NFL Playoff Bracket 2019: Odds, Predictions for AFC and NFC Divisional Round

The second round of the 2018-19 NFL playoffs gets underway Saturday. While 24 of the league's teams are prepping for free agency and the NFL draft, eight are still alive in the race for Super Bowl LII.

In the divisional round, we will get to see the four teams that were out of action and on bye over Wild Card Weekend. These teams—the New Orleans Saints, New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams—have notable advantages. Not only are they all playing at home, but they are all as well-rested as can be at this point in the year.

However, the host teams in the divisional round also have a bit of rust to knock off. The teams who advanced past Wild Card Weekend—the Indianapolis Colts, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles—have been in playoff mode for the past month or so. In the case of Indianapolis, which is on a 10-1 run, it's been win-or-go-home for several months.

All of this adds up to some strong competition and some intriguing storylines for the divisional round. We're going to dig into some of those storylines here. First, though, let's take a look at the full schedule and the latest odds and over/unders, according to OddsShark.

Divisional-Round Schedule, Odds and Over/Unders

Saturday, January 12

Indianapolis Colts at Kansas City Chiefs

When: 4:35 p.m. ET

TV and Live Stream: NBC and NBC Sports App

Line, Over/Under: KC -5.5, 57

Prediction: Colts 30, Chiefs 28

Dallas Cowboys at Los Angeles Rams

When: 8:15 p.m ET

TV and Live Stream: Fox and Fox Sports Live

Line, Over/Under: LAR -7, 49.5

Prediction: Rams 28, Cowboys 24

Sunday, January 13

Los Angeles Chargers at New England Patriots

When: 1:05 p.m. ET

TV and Live Stream: CBS and CBS All Access

Line, Over/Under: NE -4, 47.5

Prediction: Patriots 31, Chargers 28

Philadelphia Eagles at New Orleans Saints

When: 4:40 p.m. ET

TV and Live Stream: Fox and Fox Sports Live

Line, Over/Under: NO -8, 51

Prediction: Saints 33, Eagles 24

Todd Gurley Still Dealing with Knee Injury

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

If the Cowboys hope to pull off the upset over the Los Angeles Rams, one course of action would be to put the pressure on quarterback Jared Goff. This is what the Eagles and the Chicago Bears did in December, and both picked up wins.

While C.J. Anderson has proved to be more than a serviceable runner while Todd Gurley has been dealing with his knee injury, he isn't the MVP-caliber player Gurley is. Luckily for Dallas, they may only have to deal with Anderson.

If Gurley does play, he may not be at 100 percent. He does, however, plan to give it a go on Saturday.

"I'm really just eager to get back on the field and then just see how it responds," Gurley said, per Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk. "Then, hopefully we have some new questions next week and not about the knee."

We'll see just how much of a factor Gurley can be Saturday night.

Colts Picking up Steam?

The Colts are the hottest team in the NFL, and not just because they blew out the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Round. They have been rolling since starting the regular season 1-5, only losing once since then. The running game, which amassed 200 yards against Houston, has continually improved. As has the defense.

While the talent on the field is doing its part, a lot of the credit has to go to head coach Frank Reich and his staff. Reich has brought the best out of quarterback Andrew Luck. Defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus has done the same with his squad. Former Indianapolis head coach Tony Dungy believes they are going to put a ton of pressure on Kansas City.

Dungy said the following, per Matthew VanTryon of the Indianapolis Star:

"It's going to be interesting to see who feels more pressure. All of those guys [on the Chiefs], what they‘re hearing is you haven't won a playoff game in so long, you haven't beaten the Colts in the playoffs. What's going to happen? In the last few games, their defense has given up leads. The Colts have the pressure of playing on the road and the Chiefs have the pressure of history."

Don't be surprised if the Colts upset the Chiefs in Arrowhead.

Mahomes Excited for Opportunity

Luck has performed in the playoffs before. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has not. There will be a lot of pressure on the second-year quarterback, but Mahomes is not intimidated.

"Every playoff game is big," Mahomes said, per Matt McMullen of the team's official website. "For me, this is my first playoff game. I'm excited just to be here and to get the opportunity to go out there and win games like this. When you're growing up, you want to go and play games like this."

This isn't quite the biggest stage—Mahomes and the Chiefs will have to win two more games to get there—but it is big enough. It will also go a long way to showing just how good Mahomes can be.

The Texas Tech product was brilliant in the regular season, passing for 50 touchdowns and more than 5,000 yards. However, playoff football is different, and Mahomes will be dueling with a quarterback in Luck who is also playing at an MVP-caliber level.

One thing is for certain. Everyone involved on Saturday afternoon should be excited for the game.