RAMS at PANTHERS Saturday, 4:30 p.m., Rams by 10, 46 ½ HANK’S HONEYS: The biggest mismatch of the week. Carolina took the weak AFC South by default after failing to win a Week 18 showdown in Tampa. The Rams looked like the best team in the NFL for much of the season before putting things in relat ive cruise control after losing control of the best division in football. They should rediscover their intensity here and take advantage of several personnel mismatches. The Panthers, who have averaged just 16 ppg over the last month, need to lean on their RB tandem to ease the pressure on Bryce Young, but the Rams are among the NFL’s top run stop units and figure to make Carolina one-dimensional. That’s too much to ask of Young, who will be making his first playoff start to Matthew Stafford’s 11th. The Rams’ front can get to the QB without blitzing while blanketing receivers with zone coverage so the challenge before Young will be immense. Of course, the Panthers scored a 31-28 win over the Rams in Week 13 where turnovers and big plays played a major role. Sean McVay will have learned from that tape and with Davante Adams (two TD catches in first meeting) back in the lineup, we look for Stafford to atone for his worst game of the season. The Rams are loaded with playmakers. Jaycee Horn can’t cover Adams and Puka Nacua at the same time. IF I WERE A BETTING MAN: Rams and the over. PACKERS at BEARS Saturday, 8 p.m., Bears by 1, 45 ½ HANK’S HONEYS: This line flipped early in the week with a lot of Bears money coming in. The Packers are stumbling coming into the playoff with four straight losses, two of them via absolute giveaways. That includes the last meeting between the teams ended with a miraculous Bears comeback three weeks ago. Will they wake up here? That may come down to the performance of the Bears defense, which has relied on a league-best 33 turnovers to make up for other deficiencies. The Packers managed only 13 points on five straight trips inside the Chicago red zone the last time. But Jordan Love is very capable of exploiting the Bears’ tendencies to give up big plays as long he stays upright — and he will have Zach Tom back protecting him. Since losing Micah Parsons, the Packers have been a bottom-tier defense. Caleb Williams has been defying his doubters all year. The Bears can score. Still, the Packers held them to nine points through the first 58 minute of their last game. Green Bay is the better team. IF I WERE A BETTING MAN: Packers and the over. BILLS at JAGUARS 1 p.m., Bills by 1 ½, 51 ½ HANK’S HONEYS: This one, a potential warm weather shootout between Josh Allen and Trevor Lawrence, should easily go past the number. Allen, of course, is a proven big-game performer. Lawrence, who has been on an absolute heater since Jakobi Meyers arrived, is unproven in the playoffs. Still, when Allen has lost in the playoffs, it’s been about his defense — not about him — and that defense, particularly rushing-wise, is a concern against Jacksonville’s well-balanced attack. Conversely, Jacksonville has the much better defense by far. Buffalo is anchored in the run and the Jaguars have the best rushing defense in football. They have not allowing any back to surpass 75 yards, including two games against Jonathan Taylor. Allen will have an opportunity to work his tight ends, but his downfield options are limited. The Jags also have a big edge in the kicking game with record-setter Cam Little while the Bills go to the street for theirs. Lastly, we’ll throw this one out there for consideration: Sean McDermott is 0-5 SU on the road in the postseason and the Bills haven’t won a road playoff game since 1992. IF I WERE A BETTING MAN: Jaguars and the over. 49ERS at EAGLES 4:30 p.m., Eagles by 4 ½, 46 ½ HANK’S HONEYS: The Eagles’ unimpressive wins this season do not necessarily justify this spread. They haven’t scored more than 19 points against a winning team since Week 3. We liked what we saw out of the 49ers defense last week. The problem, however, is that the Eagles are rested and the Niners are flying coast to coast after an absolute war with the Seahawks. Plus, while the Philly offense has sputtered throughout the season, OT Lane Johnson, the key to it all, is returning. Conversely, the 49ers are uncertain about the status of their all-important OT, Trent Williams, as well as WR Ricky Pearsall. They’ll need both against Vic Fangio’s defense with much of Brock Purdy’s glittering performances having come against much weaker defensive teams. If the Eagles take away Christian McCaffrey as the Seahawks did, Purdy doesn’t have much after George Kittle. Saquon Barkley finished the season strong for the Eagles, averaging 4.9 yards per carry in his final four starts and the Niners, since losing Fred Warner, are a bottom tier run defense. The Eagles have been a playoff monster at home under Nick Sirianni, winning all five starts by an average of 21 points. IF I WERE A BETTING MAN: Eagles and the under. CHARGERS at PATRIOTS 8 p.m., Pats by 3 ½, 46 ½ HANK’S HONEYS: Did the Chargers opt to face the Patriots rather than the Bills by resting their starters? New England has beaten only one playoff all season (Buffalo). Justin Herbert has come up small in the playoffs but the question here is Drake Maye. He’s had an MVP-worthy season but much of his success has come against a cupcake schedule, including the last two weeks against the pathetic Jets and Dolphins. The playoffs are a different animal for a first-time QB, especially against a defense this tough. The Chargers give a QB a lot of looks and force them to be patient. Their two-deep zone scheme takes away the deep ball, Maye’s specialty. Then there is the Patriots’ run defense, which from Week 10 on, allowed 4.7 ypc. The Chargers are a ball control team with a strong, physical defense. Jim Harbaugh’s game plan will play to those strengths so we lean to the under. The weather forecast doesn’t favor any team from So Cal but the Chargers are built more like a cold weather team so it shouldn’t be a factor. IF I WERE A BETTING MAN: Chargers and the under. TEXANS at STEELERS Monday, 8 p.m., Texans by 3 ½, 39 ½ HANK’S HONEYS: This is a bad matchup for the Steelers offense, holy water or not. There’s a huge dip in Aaron Rodgers’ play when facing a strong pass rush (see Browns/Ravens the last two games) and we’ve seen how the Texans’ edge rushers can take over a game. DK Metcalf returns from suspension as Rodgers’ favorite target but the Texans have as good a CB tandem (Derek Stingley and Kamari Lassiter) as any team in the NFL. Mike Tomlin loves to run the football and play the field position game but the Texans have held eight of their last 11 opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing. The Steelers haven’t beaten any of the 2026 playoff teams since Week 3 against the Pats. In their five losses to playoff teams, their smoke and mirrors defense has allowed 30.8 points per game. Houston’s offense doesn’t overwhelm anyone. However, CJ Stroud has played relatively well since returning from a Week 9 concussion to continue the Texans’ nine-game winning streak. His chemistry with downfield receiving threat Nico Collins is undeniable and the Steelers’ secondary has been burned for big plays all season. The Steelers are also coming off a physical war with the Texans resting key starters in the second half against the Colts. IF I WERE A BETTING MAN: Texans and the under. * * * WEEK’S BEST BET: Texans. Unless old man Rodgers becomes the old Rodgers. LAST WEEK: 8-8; OVER/UNDER: 8-8 OVERALL: 130-139-2; OVER/UNDER: 153-114-4 BEST BETS: 10-8 ...read more read less