Historic Betting Trend Suggest Ravens Will Easily Advance Past Steelers to Divisional Round

The Ravens are massive favorites to the Steelers in the first round of the NFL Playoffs.
The Ravens are massive favorites to the Steelers in the first round of the NFL Playoffs. / Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

The Wild-Card Round of the NFL Playoffs is set and what you might have noticed is that the Baltimore Ravens are the biggest favorites of the opening round against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

DraftKings Sportsbook has the Ravens set as 10-point favorites, the only double-digit favorite of the opening round. If you're hesitant to lay that big of a number in a playoff game, let me ease some of those concerns. According to John Ewing, double-digit favorites have had plenty of success in the playoffs in recent years.

NFL Playoffs Double-Digit Favorites

Here is the history of double-digit favorites in the playoffs dating back to 2010:

DATE

FAVORITE

UNDERDOG

SCORE

ATS RESULT

Jan 20, 2024

SF -10.5

GB

SF 24, GB 21

L

Jan 20, 2024

BAL -10

HOU

BAL 34, HOU 10

W

Jan 15, 2024

BUF -10

PIT

BUF 34, PIT 17

W

Jan 15, 2023

BUF -14

MIA

BUF 34, MIA 31

L

Jan 16, 2022

KC -11.5

PIT

KC 42, PIT 21

W

Jan 10, 2021

NO -11

CHI

CHI 9, NO 21

W

Jan 9, 2021

TB -10

WAS

TB 31, WAS 23

L

Jan 12, 2020

KC -10

HOU

KC 51, HOU 31

W

Jan 11, 2020

BAL -10

TEN

TEN 28, BAL 12

L

Jan 13, 2018

NE -13.5

TEN

NE 35, TEN 14

W

Jan 14, 2017

NE -16.5

HOU

NE 34, HOU 16

W

Jan 8, 2017

PIT -11.5

MIA

PIT 30, MIA 12

W

Jan 10, 2015

SEA -13.5

GB

CAR 17, SEA 31

W

Jan 5, 2013

GB -11

MIN

MIN 10, GB 24

W

Jan 14, 2012

NE -14

DEN

DEN 10, NE 45

W

Jan 7, 2012

NO -10.5

DET

DET 28, NO 45

W

Jan 16, 2011

CHI -10

SEA

SEA 24, CHI 35

W

Jan 8, 2011

NO -10

SEA

NO 36, SEA 41

L

If you look at the table above, you'll see this is a familiar spot for the Steelers. They were 10-point underdogs to the Bills last season and were 11.5-point underdogs to the Steelers two years ago. They failed to be competitive in either game, losing by 17 and 21 points respectively.


Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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Published
Iain MacMillan
IAIN MACMILLAN

Originally from Nova Scotia, Iain MacMillan is a senior editor covering betting, with a focus on NFL, NHL, and golf. He hosts the Bacon Bets Podcast and has been featured on VSIN, BetQL and Monumental Sports Network. He is a member of the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association and his beloved Falcons and Maple Leafs break his heart on a yearly basis.