Saints 49ers Odds All Sports Room

Jan 07 2012

Saints 49ers Odds

Posted by Dakota Macqueen in Betting Sport Tips

The New Orleans Saints travel to face the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round of the NFC playoffs on Saturday, January 14th. Both teams went 13-3 this season, but San Francisco won the tiebreaker for the No. 2 seed thanks to their record against NFC opponents. That meant that New Orleans would have to play a first-round game as the No. 3 seed. Though it was not easy, the Saints would take care of the Detroit Lions at home to advance to the second round to face the 49ers.

Oddsmakers have installed a line of New Orleans -3.5 over San Francisco with a total set of 47.5 points.

New Orleans

The Saints put together an impressive 13-3 campaign this season, and they entered the playoffs as the hottest team in the league. New Orleans would win eight straight games to close out the season. They made it nine in a row with their 45-28 victory over the Lions last Saturday.

New Orleans would fall behind Detroit 14-10 at halftime, but they outscored the Lions 35-14 after intermission to run away with it. The Saints amassed 626 total yards in the win, including 466 passing and three touchdowns from Drew Brees. Darren Sproles and Pierre Thomas combined for 117 yards and three scores on the ground.

The Saints came into the postseason ranked 1st in the NFL in total offense . While they are just 23rd in total defense , Greg Williams’ unit is known for coming up with huge plays in the turnover department. The forced two interceptions by Matthew Stafford in their win over Detroit.

Brees completed 71.2 percent of his passing for 5,476 yards with 46 touchdowns and 14 interceptions during the regular season to break Dan Marino’s single-season passing record. Tight end Jimmy Graham had 99 receptions for 1,310 yards and 11 scores, breaking the tight end yardage record for a single-season. Darren Sproles totaled 1,313 yards from scrimmage and nine touchdowns.

San Francisco

The 49ers have been the biggest surprise in the league this season. San Francisco took care of business down the stretch to earn the No. 2 seed in the NFC. They won their first division title since 2002 with a 26-0 victory over St. Louis in Week 13. After falling to Arizona in Week 14, the 49ers would go on to win their final three games to earn a first-round bye.

Head coach Jim Harbaugh has gotten the most out of his players. This team didn’t make many moves this offseason, but unlike the coaches before him, Harbaugh certainly maximized the talent on this roster in his first year on the job. He is going to be a great coach in this league for year’s to come, and now it’s time to start building in his playoff legacy.

San Francisco boasts the league No. 4 unit in total defense . They have the ability to make opposing team’s one-dimensional because of their ability to stop the run. The 49ers rank 1st in the league in run defense , and they only gave up one rushing touchdown all season. While this team is just 26th in total offense , they consistently win the time of possession battle and were No. 1 in the league in turnover differential .

Quarterback Alex Smith had the best season of his career. Smith completed 61.3 percent of his passes for 3,144 yards with 17 touchdowns and only five interceptions. Frank Gore had another solid season at running back, finishing with 1,211 yards and eight scores. Michael Crabtree finally had a breakout year with 72 receptions for 874 yards and four touchdowns, while tight end Vernon Davis chipped in 67 grabs for 792 yards and six scores.

Betting Trends

The Saints are a perfect 9-0 ATS in their last 9 games overall, and 21-7-1 ATS in their last 29 vs. a team with a winning record.

The 49ers are 13-3-1 ATS in their last 17 games overall, and 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games as a home underdog of 3.5-10.0.

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