Wildcard Weekend: Who Is Scoring the Most?

Big defensive plays do make for some pretty cool highlights, but they are not what sells. Fans want to see offense. They want to see big runs, one-handed catches, precision passing, and points on the board– especially during wildcard weekend

This season, the league’s teams did not disappoint during the regular with a record 12,692 total points scored during the regular season.

Nine teams averaged over 28 points a game this season, and seven of those teams will be playing this weekend.

If the league and networks get their wish, those teams will continue their high scoring ways this weekend and give fans a show. Some likely will, but some will also be facing solid defenses, which will undoubtedly make it a lot harder.

Then again, it did not seem to matter last week when the Buffalo Bills put up 56 on an excellent Miami Dolphins defense.

So—who is going to score the most? Will it be one of the high-powered offenses that have been running up the score all year? Could an unexpected team emerge from the pack to lead the weekend?

BetMGM is offering odds on all 12 teams:

• Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens +425
• New Orleans Saints +450
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers +650
• Tennessee Titans, Pittsburgh Steelers +800
• Seattle Seahawks +1100
• Indianapolis Colts +1400
• Cleveland Browns +2500
• Chicago Bears +2800
• Los Angeles Rams +3500

Who is it going to be?

A handful of these teams are easy to eliminate from consideration. Chicago caught fire down the stretch and scored 30+ in four of their last five games. But they will be facing the No. 5 scoring defense in the league this weekend (the Saints).

The Seahawks defense dominated the Rams offense a couple of weeks ago. Chances are good that they will do so again, especially if John Wolford starts at quarterback again.

While the Steelers defense is not what it was earlier in the year, it is still good enough to keep the Browns’ offense from going nuts.

There is a chance the Indianapolis Colts could do it if they get in a shootout with the Buffalo Bills—and win. But the Colts have not scored more than 28 points in five of their last six games.

If the Colts get a chance to control the narrative, they are more likely to try to run the ball and slow things down rather than score a lot.

Seattle’s offense is certainly explosive enough, but the Rams defense is good enough to keep the game from getting out of hand. That leaves the Titans, Steelers, Buccaneers, Saints, Ravens, and Bills.       

Since both teams in the Titans-Ravens game will feature the run game, neither of them will likely be the weekend scoring champs.

It is kind of hard to have faith in the Steelers with how poorly they played down the stretch. If they bring their ‘A’ game against the Browns, they could. But can you trust them?

Not really—which means we are down to three of the top five scoring offenses in the league, the Buccaneers, Saints, and Bills. All three are facing good defenses, which could make it challenging for someone to shine.

The Saints offense is as explosive as they come. While Alvin Kamara’s status is up in the air, the passing game is expecting to get Michael Thomas back.

Chicago’s defense is good enough to slow them down for a little while, but the Bears will probably wear down by the second half without much help from the offense.

Washington has lived and died by its defense all season long, but they are going to be facing one of the more prolific offenses in the league led by an all-time great in Tom Brady.

But the Buccaneers defense should do fine against the Washington offense—which means the Washington defense will get tired. When it does, Brady will light the scoreboard up.

As for the Bills, the Colts have a good defense, but that ‘good’ defense got lit up in the second half by Ben Roethlisberger a couple of weeks ago. It is not hard to imagine Josh Allen and the Bills offense doing the same.