Article Written By: Andre Datyelian
With the NFL conference championships arriving, it’s time to make your picks. And whether you’re a fan of the teams still remaining or if your team is waiting for the NFL draft, you’ll most likely be betting on someone this weekend.
Depending where you choose to bet, the point spread varies. If you’re betting online, with friends, through Vegas casinos or another more local casino, then your point spread for the New England Patriots at Denver Broncos should be around -4 to -6, favoring the Broncos. With this spread, I’ll be taking the underdog Patriots. The main reason doesn’t really involve either Brady or Manning but rather it will be because of the running game that the Patriots have developed in this last month.
I don’t doubt there will be a key drive led by either quarterback that wins the game by a low margin but the New England running game combined with the hurting Broncos defense makes me confident that New England will be able to control the tempo of the game. The running game will contribute to keeping Manning off the field and limiting the amount of points that he can put on the board.
My pick to win the game is the Patriots, but even with a loss, I see picking the Patriots with the points spread I mentioned earlier being the easy choice because if you think back to many of the Patriots losses, they were by 4 or less points which in this game would be enough to cover the spread and still win your bet. Finally, how can you not believe that Brady and Manning’s possible final meeting in the conference championship won’t come down to a point or two being the difference.
With the evening game between the two gritty NFC West teams, most of the point spreads are between -3 to -3.5. The Seattle Seahawks are favored in the game with the San Francisco 49ers playing as underdogs. The last time these two teams met in Seattle, it was a very one-sided game that ended 29-3 with the Seahawks winning.
Remember the NFL changes weekly and that was a very long time ago. Even though the Seahawks seem unbeatable at home, it’s important to note that it was another NFC West team that ended that long home win streak not too long ago. Last week, the Seahawks controlled the game even though Russell Wilson struggled, but that New Orleans team has had its struggles on the road and the crowd plus weather didn’t help Brees out.
This week, the matchup with the Niners is much tougher. This is a San Francisco team that is on a roll on offense and defense. Kaepernick looks like he has confidence again and their running game has always been there, while their defense also had some key stops including a goal line stand to help them pull away last week in the match-up with Carolina.
I have the 49ers as the winners of this game even though they have to fly to Seattle to face that daunting defense and deafening crowd. Besides the balance and momentum the Niners have going into this game, on the other side Russell Wilson has been struggling since the last month of the regular season and is cold heading into the contest giving the advantage to the 49ers.
Wilson’s receiving corps isn’t on par with the Niners receivers and even if the injured Percy Harvin plays he hasn’t had enough practice to get the timing down. If the 49ers can key in on Lynch then the Seahawks offense may not have enough weapons to score.
So, to reiterate, I have the Niners winning meaning throw away your money on them.
Super Bowl Predictions: New England Patriots VS. San Francisco 49ers (Niners win)
