NFC Wild Card: New Orleans Saints (11-5) vs. Seattle Seahawks (7-9)
Date: Saturday, January 8th, 2011
Time: 4:30 p.m. EST
The New Orleans Saints won an NFC wild card and the Seattle Seahawks won the NFC West. The defending Super Bowl champion Saints are third best in the NFL in passing, led by Drew Brees with 4,620 yards and 33 touchdowns. The team battled injuries all season but managed to end the season with four games scoring 30 points or more. They will be without leading rusher Chris Ivory and Pierre Thomas because of injuries. Instead, Reggie Bush and Julius Jones will get the bulk of the carries. They finished with a 6-2 road record, with losses at Arizona and Atlanta. To note, New Orleans has never won a road playoff game in its history. Keep that in mind for your online betting.
When looking at the NFC West, Seattle was the best of the worst in the NFL under first-year coach Pete Carroll. The Seahawks lost five of their last seven games, yet still managed to win the division after beating St. Louis last Sunday. Quarterback Charlie Whitehurst led the team into the playoffs, but Matt Hasselbeck will line up behind center against the Saints even though his numbers are down this year. The rushing attack is led by Marshawn Lynch, who finished with 573 yards and six touchdowns.
My Pick: This has blowout potential written all over it for the Saints, but they haven’t been quite as on point as last year’s Super Bowl run. Still, New Orleans easily beat Seattle 34-19 earlier in the season and I expect much of the same. I’m backing the Saints to win 28-13.
Money Line (odds provided by Titan Bet)
New Orleans: 3/20
Seattle: 43/10
Point Spread: New Orleans -10.5
Over/Under: 44