After 18 long, hard weeks, we’re finally at the business end of the NFL season which is the playoffs. It’s now win or go home.
Saturday serves up two great games, with an NFC West clash featuring Seahawks vs. 49ers, followed by Chargers at Jaguars, which features two of the brightest young quarterbacks in the NFL.
Here are my three favorite prop bets for Saturday’s slate.
Brandon Aiyuk
Over 43.5 Receiving Yards (FanDuel)
We’ve been waiting for Brandon Aiyuk to become a star, and the former Arizona State man really delivered this season with the first 1,000-yard campaign of his career.
When Brock Purdy took the keys to the 49ers offense after the injuries to both Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo, we weren’t sure what would happen to the team’s passing game, especially down the field. Since then, Aiyuk has perhaps been the biggest benefactor from Purdy taking over. Aiyuk has had 363 receiving yards since Purdy became the starter on Dec. 4.
Aiyuk’s line currently stands at 45.5, and we’ll be hammering the Over here. He’s gone under that total once in that six-game span with Purdy. Worryingly, that game was against the Seahawks, but he only had two receptions in that game, a total he’s at least doubled in every game since.
We can be confident that Aiyuk will see looks in this game, so we should see him go over 45.5 receiving yards here.
Pick: Brandon Aiyuk Over 43.5 Receiving Yards |
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Keenan Allen
Anytime Touchdown Scorer (+145, BetMGM)
The Chargers’ trip to TIAA Bank Field gives us a chance to see two of the NFL best young passing quarterbacks go head to head in their playoff debuts. The Chargers are 2.5-point favorites, which obviously means that the bookies are expecting them to be the higher-scoring team.
If you’re expecting points on the board then you have to look at Keenan Allen, who’s Justin Herbert’s favorite target. It’s been eight games since Allen returned following a long injury absence. He’s found the end zone four times and looked better in each game.
When the Jaguars beat the Chargers in Week 3, Allen was out and Herbert was banged up. Now, I feel like the 30-year-old receiver could be decisive here. He comes into this in great form, having scored twice last week and faces a Jaguars secondary that has allowed more receiving yards per game than all but four teams in the league.
Travis Etienne
Over 75.5 Rushing Yards (BetMGM)
The Jaguars’ best offensive threat in this game isn’t one of Trevor Lawrence’s pass catchers, instead his former college teammate. Etienne ran for 1,125 yards this season, finding theend zone five times.
Etienne’s rushing yard line sits at 77.5, a number he’s exceeded in three of his past four games. He now faces a team that has allowed an average of 145.8 rushing yards per game (fifth worst in the NFL), something which can give us a lot of confidence that he’ll surpass that number again here.
We’ll confidently bet Etienne to go over in the Wild Card Round.
