NFL Divisional Round: The kids are alright

With the (truly wild) Wild Card Round in the rearview, just eight NFL teams remain in the hunt for the Super Bowl.

• And all eight squads are all led by quarterbacks (QBs) under the age of 30, with 23-year-old Jacksonville Jaguar Trevor Lawrence as the youngest and 29-year-old Dallas Cowboy Dak Prescott about to cross the threshold.

• Gone are the familiar playoff faces of Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. The next gen has arrived, and the kids are alright.

Speaking of familiar faces, retired legendary tight end Rob Gronkowski will be making a return to the Super Bowl for FanDuel’s Kick of Destiny, a live commercial in the third quarter where Gronk will attempt to hit a 25-yard field goal.

• But here’s the (literal) kicker: If Gronk converts, qualified FanDuel users will split $10M (!!!) in FanDuel bonus bets. Just place a $5 bet on the Super Bowl between now and the start of the game on February 12th to get in on the action.

Wondering who to bet on? The Kansas City Chiefs remain FanDuel’s odds-on favorite to win the title (+300 at time of writing, or a 25% chance of winning) followed closely by the Buffalo Bills (+330, or about a 23% chance of winning).

But I’m getting ahead of myself. There’s still a lot of playoff football to be played before the Super Bowl, and I have my eye on the AFC matchups.

• I went 1-2 with my picks last week, but hey, nobody’s perfect. Just ask Dallas Cowboys kicker Brett Maher.

Jaguars vs. Kansas City, today at 4:30 p.m. ET: This is KC’s first playoff appearance this year after their conference-leading regular season performance snagged them a first round bye.

• Since QB Patrick Mahomes took the helm, KC has never lost their postseason opener, winning by an average of 16 points. Sheesh. With FanDuel’s point spread set at -8.5 at time of writing, they’d need to win by 9 or more for my bet on KC to payout.

• The Jags, meanwhile, are likely still riding the high of their third-biggest comeback in NFL playoff history, defeating the LA Chargers 31–30 last Saturday, but I have a feeling the buck Waffle House trips stop here.

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Bills, Sunday at 3 p.m ET: The game of the weekend and the rematch we’ve all been waiting for after their Week 17 meeting was (rightfully) canceled when Bills’ Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest during the game.

• I’m expecting a shootout between these star QBs, Bengals’ Joe Burrow and Bills’ Josh Allen. FanDuel offers the ability to bet on each player to throw for over 1.5 TDs or you can parlay the bets together to increase the possible payout. High risk, high reward.

FanDuel is offering a new user promo only until January 29th. Just sign up, place a bet of $5 or more, and receive $150 in bonus bets regardless of the outcome of that first bet. Nothing to lose.

21+ only. Gamble responsibly. Need support? Call 1-800-GAMBLER

One last thing — I want to hear from you! Who do you think is going to win the Super Bowl? Who do you want to win the Super Bowl?

• Fill out this very short survey, and I’ll share the results next week.