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The Wild Card round is a wrap and we’re on to what might be the best weekend of NFL football this month. The Divisional round opens next week, and the top-seeded San Francisco 49ers will host the Wild Card upstart Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Divisional round. The game is scheduled for Saturday, January 11th, with kickoff set for 4:35 p.m. ET. The game will air on FOX. The winner will advance to the NFC Championship Game to face the winner of the Packers-Seahawks Divisional round matchup.
The 49ers earned home field advantage in the NFC playoffs thanks to a 13-3 record capped by a Week 17 win over the Seattle Seahawks to clinch the NFC West. They’ve dealt with a variety of injuries on defense, but expect to have Dee Ford and Jaquiski Tartt back, and might get Kwon Alexander back from a torn pectoral injury.
The Vikings claimed the second wild card berth with a 10-6 record. They went into New Orleans and stunned the third-seeded Patriots in the Wild Card round. Dalvin Cook and the defense were keys early on, but Kirk Cousins made the two biggest throws of his career in overtime to secure the 26-20 victory.
San Francisco opened as a touchdown favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook, with the point total set at 46.5. The 49ers finished the regular season 9-6-1 against the spread and went over the point total eight times. The Vikings finished the regular season 9-7 ATS and went over the point total nine times. They covered vs. the Saints in the Wild Card round with an outright win and the point total came in under.