The Green Bay Packers take on the Seattle Seahawks at their 12th man Stadium in Seattle this Sunday, January 18, 2015. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:10 PM ET and can be seen on Fox TV. The Vegas odds have the Seahawks favored at 7 ½ with the Over/Under 46 ½ and -330 on the Money line! Here are some comments and predictions from some of the Vegas experts on the Sunday NFC Conference Title game.
We will only list the expert’s initials for each of the comments or predictions:
EA – States it was just 7 months ago when Seattle defeated Denver for the XLVIII Title, so as Seattle and Green Bay started the 2014 season with their first game which Seattle won? Since 2004 the Super Bowl winners are straight up 8-2 and against the spread at 6-3-1 in their season kick off games and those scores well for Seattle. Going back to 1980 those same Bowl winners were straight up 22-12 and against the spread 14-17-3 in their games to open each season.
Since back in 1990 Seattle and Green Bay have played some 11 times, and the Packers record is straight up 7-4 and against the Spread (ATS) 6-4-1. The best game was just 2 years ago with the game nicknamed “Fail Mary” as Green Bay was up 12-7 with less than a minute to go, when Settle QB on 4th and 10 threw a Hail Mary pass that was caught by Tate for a TD, and that changed the position form the Packers covering and winning the game, to the Seahawks doing the same in a matter of seconds.
The Seattle Seahawks are favorites to win the 2014-15 Super Bowl, while the Packers are 2nd favorites along with the Patriots. But one expert has the public favoring the Packers by 5 percent so let’s see what some of the other Vegas experts have to say!
JK states that back in April 2014 the Seattle team played Green Bay and Seattle was favorite at -5 at home against visiting Packer for a great match-up. Some 5 days after the opening line Seattle moved up to -5.5 and stayed at that point thru the 27th of August 2014. During that time spread the line moved back and forth from -5 to -5.5. With continued support showing for Seattle the line moved to -6, which didn’t stay their long as by game time it was -5.5 again and the total moved slowly up to 47.5 for that game.
DT-ATS stated during the offseason there was a lot of talk about enforcement of pass interference and holding by the defenses, and that potentially could help offenses and tend to neutralize defenses, which was seen in the preseason. Having considered all of that, he said he usually does not go against Seattle when they are at home, but thinks the Packers were a better team when QB Rodgers was playing. However, if the NFL and the Officials/Referees decide to use the recommendations in this conference title game, I think it will favor the Packers passing game. I was considering betting on Green Bay when the line opened at +6.5, but I like them even more at +7.5.
WD stated that the Seahawks with their 12th man stadium are 17-1 during the past 2 seasons and Packers QB Rodgers will be passing against an incredible defensive secondary this past season. Offensively the Seahawks and QB Wilson have had a rating of passing of 100 and higher each of his last two seasons. The Seattle defense finished 2014 much better than the Packers, as they were the NFL leading defense with the fewest points allowed at 15.9 points per game, along with the fewest yards allowed by the defense at 267.1 yards each game, and that is the best NFL defensive statistics since back in 2009 with the Jets of New York. This is likely to be a very close game, thus I like taking Seattle on the Money line, and so my pick is Seattle at –330.
MS stated he’s been bullish on the Packers this year and it would not shock me if one of the two teams blew the other one out in this game. However, I do see some value in the total for the game and would consider the over at 46 ½, so my pick is taking the over 46 ½.
ER stated the Packers are hungry for a Bowl game, and have experienced a lot of injuries this season, including their QB Rodgers, but they still remain a very talented team, and if Rodgers is playing they can win this game. No question Seattle in the NFC favorite and deserve to be so, however it always difficult to go from being the Hunter to being that of being the hunted. I think Green Bay will manage the point spread in this title game, thus I take the Packers!
So if you bet on NFL at a sportsbook, and if you checked out these Vegas comments, maybe you can decide on who to wager on for this NFC Title game. Good Luck!