NFL Betting Picks: Atlanta Falcons at Seattle Seahawks

Added on Dec 15, 2010 by Jack Thurman in

NFL

The Atlanta Falcons share the NFL’s best record with the New England Patriots, and this week they’ll take their show on the road to the ‘Jet City’ to take on the Seattle Seahawks. The Falcons are 11-2 and a game up on New Orleans in the NFC S0uth. The Seahawks are 6-7 but still tied for first place in football’s weakest conference, the NFC West.

Atlanta Falcons at Seattle Seahawks
December 19, 2010 1:05 PM Pacific

All you need to know about just how bad the NFC West is this year can be demonstrated by the fact that the Seattle Seahawks are still tied for first place and actually have a shot to make the postseason. Seattle was destroyed by the 49ers on the road last week and with the way the sputtering San Fran offense moved the ball at will you’d have thought that Joe Montana and Jerry Rice were still in the lineup. The Niners got plenty of help from Seattle, who turned the ball over five times in a 40-21 loss.

They return home now but don’t expect things to get any better for them as waiting for them will be the balanced and efficient Atlanta Falcons attack. Some have suggested that the Falcons could come in ‘flat’ with a big game against New Orleans on deck. We’re not buying it. Seattle has a rep for playing well at home, but take a look at what happened the last two times that winning teams played in the Pacific Northwest–the Giants and Chiefs scored a combined 83 points in easy blowout victories. The Falcons’ offense is more consistently productive than either of those teams and Atlanta comes into this game having won 7 straight going 6-0-1 ATS.

Atlanta is also known as a strong home field team, but they’re no slouch on the road either. They’re on a 8-3 ATS run as a favorite and have gone 14-10 ATS away from the Georgia Dome since 2008. Since 2008 Seattle is 3-17 SU/5-14 ATS against teams with winning records. And its not like they’ve shown a tendency to improve as the season wears on–in the last three years they’re 1-11 SU/2-9-1 ATS against winning teams in the second half of the season. Overall, the Seahawks are on a 10-21 ATS run as an underdog. They can beat teams like Arizona and Carolina at home, but not a top notch opponent like Atlanta. This will be a blowout.

Bet Atlanta Falcons -6′ over Seattle Seahawks