NFL Championship Games Betting Analysis


The Divisional round of the 2014 NFL Season is over, and only four teams remain in the playoffs. NFL fans will find out which two teams will play in Super Bowl XLIX, after the Green Bay Packers play the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship game, and the Indianapolis Colts play the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game, in rematches of games that were played in the regular season.

Green Bay Packers (13-4), vs. Seattle Seahawks (13-4) NFC Championship Game, Sunday, January 18, 3:05 PM. ET.

In their first meeting, the Packers played pretty even with the Seahawks until the 3rd quarter, when Seattle blew the game open. In that game, the Seattle defense prevented the Packers from running the ball effectively, forcing Aaron Rodgers to try to win the game through the air, which they couldn’t do.

This time around, the Packers have a healthy Eddie Lacy, who has been playing well lately, and they are hoping he will be able to make a big impact in this game, and take some pressure away from Aaron Rodgers, who is dealing with a calf injury, that has limited his mobility.

On defense, the Packers need to find a way to slow down Marshawn Lynch, and also keep Russell Wilson in the pocket, because they have been burned by mobile quarterbacks in the past, and Wilson led all quarterbacks in the NFL in rushing yards this season.

Seattle’s defense has been playing very well in the last few weeks, which has the team feeling good about their chances of stopping the highest scoring team in the league this year. They will try to take away Green Bay’s running game, like they did in the season opener, and go after Aaron Rodgers by bringing pressure any time he tries to throw the ball, forcing him to make some mistakes.

Marshawn Lynch, had another great season for Seattle, and will once again be their focal point on offense. Russell Wilson will also be expected to run the read option offense a lot in this game, because the Packers still haven’t figured out how to slow it down.

Game Line: The Seahawks are favored to win this game by 7.5 points, the Over/Under is 46.5 points.

Personal Pick: The Seahawks are a very dominant team at home, and will win this game convincingly.

Indianapolis Colts (13-5) vs. New England Patriots (13-4), AFC Championship Game, Sunday, January 18, 6:40 PM. ET.

The Colts, led by Andrew Luck, have the least playoff experience of all four teams, but don’t expect that to intimidate them. They are coming off an impressive win against Peyton Manning and the Broncos, who were the defending AFC Champions, and the number two seed in the AFC. In their first game against New England, the Colts defense couldn’t stop the run, and allowed the Patriots to run for over 200 yards and 4 touchdowns. They tried to rally in the fourth quarter, but came up short, and they will try to avoid putting themselves in a similar situation this time around.

Andrew Luck will be counted on again to lead his team to another victory, because they haven’t been getting consistent production from their running backs. If their defense can manage to keep the score close, Luck will have a chance to lead them to victory.

Tom Brady and the Patriots are trying to get to their 6th Super Bowl in the Bill Belichick era, and have a good opportunity to do so on Sunday. They will try to run the ball like they did in the first meeting, but it will be tough for them to go over 200 yards again, because the Colts are holding opponents to 99 rushing yards per game, in the playoffs.

The Patriots secondary didn’t play very well against Baltimore in the Divisional round, and will need to play better in this game, if they don’t want to get burned by Andrew Luck.

Game Line: The Patriots are favored to win this game by 7 points, the Over/Under is 53.5 points.

Personal Pick: The Patriots will win a close game against the Colts.