divisional Round Dark Horse Wagering Picks!

If you love a simple parlay or teaser wager that features some bankroll-boosting dark horse underdogs with legitimate NFL betting value, then you’re going to love this good old-fashioned 1-2 combination!

Thanks to this look at my top two dark horse picks to pull off the ATS upset in their respective divisional round pairings, you’re going to have a great chance to increase your annual NFL earnings…double-barrel style.

Okay, with that said, let’s rock and roll with the NFL betting lines.

Dark Horse Wagering Pick #1: Kansas City +5 vs. New England

When: 4:35 PM ET, Saturday, January 16, 2016
Where: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

Analysis: The Kansas City Chiefs are my top dark horse pick to win their divisional matchup, even on the road against the incomparable Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, Kansas City ranked ninth in scoring (25.3 ppg) and third in points allowed (17.9 ppg) while also finishing in the top 10 across the board defensively.

I love the fact that Kansas City has a trio of Pro Bowl defenders that all could give Brady big trouble in linebackers Justin Houston and Tamba Hali and rookie cornerback Marcus Peters.

The Chiefs are a perfect 5-0 ATS in their last five road games, 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games overall and a consistent 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games against their AFC counterparts.

Conversely, the Patriots are also just 5-11 ATS in their last 16 playoff games and a surprising 4-9 ATS in their last 13 playoff home games.

How do you spell upset?

I spell it K-A-N-S-A-S C-I-T-Y!

Dark Horse Wagering Pick #2: Seattle +2.5 vs. Carolina

When: 1:05 PM ET, Sunday, January 17, 2016
Where: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina

Analysis: The Seattle Seahawks didn’t look  very good at all in their narrow 10-9 win over Minnesota last weekend and the fact of the matter is they should have lost.

Still, Seattle has new life and they could make it pay off against a Carolina Panthers team that lost just one game during the regular season.

The Seahawks finished the regular season on fire, winning six of their final seven games, including an emphatic blowout win of Arizona in their finale. Unfortunately, that didn’t translate into a good performance against the Vikings last weekend, although the game’s seriously inclement weather played a major factor.

Seattle ranked fourth in total offense and fifth in scoring during the regular season (26.4 ppg) while finishing no worse than second across the board defensively, including first in points allowed (17.3 ppg).

Still, the Seahawks face a tall task in trying to take out a Panthers team that ranked first in scoring (31.2 ppg) and sixth in points allowed (19.2 pg) during the regular season.

Carolina quarterback cam Newton is a virtual lock to win the league’s MVP award this season and he can hurt teams by both, passing the ball or running it.

Seattle has gone are 6-1-1 ATS in their last 8 road games vs. a team with a winning home record and 6-2 ATS in their last eight games overall.

The Panthers however, are 4-0 ATS in their last four home games and 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games against their NFC counterparts.

While 59 percent of the betting public likes Carolina to get the job done, I’m thinking the ‘real’ Seattle Seahawks could show up this weekend, making them my No. 2 dark horse pick to pull off the upset!

Previous Betting News

Divisional Round Dark Horse Wagering Picks

By the time Sunday night comes to an end, we will have gone from 8 teams in the NFL playoffs to just 4. It is the home teams that have been put on the board as favorites for the Divisional Round games, but the Wild Card weekend proved that the road teams cannot be discounted, as all 4 away teams came away with the win last weekend. If that trend hold, we could be in for some major upsets this weekend, so let’s look at the dark horses in the NFL Divisional Round. For our NFL betting lines.

Betting on the Kansas City Chiefs (+195)

The Chiefs will head to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro on Saturday, January 16 at 4:35 PM EST on CBS. It’s never an easy task to knock off the defending champion, but when you are coming in on an 11-game winning streak, your confidence level must be sky high. That is exactly how the Chiefs are coming into this one, and while the Patriots will be back at full strength, they will have a number of guys looking to shake the rust off after injuries. You can bet that the Chiefs will be trying to get out to a fast start to see if they can expose that rust.

Betting on the Seattle Seahawks (+107)

It’s hard to really think of the Seahawks as a dark horse, but they are a Wild Card team that will have to win on the road in order to get to their 3rd straight Super Bowl. They already beat the Vikings on the road, and the next stop will be at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, where they will face the #1 ranked Carolina Panthers on Sunday, January 17 at 1:05 PM EST on FOX. The Seahawks lost to the Panthers earlier in the season, but anyone who saw that games knows that Seattle dominated that one before falling to a late Panthers rally. There is every opportunity that they can close things out this time around.

Seattle is an unlikely candidate for dark horse status, yet they need to score one more on-the-road victory.

Betting on the Green Bay Packers (+250)

The Packers will make the trip to the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale on Saturday, January 16 at 8:15 PM EST on NBC. Green Bay took a pretty heavy beating at the hands of the Cardinals in Week 16, but that is not necessarily an indication of how things might go this weekend. The Packers offense came to life in the Wild Card game in Washington, and a similar type of performance this weekend could see the game turn into a shootout. Would you bet against Aaron Rodgers in that type of game?

Betting on the Pittsburgh Steelers

The team with the toughest task this weekend has to be the Pittsburgh Steelers. They will travel to Sports Authority Field at Mile High to face the Denver Broncos on Sunday, January 17 at 4:40 PM EST on CBS. Antonio Brown is out with a concussion, and Ben Roethlisberger is going to be severely limited in what he can do with torn ligaments in his throwing shoulder. The defense proved last week against the Bengals that they can shoulder the load, and you can bet they will be going after Peyton Manning in a big way. If they can create turnovers, they could steal a win on the road at very good odds.