What a final day of the NFL regular season: Three division titles decided along with the wild-card pairings set; Circa awarded $24.7M in winnings to Million and Survivor contestants, and even the first head coach firing happened. But let’s start by looking ahead.
Your NFL playoff pairings
Well, we know what we’re doing this weekend:
Saturday
- 5 Rams (-10) at 4 Panthers, 4:30 ET (Fox)
- 7 Packers (-1.5) at 2 Bears, 8 ET (Prime)
Sunday
- 6 Bills (-1.5) at 3 Jaguars, 1 ET (CBS)
- 6 49ers (+3.5) at 3 Eagles, 4:30 ET (Fox)
- 7 Chargers (+3.5) at 2 Patriots, 8:15 ET (NBC)
Monday
- 5 Texans (-3) at 4 Steelers, 8:15 ET (ABC/ESPN)
As you can see, the Steelers won the AFC North, decided on the last play of the regular season when the Ravens missed a potential game-winning 44-yard field goal, preserving a 26-24 victory for Pittsburgh (+4.5).
The Jaguars (-12.5) won the AFC South by blowing out the Titans 41-7 and the Panthers snuck in ahead of the Bucs as NFC South champions, thanks to Atlanta’s 19-17 victory over the Saints. The Broncos clinched the top seed in the AFC with a 19-3 victory over the resting Chargers.
VSiN.com managing editor Adam Burke takes an early look at the opening lines for the wild-card round, which includes four road favorites.
5 Circa Survivors cash in at 20-0
The Circa Survivor and Circa Million provided more than its share of drama on Sunday.
Five of the six remaining entries won Sunday to go 20-0 and share the $18,718,000 prize pool, which comes out to $3,743,600 apiece. Congrats to the entries Dylan W (Falcons), GaryA (Patriots), Real Bro (Jags), Juicy Kewchi (Vikings) and Kick Up Your Knees (Vikings). >>Here’s how they did it.
Not-so-fun fact: The Survivor contestant who was eliminated with the Bengals’ painful loss — on a Browns’ last-seocnd FG — lost on the final pick last year, too.
💰 Dave Tuley‘s Survivor story.
An entry named CoyneHop won the $1 million first prize in the Circa Million, which finalized $6 million in season and fourth-quarter payouts. Even with a 2-3 final week, CoyneHop finished 60-29-1 (67.4%) for 58.5 points, tied with BisonSportsCards, but won the tiebreaker. >>Final leaderboard. Congrats to VSiN regular Steve Fezzik for rallying from sub-.500 at midseason to finish in a tie for ninth.
Check out our contest hub for complete consensus picks and individual selections.
In a contest with slightly less at stake, Patrick Meagher, host of VSiN Live on SiriusXM Mad Dog Radio (8-11 p.m. ET), won the VSiN Futures Draft, thanks to his 13-1 bet on Jonathan Taylor to lead the league in rushing TDs. >>Final Standings.
Wrapping up NFL Week 18
Tuley’s ATS Report: Week 18 favorites went 10-6 SU, but underdogs led 9-6-1 ATS (push on GB-Min). Over/Unders split 8-8. For the season, favorites finished 175-91-1 SU with 5 pick-’ems, but underdogs still led 138-126-3 ATS (52.3%). Overs ended ahead 138-130-4 (51.5%).
NFL Draft order: 1. Raiders 2. Jets 3. Cardinals 4. Titans 5. Giants.
Coaching carousel: In the first firing of the off-season, the Falcons dismissed coach Raheem Morris after their victory over the Saints. That said, the Dolphins announced that Mike McDaniel will return.
Strangest play of the day: VSiN contributor Warren Sharp pointed this out on X: The Colts ran fake punts on back-to-back plays vs. the Texans even though they picked up the first down on the first play.
Quick Hits
NBA: Zach Cohen‘s Best Bets and Steve Makinen‘s Analytics Report will hit around mid-morning on our NBA page. Our Opta AI NBA player props projections are here.
College Basketball: Greg “Hoops” Peterson has his Best Bet for today’s menu. Look for picks from Adam Burke mid-morning on our college hoops page.
Get real-time steam alerts from the DonBest Screen. Sign up now for a 7-day free trial at go.donbest.com. Use the promo code VSIN10 for 10% off your initial subscription.
NHL: VSiN hockey analyst Jonathan Davis will post his Best Bets around mid-day.
