NFC Playoff Predictions: Commanders a Value Bet in Postseason
- Washington is in the playoffs for the first time since the 2020 season.
- Check the Commanders vs Buccaneers betting lines for Sunday.
- QB Jayden Daniels is a top contender for Offensive Rookie of the Year.
- The NFL odds don’t favor Washington vs Tampa Bay.
The NFC playoff field is a jumbled mess, with a 14-win team playing as a Wild Card and some of the top teams in the conference coming into the postseason after late-season losses. While we aren’t going to pick a lower-seeded team to make a run to the conference title, we do like the Wild Card round to feature road wins for a couple of squads.

The No. 5 seed Minnesota Vikings hit the road to face the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Rams despite having four more regular-season wins than the host team, and the seventh-seeded Green Bay Packers take on the second-seeded Philadelphia Eagles in a rematch of their season-opening contest in Brazil.
But we’re focused on the Washington Commanders, who are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2020 and will face the third-seeded Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a Sunday Night Football contest.
Washington is led by rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels and first-year head coach Dan Quinn, and the Commanders have the potential to make some noise in the NFC postseason.
Check out our reasoning for the Commanders being one of our NFL picks for an upset this weekend … and possibly the following weekend as well.
3 Reasons to Bet On Commanders to Exceed Expectations
1. Rookie QB Daniels Leads The Way
Jayden Daniels, the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL Draft, has played great in his first season in the league, finishing with 3,568 yards and 25 touchdowns through the air and 891 yards and six touchdowns on the ground. He helped the Commanders to last-second wins over the Bears and Eagles in the regular season, and the gravity of playing in the postseason shouldn’t be a problem for him.
ARE YOU KDDING ME?? JAYDEN DANIELS WITH THE MOMENT OF HIS ROOKIE YEAR pic.twitter.com/pCReyxaAjq
— trey wingo (@wingoz) December 22, 2024
This game is a rematch of the regular-season opener, when the Commanders fell to Tampa Bay 37-20 on the road. Per Commanders vs Buccaneers stats, Daniels had a solid NFL debut in that one, finishing with 184 yards passing and 88 yards and two touchdowns rushing, and he’s certainly grown a lot in the 16 games since.
Daniels is the top betting favorite to win the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award because of his ability to make plays out of nothing. He’ll show that against the Buccaneers in this one in what should be a shootout in Florida.
The signal caller has a lot of confidence in himself and inspires a lot of confidence in his teammates, and he’s the main reason our NFL predictions for the NFC playoffs include at least one Commanders victory.
2. Quinn Knows Defense
Quinn got the job with Washington after revitalizing the Dallas defense in his three seasons as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator. Quinn has been a head coach in the NFL before, taking the Atlanta Falcons to the Super Bowl in 2016, so he has some experience with postseason play.
His time in Washington has been very successful, and that should continue into the postseason. Per NFL betting trends, the Washington defense was in the middle of the pack as far as scoring this season, allowing 23.0 points per game.
But the Washington Commanders have come up big down the stretch, holding three of their last five opponents to just 19 points apiece and limiting the Eagles to just 12 points over the final three quarters of their 36-33 come-from-behind win on Dec. 22.
Washington is on a five-game winning streak, making it one of the hottest teams in football, and that should continue on Saturday. Make sure you bet online on the Commanders vs the Buccaneers, and possibly the following week as well.
3. Familiarity With Foe Will Help
As stated earlier, the Commanders have already faced the Buccaneers earlier this season. Quinn will certainly have a better defensive plan put together to slow down Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay offense in this one.
Daniels will benefit from the second chance at the Buccaneers as well. Washington lost in its first meetings with both the Eagles and Cowboys this season, only to rebound with wins over those teams in the rematches.
The Commanders are three-point underdogs against the Buccaneers according to the odds on BetUS Sportsbook. That’s basically calling this game a pick ‘em, with Tampa Bay getting the betting edge for being at home. The Commanders are also +150 on the moneyline.
While Washington has the longest NFL futures odds to win the NFC entering the postseason at +1600, we like it to make some noise before it gets bounced out. The Commanders’ rebuild hit the fast track behind Daniels and Quinn, and they’re going to exceed some expectations before the playoffs are done.
When making your NFL best bets on the NFC playoffs, don’t count out Washington from picking up a win this weekend and giving its next opponent some trouble too.
Question Of The Day
When was the last time the Commanders won a playoff game?
Washington’s last playoff win came in January 2006, when it upset the host Buccaneers in the Wild Card round.
Odds and information are accurate at the time of writing. Please check with official sources for the latest updates before placing any bets