zeke.jpg
Getty Images

Welcome to the divisional round of the playoffs, where the NFL's final four has nearly been decided. This weekend, the No. 1 seeded Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs entered the action and advanced to their conference title games with wins on Saturday.

As we do every week, we've collected all of the best picks and gambling content from CBSSports.com and SportsLine and put them in one place, so you can get picks against the spread from our CBS Sports experts as well as additional feature content, including plays from top SportsLine experts and the SportsLine Projection Model, best bets from our staff and more. Ready? Let's jump in.

All NFL odds via Caesars Sportsbook.

Which picks can you make with confidence in the divisional round? And which Super Bowl contender goes down hard? Visit SportsLine, as its incredible model simulates every NFL game 10,000 times and is up more than $7,000 for $100 players on top-rated NFL picks since its inception.

Dallas Cowboys at San Francisco 49ers

Time: Sunday, 6:30 p.m. ET (Fox), stream on fuboTV (try for free
Open: 49ers -4, O/U 46

"The crazy thing about this game is that there's definitely a chance that it could turn into an offensive shootout. Since Week 7, these have been the TWO HIGHEST SCORING teams in the NFL and that mainly has to do with the fact that both teams had something big happen that week: The 49ers traded for Christian McCaffrey while Dak Prescott returned from his injury. 

"Although this game could turn into a shootout, it also could turn into a defensive struggle and that's because both of these teams rank in the top five for fewest points allowed during the 2022 season. 

"The most fascinating coaching matchup in this game definitely involves Kyle Shanahan's offense going up against Dan Quinn's defense. I swear, any time those two guys are on the same field together, something crazy happens. I'm sure everyone remembers the Falcons' epic collapse in Super Bowl LI. In that game, the Falcons head coach was Quinn while the offensive coordinator was Shanahan, so I guess we're going to finally find out who we should blame for Atlanta's collapse. 

"The 49ers have been one of the best teams in the NFL this year, but I'm still not sure how they're going to look against a good team. The 49ers had the easiest strength of schedule in the NFL this year and half their wins came in a bad division (Including the playoffs, they went 7-0 against NFC West teams and 7-4 against everyone else). Also, since Brock Purdy took over the starting job, the 49ers haven't really been tested because they haven't really faced any good teams. Purdy has looked great, but he faced five teams in the regular season that finished with a combined record of 35-49-1. 

"Last year, the 49ers were the underdog and I picked them to upset the Cowboys. This year, I'm doing the opposite. Only four rookie quarterbacks -- Shaun King, Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Flacco, Mark Sanchez -- have ever made it to a conference title game and I don't think Purdy is going to be the fifth. 

"And you know what, I'll even say this things ends with a game-winning field goal from the guy (Brett Maher) who can't make an extra point."

John Breech loves underdogs this week, and he's taking the Cowboys to advance to the NFC Championship game. To read his divisional round column, click here.

"The 49ers beat the Cowboys at their place in last year's playoffs, so this will be a chance for the Cowboys to even things up. Dallas beat Tampa Bay on Monday night, so this is another road game on a short week, which will challenge them. The 49ers will actually have an extra day of rest since they played last Saturday. But the Cowboys seemed to find their offense against the Bucs, especially Dak Prescott. The 49ers have a better defense than Tampa Bay, but the Dallas offense will be able to move the ball. For the 49ers, it will come down to Brock Purdy against the Dallas pressure. Purdy has been outstanding since taking over as the starter with five games left in the regular season. He played well in beating the Seahawks last week, but this will be the best defense he has faced. The Dallas pass rush can be disruptive, which I think happens here. Prescott will get the better of it between the two quarterbacks in this one as Dallas pulls off the upset."

CBS Sports Senior NFL Writer Pete Prisco likes the Cowboys to upset the 49ers on Sunday. To read his breakdown of the divisional round, click here

Before you make any Cowboys vs. 49ers picks or NFL Divisional Round predictions, you need to see what SportsLine senior analyst Larry Hartstein has to say. A former lead writer for Covers and The Linemakers, Hartstein combines a vast network of Vegas sources with an analytical approach he honed while working for Pro Football Focus. He entered the 2022 NFL season 427-344 all-time on NFL side picks (plus $3,764 for $100 players), including 394-330 against the spread. Hartstein went 68-50 ATS and 8-3 on money-line plays last season for a profit of $1,552. Hartstein also is 14-4 on his last 18 against-the-spread picks involving the Cowboys, meaning he's uniquely qualified to make this pick.

We can tell you he's leaning Over on the point total, but to check out his official pick, head on over to SportsLine


player headshot
Pete Prisco
player headshot
Jason La Canfora
player headshot
Will Brinson
player headshot
Jared Dubin
player headshot
Ryan Wilson
player headshot
John Breech
player headshot
Dave Richard
player headshot
Jamey Eisenberg
Cowboys at 49ers (-3.5)