Shootout Expected at Georgia Dome
The Green Packers and the Atlanta Falcons have each advanced to this Sunday’s NFC Championship. The Falcons listed opened as four-point favorites at home. BetAnySports opened the total line for this game at 60 on the fast track of the Georgia Done. Bettors have bet the Falcons up to a 6-point favorite as of presstime. The total has held steady around 60 or 60.5. The game is set for 3:05 p.m (ET) and it will be broadcast nationally on FOX.
The Packers’ current straight-up winning streak reached eight games with Sunday’s stunning 34-31 victory against the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys came in as the top seed in the NFC. Green Bay closed as a five-point road underdog. The win raised their record against the spread during this impressive run to 7-1. The total went OVER the closing 52.5-point line. Green Bay has gone OVER in its last six games. The Packers are now 4-1 ATS this season when closing as underdogs.
The “never say die” mentality of veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers has rubbed off on this entire team during this current winning streak. As part of his 356 passing yards on the day, he calmly put Green Bay in positon to beat Dallas with a 36-yard completion to tight end Jared Cook to set up a 51-yard game winning field goal on the final play of the game. Rodgers threw for 362 yards and four scores the week before in the Packers’ 38-13 victory over the New York Giants in the Wild Card Round.
Matt Ryan Fave for NFL MVP
Atlanta has quietly strung together a SU five-game winning streak while going 4-1 ATS with Saturday’s convincing 36-20 victory at home against Seattle as a 6.5-point favorite with BetAnySports. The total went OVER 51 points in that game and it has now gone OVER in 15 of the Falcons’ 17 games this season. Even with Saturday’s cover, they are still below .500 ATS on their home turf at 4-5.
The main reason for this team’s high level of success this season is the elevated play of its veteran quarterback Matt Ryan. He finished the regular season second only to Dree Brees in total passing yards (4,944) and his 38 passing touchdowns were second only the Rodgers (40) in the league. Ryan completed 26-of-37 attempts for 338 yards and three scores against the Seahawks’ vaunted defensive secondary. It is pretty safe to assume that he should have another big day throwing the ball against a Green Bay secondary that was ranked 31st against the pass.
I like Atlanta’s chances to advance to Super Bowl LI. Atlanta should win at home this Sunday, but my “best bet” is the OVER 60 on BetAnySports’ current total line.
