In today's Betting Life Newsletter, presented by Guillotine Leagues: 

Is anything better than the unsolvable puzzle of the NFL postseason? Unimaginable amounts of planning with only one chance to execute. Pretty sure I could bang out a 100-page dissertation digging into any do-or-die playoff matchup but I’ll try and spare you.

Talent, changes to schematics, and injuries collide constantly in shaping a team’s trajectory and subsequent future. I haven’t even started yet and already fighting the urge to tangent …

Someone, please remind me next offseason to cover the importance of challenging consensus (C.J. Stroud to the moon!) and its effect on how we perceive potential ranges of outcomes. I’m kicking myself for having not seen this fantastic Chargers season coming—but that’s another story for a different day.

IT’S PLAYOFF TIME! WIN OR GO HOME! NO EXCUSES! PLAY LIKE A CHAMPION!

Remember everyone, we’re on top of the gridiron year-round. Stay plugged in with us through the offseason at Betting Life as we cover every aspect, nook and cranny of the 2025 NFL Draft. And since we’re in the NFL postseason, we’re in the thick of Guillotine Leagues. Play in a 5-team Guilloteenie or build a 14-player roster in the CHOPionship.

WILD CARD WEEKEND BETTING ODDS

What else is in today’s newsletter?

  • NFL Playoffs: Saturday Wild Card Blitz
  • No Cap: Donkey Parlay

The Best Sweat in Fantasy Football Just Got Sweatier.

Playoff Guillotine League contests are now LIVE.

LEARN MORE

AROUND THE WATERCOOLER

The latest analysis and insights from our merry band of sports betting nerds:

👏 Utilization tiers help in building Guillotine League CHOPionship rosters.

🪓 Charch gets you ready for the the NFL Playoffs with the CHOPionship Cheatsheet.

🔪 For those wanting to try the Guilloteenie, Charch has a cheatsheet, too.

⛳️ PGA season is back in full swing. Everything you need to know for The 2025 Sony Open.

👀 Guillotine League Playoff drafts are happening. Pick one. Or more.

🐶 Want to play best ball in the playoffs? LaMarca offers up some strategy and teams to target.

🤔 If you’re gearing up for CFB Playoff Semifinals, check out these player props.

NFL Playoffs🏈💥—Saturday Wild Card Blitz

No. 5 Chargers (11-6) at No. 4 Texans (10-7): Saturday, 4:30 p.m. EST

No one, or at least anyone I know, pegged the Texans for such a sharp decline on offense. How can the Texans’ inability to protect C.J. Stroud or run the ball effectively not be the story against the Chargers Saturday? You can’t win playoff games if the O-line is acting as a turnstile.

Don’t take my word for it, protection’s a major issue—Houston rates bottom-10 across the board in hurries, pressures, hits, and sacks allowed. The inability to block interior defenders bleeds into the run game as well, where veteran RB Joe Mixon appears to have lost a step since the bye. Of 31 RBs with 35+ carries since Week 15, Mixon ranks bottom-3 in yards/carry (3.2) and negative rush rate (25.2%). Even with all-world WR Nico Collins wreaking havoc on the secondary, I can’t help but wonder if the Texans can muster enough production with the ball.

On the other hand is Los Angeles, presenting almost the perfect inverse case. I’ve already taken this capital L to the forehead, but it’s never a bad time for more transparency. After jettisoning almost the entirety of their WR room with only a second-round rookie to replace them, I expected very little from the Chargers on offense coming into the season. Felt like a sound strategy at the time. However, I made the classic mistake of not grading functional strength from the foundation. So let me say it loud for the people in the back, NOTHING TRUMPS A GENUINE QUARTERBACK-TO-HEAD COACH MIND-MELD. Maybe it’ll actually stick in my stubborn head this time. 

The mixture of Jim Harbaugh plus Justin Herbert makes for perfect gridiron chemistry. It may not be flashy or all that pretty but it works. And staying healthy doesn’t hurt either. To that point, it’s nice to see the Bolts catch some positive injury variance for once. As great as they’ve played, let’s be honest, LAC’s still working with the most shallow skill set in the tournament—outside of maybe the Steelers. That said, when J.K. Dobbins plays behind a healthy O-line, they’re legitimately dangerous. Don't look now, LA ranks top 5 over the last month in EPA/play (+0.15), average drive distance (37.5), and points scored per drive (3.0)—the type of nerdy macros generally reserved for the cream of the crop. 

As always it comes down to defense and we get to watch two of the best go at it. We could go tit-for-tat with top-3 defensive metrics on the season—Chargers get scoring defense, drive success, and yards/reception, while the Texans top the charts in yards/play, average drive distance and completion rate allowed. We even get eerily similar stylistics in terms of man/zone splits, all the pressure stats, and Cover-3 usage. Frankly I’m surprised the Vegas game total cracked O/U 42. LEANS: LAC -2.5 (-118) and u42.5 (-105)

No. 6 Steelers (10-7) at No. 3 Ravens (12-5): Saturday, 8 p.m. EST

Sorry, did I say every playoff game fascinated me? Yikes. Fine, maybe there’s an exception or two. In a different and much cooler plane of reality, Cincinnati makes the playoffs and we’re set up for a monster clash between Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson. Alas, we get Mr. Unlimited …

Usually not known as a man of few words, I got nothing. Could this game possibly be in any less need of detailing? Props to Mike Tomlin for dragging the Steelers into the postseason again. Truly impressive stuff, no doubt. Unfortunately for Pittsburgh’s faithful, that doesn’t whatsoever change the fact this offense stinks. 

Once Russell Wilson took over under center, PIT tried to one-trick-pony its way to glory with the George Pickens Show. Again, something we covered throughout the season pops up—building blocks matter! The NFL’s about foresight and anticipation of the counterpunch. Yes, gearing an offense around a star by funneling high-value targets through him sets you on the right path. However, you can’t be so top-heavy. You must create threats to other spots on the field or you will eventually face-plant. 

Opposing coordinators will sacrifice every wink of sleep to force you into beating them another way—and we may have seen the first signs of that manifesting last week versus Cincinnati. Ask any DFS tout on X whether or not on paper George Pickens should’ve torched the league’s worst secondary. Instead, he came up with a fat goose-egg on a half-dozen targets. 

Meanwhile, Baltimore completely corrected course on defense when John Harbaugh rotated Kyle Hamilton out of his box/slot role into the full-time free safety position around Week 11. The results resemble a complete revelation …

BEFORE ➡️ AFTER

  • Points Allowed Per Game: 25.3 ➡️ 15.4
  • Yards Allowed Per Play: 5.7 ➡️ 4.4
  • EPA/Snap: -0.06 ➡️ +0.15
  • Defensive Success Rate: 53.5% ➡️ 60.3%
  • Opposer Passer Rating: 101.8 ➡️ 72.2 
  • Passing Yards Allowed Per Game 294.9 ➡️ 171.6 

So it’s a thriving Ravens defense with Lamar Jackson playing the best ball of his career against a floundering Steelers squad in the middle of a four-game tailspin. This tilt could (and should) be over early in Baltimore. LEAN: BAL -10

HOW DOES THE GAME MODEL VIEW EACH TEAM THIS WEEK?

No Cap🏈🧢—Donkey Parlay

THE PARLAY: LAC -2.5 & BAL -9.5 (+230) DraftKings

Laid out my case for both of Saturday’s favorites the best I could without turning our casual newsletter into a full-blown novella. Break it down to brass tacks. 

You got coaching, quarterback talent, offensive line play, and overall defense. In both games, all four boxes get checked by the Chargers and Ravens respectively. 

I do expect to see some of the industry’s older sharps challenging the spread in Baltimore after that 18-16 rock fight back in mid-November—but honestly, I couldn’t care any less. Sorry, not sorry. Lamar Jackson is the best player on the planet with a singular focus on four more wins to achieve his ultimate goal—Pittsburgh doesn’t possess the secondary depth or explosives on offense to stop him.

Lastly, to my guy C.J. Stroud if he’s out there reading this. I still love you and we’ll be back on board next year after the front office makes keeping you on two feet a priority. Until then, I can’t see Houston scoring enough to put down a Chargers team that’s improving weekly right in front of our eyes. 

 

BUILD A WILD CARD PARLAY

I hope you enjoyed today’s Betting Life newsletter! Please contact me on X @JohnLaghezza with any questions, comments, or feedback.  I love hearing back from you!