San Fransisco 49ers | Betting Blog

The Championship games are set and oddsmakers have opened the odds on the championships set for Sunday, January 22, 2012.

The AFC Championship will start the day at 3:30PM. New England is favored by 7.5 +100 over the Baltimore Ravens. The total is 50.5 and you can find money lines of Baltimore +275 and New England -335.

New England’s rode to the AFC Championship was the easiest of them all, thrashing Tim Tebow and the Broncos by a score of 45-10, easily covering the 13.5 spread. The game went over the total of 52.

Baltimore got here by playing a complete game but they had to fight in their 20-13 win over the Houston Texans. The Ravens failed to cover the 7.5 point spread and the game stayed under the total.

In the NFC, both the high flying Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints are gone due to some impressive games by the 49ers and Giants.

The Giants defeated the Falcons in the wildcard round 27-2, covering the 3 point spread (under) and in their most impressive game of the year, they shocked the defending Super Bowl champion Packers 37-20 at Lambeau field. The Giants were a 7 point underdog and the game easily went over.

In the early game, the San Francisco 49ers were dominant defensively early but it was Alex Smith and the 49ers offense that won this thriller of a game, defeating the Saints 36-32, winning outright as a 3.5 point dog and the game went over the total.

The winner of the AFC/NFC Championship will play in Indianapolis in two weeks from Sunday.

Defense doesn’t come to mind when speaking of the Saints, and they were fortunate enough to score more points than the defensively-challenged Lions last week. Fast forward to the present, and New Orleans has a tough challenge against San Francisco’s highly-regarded stop unit. Scoring points and running the football are two aspects of the game opposing teams had trouble doing against the 49ers this season, and that’s something the Saints will be trying to achieve early on Saturday. They have won the last six matchups with the 49ers, averaging 31 points per game in that time, but must protect the football considering San Francisco led the league with a plus-28 turnover differential. Brees said he has no qualms about playing outdoors on the West Coast, but observers should expect a drop-off in offensive stats in this one. That being said, it will be Brees who leads the Saints into their third NFC Championship Game in the last six years. He’ll have some defensive help, too, since Gore is the only true offensive threat for the 49ers.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Saints 24, 49ers 17
Current Odds – New Orleans -3.5

New Orleans: 13-3 SU, 12-4 ATS
San Francisco: 13-3 SU, 11-4-1 ATS

New Orleans most recently:
When playing in January are 5-5
When playing on grass are 7-3
After outgaining opponent are 8-2
When playing outside the division are 9-1

San Francisco most recently:
When playing in January are 6-4
When playing on grass are 8-2
After outgaining opponent are 5-5
When playing outside the division are 8-2

A few trends to consider:
New Orleans is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
New Orleans is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing San Francisco
The total has gone OVER in 5 of New Orleans’s last 5 games when playing on the road against San Francisco
The total has gone OVER in 4 of New Orleans’s last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of San Francisco’s last 5 games when playing at home against New Orleans
San Francisco is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
San Francisco is 12-2 SU in its last 14 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of San Francisco’s last 5 games at home

Some content comes from both Sports Network and Chalk

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AFC/NFC Championship Early Odds

New Orleans at San Francisco