Super Bowl betting players saw both underdogs come away with the win during wild-card weekend, including a historic win for Seattle. Next, we have the divisional round, where we’ll see a pair of rematches from the regular season.
Packers Falcons Betting – Saturday, 8:00 PM ET
Atlanta, the NFC South champions, are 2.5-point favorites at the Georgia Dome, where they edged Green Bay 20-17 in Week 12 in a game the Packers should have won. The Falcons’ Matt Ryan was definitely outplayed, statistically, by Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, but Rodgers fumbled the ball at the goal line in the second quarter, while Ryan made no mistakes while driving the Falcons down the field in the final 15 minutes. The Packers are coming off a big win in Philadelphia in which their defense put a beating on Michael Vick, and they’re going to have to do the same thing against the Falcons, as they had just two sacks in Week 12. Those betting on NFL odds will surely know about Ryan’s 20-2 mark at the Georgia Dome as a starter, but we’re taking the Packers to pull off the upset on the grounds that their defense is better, and Rodgers won’t make the same mistakes again. The Falcons looked flustered in a late-season loss to New Orleans at home, and there will be even more pressure this week in Atlanta. Take Green Bay on the road.
Seahawks Bears Betting - Sunday, 1:00 PM ET
The NFC North champion Bears are 10-point favorites at home after their bye, and they’ll be out to avenge a 23-20 loss to Seattle in Chicago in Week 6. The Seahawks are definitely pumped up after becoming the first team to win a playoff game despite having a losing record, and on top of that, they did it as 10-point underdogs against the defending Super Bowl champs from New Orleans, making them the NFL pick of the season. However, they were at home in front of arguably the loudest crowd in the NFL (they shook the ground during Marshawn Lynch’s amazing touchdown run), and a few things have changed since Week 6. First, Chicago didn’t have linebacker Lance Briggs in that game, and he’s healthy and ready to go. The Seahawks were coming off a bye heading into that game, but this time it’s the Bears who have a week off. Finally, the Seahawks sacked Chicago’s Jay Cutler six times in that game, and the Bears have since retooled their protection packages to help their quarterback out, not to mention, the linemen have just gotten better. Last week’s game was a nice story for the Seahawks, and it would be great if they won again, but they’re more of a speed team, and that’s not really conducive to the surface at Soldier Field. Take the Bears in your online sportsbook.
