The NFL Wild Card Weekend lived up to the hype.
The Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, and Chicago Bears all won their games by scoring a touchdown in the final two minutes, which set a new NFL playoffs record.
NFL underdogs kicked off the weekend on a 4-0 ATS run, including outright wins by Buffalo, Chicago, as well as the San Francisco 49ers on the road against the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Unfortunately for anybody who took the points with the Los Angeles Chargers or Pittsburgh Steelers, the dogs didn’t show much bite after that.
After the New England Patriots cruised to a win and cover against the Chargers on Sunday night, the Steelers were a popular pick to cover the spread on Monday night.
The Houston Texans opened -3.5 at FanDuel.
That number flashed Houston -2.5 before kick-off.
In this case, you were wrong if you followed the money, as the Texans dominated the Steelers in a 30-6 win.
Now the stage is set for a potentially epic Divisional Playoff featuring four outstanding matchups on paper.
In the AFC, the Bills are -1.5 at the Denver Broncos.
It’s rare that you see a Wild Card team favoured on the road against a rested No. 1 overall seed coming off a bye, but after Josh Allen proved once again, he’s the best QB on the planet, it will be interesting to watch how that number moves throughout the week.
The Patriots are a 2.5-point favourite against the Texans in the other Divisional Playoff.
Meanwhile, a pair of Wild Card Weekend upsets have set up an interesting scenario in the NFC, potentially paving the road for an NFC Championship showdown between the top choices to win the Super Bowl at FanDuel.
Let’s take a closer look at those NFC matchups in this Morning Coffee column for Tuesday January 13th, 2026.
NFL Wild Card Upsets Propel Seahawks, Rams Towards NFC Championship Showdown
The Seahawks secured the NFC’s No. 1 overall seed with wins over Los Angeles, Carolina, and San Francisco over the final three weeks of the regular season.
A first-round playoff bye and home-field advantage was enough to give Seattle the nod over LA as the favourite to win the Super Bowl at FanDuel.
Now a pair of Wild Card upsets has put the Seahawks and Rams on a collision course to meet in the NFC title game.
The Bears upset the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night to advance as the NFC’s No. 2 overall seed.
Less than 24 hours later, the 49ers upset the Eagles to advance as the lowest remaining seed.
While Green Bay was only a 1.5-point favourite at FanDuel, Philadelphia opened -3.5 and was -5.5 by the time Sunday’s game kicked off.
If the Eagles won that game as a home favourite, it would have set the stage for Seattle to host Los Angeles and Chicago to host Philadelphia in the Divisional Playoff.
Even if both NFC favourites won, it would have created tougher matchups for both the Seahawks and Rams on paper, with Seattle to host Green Bay and LA forced to travel across the country to Philadelphia.
Instead, the Seahawks will host the 49ers, and the Rams will visit the Bears in the Divisional Round.
Seattle opened -7 versus San Francisco at FanDuel.
That number has already ticked up to Seahawks -7.5.
Meanwhile, the Rams opened -4.5 and are currently sitting at -3.5 at FanDuel this morning.
Contrast those numbers with the AFC matchups, with both favourites currently laying less than a field goal.
Seattle remains the Super Bowl favourite at +270.
Los Angeles is a close second choice at +320.
The Seahawks are down to +110 to win the NFC title, followed closely by the Rams at +170.
Then there’s the Bears at +550 and the 49ers at +1000 to win the NFC Championship at FanDuel.
How is it possible that San Francisco could still be such a long shot to win the NFC despite being two wins away?
The FanDuel traders don’t believe the 49ers will get past Seattle this Saturday.
Even if they did, they would need to beat LA in LA to reach the Super Bowl in San Francisco.
They would also need to do it without some of their best players, including their star tight end.
Kyle Shanahan, Brock Purdy and company deserve full marks for beating Philly in Philly, but nobody forgets what happened when they hosted the Seahawks with the NFC’s No. 1 overall seed on the line in Week 18.
Seattle closed -2.5 and won that game 13-3.
Most importantly, the Seahawks held San Francisco to three points – the fewest points the 49ers have scored in any game in the Shanahan era.
San Francisco’s 173 total yards was also their fewest in any game in the Shanahan era.
The circumstances appear to be even more in Seattle’s favour for the rematch, at least on paper.
The Seahawks will have the home field advantage this time around.
They’ve also had an extra week to prepare for this game.
Seattle’s rest advantage can’t be overstated in this spot.
In the first meeting, San Francisco was coming off a home win over Chicago in Week 17, with a full seven days and no travel before that Week 18 showdown.
For the rematch, the 49ers will be coming off a grueling road win in the elements in Philadelphia, with only five days between that game and kickoff in Seattle.
Meanwhile, in the first meeting, the Seahawks were coming off a road game in Carolina in Week 17, then travelled to San Francisco.
This time around, Seattle will have had a full 13 days between games to rest and prepare with no travel.
Nobody is writing off the 49ers.
However, in previous instances when a playoff team had as big of a rest advantage as the Seahawks will have this weekend, the team with the extra rest is a combined 7-0.
Meanwhile, the Rams opened as a considerable favourite against the Bears after barely getting past the Panthers.
Regardless of the result of that game, there’s no way LA would have opened -4.5 on the road at Philadelphia.
The Bears are considered a much more favourable opponent for the Rams, even if the closing number at FanDuel is closer to a field goal.
Seattle and LA entered the playoffs as the top choices to win the Super Bowl at FanDuel.
A pair of Wild Card Weekend upsets has put them on a collision course for an NFC Championship showdown.
The NFL Divisional Round can’t get here soon enough.
