Should Bettors Expect Favorites to Remain Dominant in the Divisional Round?

The NFL's Wild Card Weekend lived up to its same when the final scores all got totaled up.

With the exception of the San Francisco 49ers upsetting the Dallas Cowboys 23-17 on Sunday, favorites went 5-1 both straight up and against the spread in the opening round of the postseason, outscoring their opponents by 91 points.

While favorites have traditionally done well of late covering in Wild Card games, that was not the case this year.

On Monday, our Matt De Saro wrote how since 2017, underdogs in the NFL Playoffs are 29-18 (now 29-19) vs. the spread and 15-3 (now 15-4) in the Wild Card Round.

So how should bettors approach the upcoming slate of games this weekend? Are the favorites likely to repeat their success, or will the underdogs regain control?

Will Favorites Keep Dominating in the NFL Divisional Round?

Via StatHead, over the last 10 years, underdogs have gone 21-19 ATS in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, indicating that there should be slightly more variance coming. However, over the past three postseasons, favorites have been dominant in both winning and covering in the Divisional Round as well.

Since 2018 (playoffs were played in 2019), favorites are 8-4 both SU and ATS, including a stretch where they went 3-1 in both the 2018-19 and 2019-20 Divisional Rounds.

As for home field advantage, the Packers and Buccaneers have each won eight games at home, with Green Bay the lone undefeated team remaining (Bucs are 8-1). They are a combined 14-3 ATS in their home stadiums. Both those two teams' combined for an average margin of victory of 15 points at home this season. Green Bay is currently a 6-point favorite at WynnBET Sportsbook against the 49ers, where Tampa opened as a 3-point favorite vs. the Rams.

The Titans and Chiefs both finished with just two losses at home this season. While Tennessee finished 6-3-0 ATS at home, the Chiefs were just 5-5-0 ATS,