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NFL Playoff Betting: Big Wild Card Underdogs

The Washington Football Team is a 9.5-point underdog this Saturday night against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an NFC Wild Card Game, according to the online betting odds. Washington has a 7-9 record and is the survivor of the awful, terrible, no-good NFC East Division. Everyone is expecting Alex Smith and Chase Young to lose to the Bucs, who have the greatest quarterback of all time leading them into D.C. for a game between two franchises which have not made the playoffs very much in recent years.

As we get set to handicap the first wave of the playoffs, the wild card props, the Super Bowl Odds futures and the Super Bowl Prop Bets, let’s look at other prominent instances of big playoff underdogs in NFL history:

Washington Football Team reacts after winning 20-14 over the Philadelphia Eagles
MITCHELL LEFF / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP

2007 NFL Season: AFC Championship Game

The then-San Diego Chargers visited the New England Patriots in the 2007 season’s AFC Championship Game, played in January of 2008. The 2007 Patriots were 17-0 entering this game, aiming for the first and only 19-0 season in NFL history. The Patriots did win this game to move to 18-0, but they memorably failed to take the next step.

This was a grind for the Patriots, however. They were 14-point favorites over Philip Rivers and the Chargers, but they scored only 21 points and had to win with defense. The Chargers covered as an underdog, losing by only nine, 21-12.

1999 NFC Championship Game

The St. Louis Rams had “The Greatest Show On Turf,” one of the most high-scoring offenses the NFL had ever seen. Future Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner led an offense most people in the NFL viewed as unstoppable. For this reason, the Rams were 14-point favorites over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in St. Louis, but the Bucs held the Rams’ offense to just 11 points. St. Louis won because of an excellent defensive performance, but Tampa Bay easily covered the spread in an 11-6 loss which earned the Bucs a lot of respect around the NFL.

Super Bowl XXXVI

This was the beginning of the New England Patriots’ dynasty… and it was the Super Bowl no one expected the Patriots to win. That same elite Rams offense, which won the Super Bowl two years earlier, was back for an expected second championship in three seasons. Yet, Bill Belichick – who had foiled the Buffalo Bills’ turbocharged offense in Super Bowl XXV 11 years earlier (as the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants) – came up with another perfect game plan against a juggernaut offense. The Patriots were 14-point underdogs but beat the Rams 20-17 for their first Super Bowl. A full 17 years later, the Patriots beat the Rams in the Super Bowl again to win their sixth NFL championship under Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady, who was there for the first one in January of 2002.

Super Bowl XXXI

The Green Bay Packers were favored by 14 points over the New England Patriots… and won 35-21, creating a Super Bowl push. A kickoff return for a touchdown by Packers receiver Desmond Howard was a huge play in this game. Howard was the winner of the 1991 Heisman Trophy, and he reminded everyone how good he was with a kick return which changed the dynamics of this game. Brett Favre won the Super Bowl with the Packers after several near-misses in previous postseasons as Green Bay’s superstar quarterback.

1991 NFC Championship Game

The Detroit Lions were 14-point underdogs to the Washington Redskins… and they got smashed. Washington, on its way to a third Super Bowl title under legendary coach Joe Gibbs, won 41-10 and showed everyone how complete a team it was.

Super Bowl I

The Kansas City Chiefs represented the American Football League in a game which was called, at the time, the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. It was only two years later that this meeting between the AFL and NFL would be renamed The Super Bowl. Kansas City was a 14-point underdog, and the Chiefs could not hold up against Vince Lombardi’s NFL champion Green Bay Packers. Lombardi knew he had to win this game to uphold the honor of the NFL. He did. Green Bay cruised, 35-10. Lombardi wasn’t happy afterward so much as relieved that he avoided failure. Four years later, the AFL and NFL merged, creating the AFC and NFC split-conference setup we have today in the NFL.

1978 NFC Divisional Playoff

The Atlanta Falcons had just won their first playoff game in franchise history. The 1978 NFL season introduced the wild card game for the first time. It had never been played before. The Falcons, fresh off their NFC wild card win, faced the defending Super Bowl champion Cowboys in Dallas. The Cowboys were at the height of their powers. Naturally, the little ol’ Falcons were 15-point underdogs. They fought hard and fought well, and they knocked out superstar Cowboy quarterback Roger Staubach. However, Dallas backup quarterback Danny White was able to guide the Cowboys to victory. It wasn’t easy, though: Atlanta easily covered the spread in a 27-20 loss. The game was competitive the whole way.

1994 NFC Divisional Playoff

The 1994 San Francisco 49ers fielded one of the greatest offenses in pro football history: Steve Young at quarterback, Jerry Rice at receiver, Brent Jones at tight end, Ricky Watters at running back, William Floyd at fullback, all behind an elite offensive line. The 49ers weren’t slowed down by anyone that season, so when they faced the Chicago Bears in the divisional round, the Bears were 15.5-point underdogs… and they were flattened. San Francisco roared to a 44-15 win. Two wins later, the 49ers had their fifth Super Bowl title, Young’s first as a starting quarterback.

2016 AFC Divisional Playoff

The New England Patriots, still riding high and headed to the Super Bowl, were hard to bet against. The Houston Texans were 16-point underdogs as they traveled to Foxborough to take on Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. The Patriots were not at their very best in this game, but they still managed to cover the spread in a 34-16 win over Houston.

1998 NFC Divisional Playoff

The Arizona Cardinals were a surprise playoff team in the 1998 NFL season. They upset the Dallas Cowboys in the wild card round and went to Minneapolis to play the 15-1 Vikings, who had dominated the NFL that season. Arizona was a 16.5-point underdog, and while the Cardinals were spunky, they didn’t have the answers for the Vikings, who beat Arizona by a 41-21 score.

Super Bowl III

This is the most famous upset in NFL history. The New York Jets, 18-point underdogs, went into Super Bowl III against the mighty Baltimore Colts with complete confidence in themselves. Jet quarterback Joe Namath famously guaranteed his team would win, and he backed it up on the field in a 16-7 win which remains the last time the Jets played in the Super Bowl. Namath’s guarantee is one of the most legendary moments in sports, anywhere and anytime. This game also led to the AFL-NFL merger of 1970, since it gave the AFL the Super Bowl victory it needed to prove it was as good as the NFL.

Super Bowl XXIX

The 1994 San Francisco 49ers were one of the NFL’s greatest teams ever, and the San Diego Chargers – making their first Super Bowl appearance – had just scored an unlikely upset of the Steelers in Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship Game. A juggernaut versus an upstart created a 19-point spread for this game… and the 49ers covered, winning 49-26. San Francisco hit San Diego with big strikes in the first quarter, scoring touchdowns on the 49ers’ first two possessions. San Francisco built a huge lead and then jogged to the finish line in a completely noncompetitive second half.

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