The wait is over, and it’s finally time for some postseason action in the National Football League to enter our lives. While plenty of people can’t wait to see what teams will do as a whole, countless fans have their eyes on individual performances as well. In this piece, we have NFL prop bets for Wild Card Weekend, and we can’t wait to see who ends up coming up big for their squads.
NY Giants running back Saquon Barkley is facing a ton of pressure
Heading into the Wild Card Round, there’s simply no denying that NY Giants running back Saquon Barkley is facinga ton of pressure in the first playoff game of his career. Barkley is also set to hit free agency this offseason if the Giants don’t either extend him or place the franchise tag on him. That’s why it’s going to be imperative for him to have a big game this weekend.
The Giants will take on the Vikings in the NFL Wild Card Round, and Big Blue hopes to record an upset win. When these two teams met on Christmas Eve, the Giants nearly posted an upset win over the Vikings, but they lost on a walk-off field goal. Now, the Giants are ready for some revenge in the playoffs, and Barkley wants to silence his haters.
In order for the Giants to have a shot at winning and moving on to the Divisional Round, Barkley is going to have a strong showing. You better believe that Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka will draw up plenty of plays for Barkley both for the ground game and the aerial attack as well. Barkley will be a force in this one from start to finish against Minnesota.
According to the best-rated sportsbooks, which includes the reliable Bovada review, Barkley has -120 NFL betting odds to score a touchdown vs. the Vikings. The last time these two squads met, Barkley broke free for a nice touchdown run, and something tells us he was going to score again. We’re going with a Barkley TD as our pick. Do you agree? Check out our best NFL betting sites to get a wager in.
Deebo Samuel back to full health will be massive for the 49ers
In another intriguing NFC matchup, Deebo Samuel’s back to full health will be massive for the 49ers. Samuel missed several games late in the season after suffering an ankle injury. As soon as Samuel went down on the turf, people were worried that he’d miss the rest of the campaign, as he was down on the ground in serious pain, which no one wanted to see.
Thankfully, though, he was able to work around the clock in his rehab, and he’s fully fit for the postseason. Again, this is going to be huge for San Francisco, as Samuel is an electric playmaker with the ball in his hands. What makes him so special is that he can hurt opposing defenses in so many different ways. Come this weekend, SF will be taking on the Seattle Seahawks.
The 49ers are big-time favorites for this clash of NFC West powerhouses. In addition to Samuel, guys like George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk, and others will look to step up and make some head-turning plays for the team. Kyle Shanahan has so many options at the table for him, but there’s no question in our mind that he’ll look for Samuel to be a clutch contributor.
Per the oddsmakers, Samuel holds +135 odds to score a touchdown. It’s been a while – thanks to his injury – since Samuel has been able to post a score. There’s nothing he’d love more than to celebrate a TD going up against the Seahawks, as these two teams don’t like one another. Keep an eye on Samuel for this one. We’re picking the speedster to score a touchdown.
Justin Herbert will look to power the Chargers offensive attack
When looking at the AFC, there’s no question that Justin Herbert will look to power the Charger’s offensiveattack when they take on the Jacksonville Jaguars. This will be a close matchup, as it could go either way. What’s problematic for the Chargers heading into this showdown is that the team has to worry about the health of Mike Williams.
Williams suffered a back injury in the regular season finale, but there’s a chance he’ll be able to play this weekend. However, he won’t be in full health, which is a problem. For the Chargers to overcome that, they’ll surely want to feed star running back Austin Ekeler the ball early and often. Ekeler continues to look like one of the top RBs in the conference.
The over/under for Herbert’s passing yards has been placed at 289.5. Herbert can throw for more than 300 yards on any given Sunday, but the injury to Williams and Ekeler’s workload could prevent him from hitting the needed 290 to cover. We think the Jacksonville defense will keep Herbert in check. We’re going with the under as our pick.
With a background as a writer, Rodrigo has managed to bring together his hobbies and education writing sports content for various top-tier sites around the world.