The Seattle Seahawks host the Green Bay Packers on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game, with Aaron Rodgers and Co. installed as 7.5-point underdogs on the NFL betting lines for this week. The total is set at 47 points, while the moneyline has the Seahawks as -315 favorites and the Packers as +260 underdogs.
This game is a rematch of Seattle?s Week 1 home victory at CenturyLink Field. The Seahawks were 4.5-point favorites and easily covered in a 36-16 victory. The score went OVER the closing total of 47 points. Seattle has won the last two matchups straight up and against the spread, both in Seattle, covering the Pete Carroll era.
Seattle is at least a touchdown favorite for the second consecutive week and the 10th time this season. The Seahawks defeated the Carolina Panthers in the divisional round but failed to cover the 14-point spread, as it was a push in Seattle?s 31-17 victory. The Seahawks are 8-1 SU and 6-2-1 ATS in their nine games as at least a touchdown favorite this season, according to the OddsShark NFL Database.
The last time Green Bay was a touchdown underdog came in Week 13 of the 2013 season in Detroit, when the Packers played without Rodgers and were blown out 40-10. Rodgers once again is dealing with an injury (calf strain) but will play Sunday. He missed a day of practice last week, but he played every snap against the Dallas Cowboys.
The Seahawks’ most notable injuries are to wide receiver Paul Richardson and cornerback Byron Maxwell. Richardson suffered a torn ACL in the third quarter of Seattle?s win over Carolina. He has been replaced on the roster by quarterback B.J. Daniels, who also will get work as a kick returner, running back and wide receiver. Maxwell is dealing with an illness that limited him to special-teams duty. Tharold Simon filled in for him in the secondary.
The total has gone UNDER in five of the last seven games for both Seattle and Green Bay, and it has gone OVER in four of the last six games between these teams. In the nine games this season Seattle has been favored by at least a touchdown, the total has gone OVER five times.
The OddsShark Computer predicts the Packers and the Seahawks will blow past the total this weekend, as the computer sees a 36-32 Seattle victory — which would provide for a Green Bay cover.
Thumbnail photo via Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports Images
