There are just eight teams remaining on the road to Superbowl XLVI after a thrilling Wild Card round on the weekend. Now we head to the Divisional Round, where the top two seeds from both Conferences, take on the respective winners from the Wild Card round. So the four teams who sat out the Wild Card Round, now enter back into the race after getting a week off, a reward for their high seeding. We have the last eight standing and four great looking match ups, with the highlight being the New Orleans Saints at the San Francisco 49ers. The race for the Superbowl is on. Just two games stand between the remaining teams and a shot at NFL glory. Here is an NFL Betting look at next weekend’s Divisional Round of matches. The games are being played on Sunday 15th, apart from the Saints at 49ers which is on Saturday.
Denver Broncos at New England Patriots
The Broncos pulled off a great win against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Wild Card. The Steelers went into the match up with a thrilling win in Overtime. The Bronco’s fired off twenty points in the second quarter, and the only points outside of that was three points in the fourth. It left the game poised and balanced at 23-23 at the end of regulation. But then up stepped Tim Tebow after just eleven seconds of Overtime and nailed a touchdown pass. That was the first play off win for the Broncos since the 2005 season and their defence carried well with five sacks on the Steelers’ quarterback Roethlisberger. So a great effort from the Broncos, but now they will have to face the rested New England Patriots. The Patriots are running as second favourites in Superbowl outright betting. New England went 13-3-0 for the season, and that stands up against the Broncos 8-8-0. Top seeds in the AFC, the Patriots have not managed to land a win in the playoffs in the last four years. The Patriots have incredible firepower going forward, but they also hold up defensively sound. The Patriots carry a 7-1 home record for the season. A lot of the weight of the game will depend on which Tim Tebow shows for the Broncos, but with the Patriots winning in Denver 41-23 back in the middle of December, there is likely only going to be one outcome to this.
Patriots 1/7, Broncos 11/2 at Boylesports
Points Spread: Patriots -13.5 for 10/11 at BetFred
Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens
The Texas, after overhauling the Cincinnati Bengals in their Wild Card match up, now face a tough Divisional Round encounter against the Ravens. This is the first time that the Texans have been in the post season, as the franchise is just ten years old. They are led by rookie quarterback TJ Yates, landed some great touchdown passes against the Bengals, but will have a much tougher time picking things out against the Ravens. The Ravens hold a 8-0 home record for the season and with the Texans 5-3 on the road, then home advantage is likely to pay out big here. The Ravens beat Houston 29-14 at home during the regular season, with Ray Rice rushing for over 100 yards. The Ravens finished the season strongly with a couple of wins, and went 4-1 in their last five, while the Texans, they could only muster up a 2-3 record in their last five matches and entered the post season on the back of three game losing streak. The Bengals lack of any real threat may have flattered the Texans a little in the Wild Card round, and can’t see Houston winning this in Baltimore. The Ravens have that extra quality.
Ravens 1/4, Texans 3/1 at VC Bet
Points Spread: Texans +7/5 for 10/11 at Bet365
New Orleans Saints at San Francisco 49ers
The Saints are still many people’s tips to take the Superbowl this year, and they fired off a 45-28 win over the Detroit Lions to move through to the Divisional Round. There is an interesting stat to look at with regards to the Saints heading to San Francisco, because New Orleans are not as effective going forward in outdoor arenas, as they are undercover of indoor fields. The Saints found the Lions defence in a generous mood and that won’t happen against the 49ers. The Saints do have one the strongest attacks, led by star Quarterback Drew Brees and a tremendous power running unit. Arguably the best in the league. So this is going to be about the great Saints offence against the tight and mean 49ers defence. When Brees is hot, as he has been for pretty much the second half of the season, then the Saints can steamroller opposition defences. The Saints went into the post season on the back of an eight match winning streak. However, the 49ers have the kind of defence that can really disrupt him and take him out of his comfort zone. That is pretty much going to be the key in New Orleans Saints at San Francisco 49ers betting. Whether or not the 49ers can limit the Brees factor. The San Francisco 49ers are not as prolific going forward, so they need their defence to carry them through matches and to give them a chance. It has worked for most of the season in their 13-3 record and with the Saints also carrying a 13-3 record in the regular season, this should be a war of attrition which Brees could make or break.
Saints 20/37, San Francisco 33/20 at Bet365
Points Spread -3.5 for 5/6 at VC Bet
New York Giants at Green Bay Packers
This should be a treat for the Divisional Round. The Packers are rested up and ready to go again after their 15-1 run in the regular season. They are the defending champions and are expected to navigate their way through this match up. Let by quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the Packers have shown incredible power moving forwards, however, their defence has not been the greatest, and actually finished last in the NFL for yards conceded. However, the defensive lapses have been brilliantly covered up by their offence and that is going to be the big game difference here against the Giants. The Giants don’t have anywhere near the flair of the Packers, nor the consistency, but they have spirit and power football on their side. Unpredictable is the best way to describe the Giants, who did pull out some big wins towards the end of the season when they needed it most and they need another massive one here. The Giants will have to face up to the almost unstoppable Packers offence, but what the Giants did in their win over the Atlanta Falcons in the Wild Card round, was old style power football, which just tore at the physical heart of the Falcons defence. It paid off big time. It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t stylish. It was effective. The Giants Eli Manning leads the offensive line and although tagged as inconsistent rattled off a pretty impressive season as well. The Giants have not got the forward power to match the Packers in a shoot out. They will grind though and disrupt but the Packers should see it out.
Packers 2/7, Giants 11/4 at VC Bet
Points Spread: Packers -8 at Bet356
Superbowl Outright Winner Odds
Green Bay Packers: 6/4 at BetFred
New England Patriots: 3/1 at SkyBet
New Orleans Saints: 4/1 at VC Bet
Baltimore Ravens: 7/1 at Bet365
San Francisco 49ers: 16/1 at Boylesports
New York Giants: 18/1 at Bet365
Houston Texans: 40/1 at Bet365
Denver Broncos: 66/1 at SportingBet
