NFL Betting – Packers, Seahawks Proved Little With NFC Wild Card Wins
The Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks each won their respective NFC Wild Card games this past NFL betting weekend. While the win reserves a spot for both teams in the NFC Divisional round, neither victory changed much in terms of what to expect going forward. The Seahawks surrendered a 14-point first-quarter lead to Robert Griffin III and the Washington Redskins before battling back against an injured RGIII with 24-straight points to seal their win, while the Packers didn’t even see the starting quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings after an elbow injury to Christian Ponder forced Joe Webb to make his first career playoff spot in a Green Bay win. Each team will face a much tougher test this week, with the NFC playoff picture still wide open.
The Packers will travel to the west coast to face the San Francisco 49ers, a team that blew them away in a season-opening 30-22 loss. Four of Green Bay’s five losses this season came away from Lambeau Field, and their only home loss came against the 49ers in week one. A lot has changed since that game, but in many ways San Francisco has become a better team while the Packers remain hard to predict. The sports betting X-Factor for Green Bay remains quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who threw for 274 yards and a touchdown against the Vikings, but will need to be even better against a tough 49ers’ defense.
Seattle will be in a similar position after benefiting from the injury to RGIII, as they now face the NFL’s fifth-ranked passer in Matt Ryan. Ryan has a ton of weapons with Julio Jones, Roddy White, and Tony Gonzalez all at his disposal, and the extra week of preparation will help the Falcons as much as the home field advantage. The Seahawks started slow in Washington, and they won’t have that same luxury in Atlanta where Ryan and company will not let off the gas. The Falcons enter these football betting playoffs with a lot to prove, and they can look over the tape of what worked well for the Redskins on defense to prepare an appropriate game plan for Russell Wilson and company.
The online sportsbook game lines for the NFC Divisional round are already up, with the Packers three-point underdogs at San Francisco, and the Seahawks 2.5-point underdogs at Atlanta. None of the four underdogs won last week, and that will have fans of the 49ers and Falcons hoping for a repeat performance this week. Green Bay and Seattle certainly have the talent to pull off the upsets, but there isn’t much we can take from their most recent wins, other than that they won games they were expected to win. That sets the tone for what should be an exciting and unpredictable NFC Divisional round, with the Packers and Seahawks looking to prove the bookies wrong. For all of the NFL Divisional round news and odds, be sure to check out the best sports betting sites.