The New England Patriots are the pre-match favourites at 5/7 in betting with Bet365.com this is due to their high-powered offence that saw them finish the regular season with a 13-3 record thanks mainly to the golden throwing arm of one Tom Brady (11/10 to be Superbowl MVP) and his go to guy Wes Welker (10/1 to be Superbowl MVP) or tight end Rob Gronkowski (7/1 MVP) but the defence of the New York Giants has already manager to stunt the points scoring machine that was the Green Bay Packers offence in the Divisional round of the play-offs.

Brady needs to get his mojo back this weekend following a really poor showing against the Baltimore Ravens in their 23-20 AFC Championship game where he finished with a passer rating of just 57.5 where he threw two interceptions and one touchdown pass, which was just about enough. The bad thing for Brady is that the Giants defence is just as intimidatory as the Ravens so it won’t be any easier this weekend.

The Giants are exactly toothless in offence themselves with the massively impressive Eli Manning (7/4 to be Superbowl MVP) going for his second Superbowl ring to add to his 2008 piece of jewellery. While the aforementioned defence has played a major role in the Giants’ surge, the constant this season has been Manning. The QB took a leap into the ranks of the NFL’s elite in his eighth year, passing for a career-best 4,933 yards with 29 touchdowns and just 16 interceptions.

The Giants have now won five games in a row and all their play off games, just like in 2008, have been on the road so it hasn’t been an easy run to the Superbowl, winning away at San Francisco and Green Bay means they are battle hardened for the showdown with the Patriots.

In a straight wide receiver fight the bookies are offering an interesting betting option between New York’s Victor Cruz and New England’s Wes Welker both being on offer at 10/11 for whoever reaches 35+ receiving yards first.

Betting Tips

We like the Giants defence to keep the pressure of Tom Brady and it probably won’t be that high scoring a game, under 47 total points pays out 9/5. The Giants to win by 7/12 points paying out 6/1.

The high-powered offences of Green Bay and New Orleans being dusted means this game will be a totally different affair with two teams that are built on grit and determination but also have threats of their own with such players as Alex Smith and Eli Manning with the ball in hand. Smith showed his metal by landing the winning pass into the waiting hands of Vernon Davis with just nine seconds left on the clock.

Tom Coughlin’s Giants have been playing play-off football since week fifteen and have won two post-season games already, the first one was a predictable drubbing of the disappointing Atlanta Falcons but they really stepped it up last weekend for their 37-20 defeat of the Packers. In truth the Championship Packers were out of the game halfway through the first half, Rodgers couldn’t move the ball on the Giants D, whilst the Giants being lead by Eli Manning’s arm moved pretty much at will into Green Bay territory.

With people wanting to set up the story of the “Harbaugh Superbowl” involving the Ravens and 49ers take note that the Giants overall in NFC Championship games are a massive 4-0 and they have the look of a franchise on the roll, however San Fran at Candlestick park this year are 7-1 so which teams impressive form will snap? The series since 2001 between these two great franchises is tied at 3-3 with San Fran winning the last match with the Giants 27-20 at Candlestick Park back in November’s regular season match up.

Betting Tips

In the play-offs there is a lot made of home field advantage but tell that to the Green Bay Packers who blew it big time last week whilst being completely out played by the New York Giants. Tom Coughlin knows play-off football and that will be the key for us. New York are +2.5pts on the spread at 10/11 and we think it may be a tight low scoring affair with the under / over market setting the total at 42.0pts still thats not a lot so we would still go over at 10/11. New York Giants to overcome the San Francisco 49ers by 1-6pts paying out 4/1.

Tom Brady has thrown for over 5,200 yards this season with 39 of his passes going to the endzone, by far and away these stats dwarf those of Joe Flacco and his 3610 passing yards and just 20 Touchdown passes to his name. If Brady is on his game he will be going after his number one receiver Wes Welker, the former Dolphin has received the ball 122 times picking up over 1,500 yards and finding the house nine times.

One advantage that the Ravens have on offence is the rushing department with Ray Rice leading the charge with his 1,364 yards from 291 carries, 12 of these carries have gone to the endzone, this definitely overshadows the efforts of Pats rushing leader Green-Ellis and his 667 yards from 181 carries however despite the lack of yards he knows where the endzone is with his 11 touchdown runs so far.

After watching the Ravens beat the Texans last week we believe their offence looked particularly ineffective and really struggled to move the ball, their saving grace was the defence, but the vaunted Ravens D didn’t look brilliant in stopping a low scoring franchise using their third choice quarterback, what are they going to do with the likes of Tom Brady and Wes Welker coming at them?

And this is on top of the threat posed by tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, could be a seriously long night for the Baltimore D. Gronkowski is having a pro-bowl season for his position with 1,327 yards and 17 TD’s, he had 10 receptions last week gaining 145 yards and three scores against Denver last week.

Betting Tips
Joe Flacco and the Ravens will be underdogs as they travel to Foxborough and for good reason, the Pats are hotter than hell and will win this game. We Like the Patriots to win by 7-12 points paying out 4/1 with Bet365 and they are -7.0pts on the spread. Under / over market is 46.5pts for the game we like the over at 10/11.

Starting 6-2 and looking brilliant with Eli Manning dropping bombs all over the turf they were fantastic to watch and then inexplicably they stall and lose game after game including a 3pt defeat in a shoot-out with the Packers at Meadowlands in week 13, this game was a classic and had over 70pts in total!

When it comes to quarterbacks its a battle between two of the game’s best in Eli Manning who has just shy of 5,000 yards for the season which is more than Aaron Rodgers but Eli did have to play in the Wildcard Weekend whilst Rodgers watched on from home.

Even with last weekend off Rodgers is having an all-star season with 45 touchdown passes to his name already which is fully 16 more than New York’s Manning. To be fair Rodgers has had the last couple of weeks off after he watched his deputy Matt Flynn pass for 6 touchdowns against Detroit in the final regular season game so A-ROD should be very fresh!

The Green Bay Packers are the Number One seeds for their Division, Conference and the league. They are, of course, unbeaten at home in 2011 and are 12-0 against fellow National Conference opposition too. The only blot on coach McCarthy’s play book came in week 15 in a loss at the Chiefs 19-14, a game they never really really looked up for in truth.

Team Form

Both the Giants and the Packers are 4-1 over their last five games so these two franchises are bang in form, you could actually say that the Giants hold a slight advantage in this respect as they have essentially play-off football since week 14.

Betting Tips

Battle hardened New York against the fresh, well rested Packers and hopefully for the Packers well rested won’t translate into rusty on Sunday night at Lambeau Field. Lots of points in this game and over 52.5 paying out 10/11 is nailed on.

We think the game here won’t be as close as the regular season match up and we take the Packers to win by 7-12pts paying out 10/3. Green Bay are -7.5pts on the spread at 10/11.

John Harbaugh’s Ravens have been nothing short of perfect at M&T Bank Stadium this season with eight visiting franchises coming to town and each of them being sent away empty handed, Texans are one of those sides despatched when they lost 29-10 in week six, it was a poor day for the Houston offence as starting Quarterback Matt Schaub was sacked four times.

Baltimore finished the regular season as Number 2 AFC seeds which allowed them to put their feet up and watching the Texans battle it out with the Bengals, unfortunately the battle really did fail to materialise and Houston ran out comfortable winners 31-10.

Matt Schaub’s season didn’t last much longer after that Baltimore defeat but they made the play-offs and his second understudy T.J Yates had a good game against the bengals but was never under pressure, not the kind of pressure the Ravens defence will put him under anyway!

Baltimore will be able to hit the Texans with both pass and rush of, with the ball in his hands Ravens team leader Joe Flacco can hit almost any receiver in the turf on his day and he has had a decent season so far throwing for over 3,600 yards whilst putting up 20 touchdowns as well.

If Flacco decides to hand the pigskin off to their rushers he normally goes to Ray Rice who has had nothing short of a brilliant 2011 season, he has rushed for over 1,350 yards at 4.7 yards per carry, 12 of those carries have ended in a TD score. The Texans should be more wary than most after that earlier regular season game he put up over 160 yards for that game alone.

Form: Baltimore are, as we have, perfect at home but they do have a recent loss on the road when they went down heavily in San Diego 34-14. That loss aside they have won four of the last five including their last two. Houston entered their first ever play-off campaign on the back of three successive defeats before they recovered some form against the Bengals in the Wildcard weekend.

Verdict: Form is temporary and class is permanent! Unfortunately for Houston Baltimore have both form and class making this an impossible task for the Texans. Ravens to win by 13-18 points paying out 9/2 advancing to the AFC Championship Game. Baltimore are -7.5pts on the spread at 20/21.

In the battle of the quarterbacks there should really be no comparison when a second season newby taking on a seasoned 12th year professional that has won the Superbowl three times in his illustrious career which shows no sign of stopping in 2012 either. Tom Brady is having his best ever season for passing yardage and has already gone way past his previous record of 4,806 set in the 2007 campaign, still some way off his personal record of 50 TD passes for a season though, currently on 39 for 2011.

Tim Tebow would have quite rightly dreamt of being as good as Brady whilst going through Florida University on his way to the NFL and since taking over from Kyle Orton earlier this season he has done OK but in truth he has put average figures of 1,729 passing yards and 12 passing TD’s but he also backs it up with his mobility out of the pocket rushing for 660 yards and another 6 touchdowns however he can be prone to dropping the ball and has fumbled 13 times this year.

The aforementioned young Master Tebow aside the Broncos best option of winning this game is to hand the ball to Willis McGahee the pigskin as much as you can, you can run the clock down and keep the possession away from the cannon arm of Tom Brady. McGahee has rushed for one yard shy of 1200 so far at an average of 4.8 per carry which is superb but he has struggled to turn yards into touchdowns with a paltry 4 to his name for the season.

Form: Denver came into the play-offs on the back of three defeats against Buffalo, Kansas and this weeks opponents New England back in week 16 by a 23-41 scoreline. The did however turn it round in the wildcard match with Pittsburgh to set this match up. New England have had no such worries winning five from their last five constantly going near to or beyond 30 points in all those games.

Verdict: Turnovers win matches but against the Bill Belichick’s Pats lose the ball and you lose the game, they have scored 105 points this season off opposition turnovers which is 42pts higher than the league average – Tebow, McGahee and Ball have been warned.
Patriots will win this match at Gillette Stadium in our opinion but wouldn’t back them with the spread of -13.5pts at 10/11 as we think it will be a tighter game than that. New England to win by 7/12pts paying out 5/1.

San Fran have home advantage and also have one the meanest defences in the National Football but that nasty in your face defence is going to need its A-game due to the fact the Drew Brees and Co have blown nearly every other team of the field in 2011.

The Saints hold the advantage in EVERY offensive statistic you can throw at them when compared with their hosts, its very tight on the rushing side with New Orleans carrying the ball on average five yards further than San Fran but when it comes to passing there is quite simply no contest, the black and gold attack from Louisiana moves the ball for more than 160 yards further per game in 2011 than Alex Smith and his receivers have managed so far.

There is a flip side for San Fran though as on the defensive side they hold all the aces they have a better record in total yardage allowed (60 less), passing (30 less) and rushing (30 less) yardage allowed and total points in a game by eight points a game.

Form: New Orleans have won five out of five going into this game scoring 40+ points in the last four whilst the 49ers have won four of their last five with their last defeat coming in week 14 losing a nail biter in Arizona by just 2pts, since then its three wins on the bounce including a big 20-3 over the Steelers.

Verdict: Irresistible force meets immovable object at Candlestick Park and its a tough one to call, if Brees and Co get going they will be hard to stop, San Fran need to run the ball whenever they can, eat up the clock and restrict the Saints time in possession. Saints are -3.5pts on the spread paying out 21/20, we fancy a road win for New Orleans by 7/12pts paying out 4/1.
A special to recommend would be a defensive or Special teams TD in the game at 27/20, considering the 49ers defense that would be a decent option.

The match takes place at the Louisiana Superdome which is perfect for the brilliant Tigers who proved to be the dominant team in college football this season, using their versatile offense and overpowering defense to roll over opponents, except for one. The opponents they face in this match, containing a Tigers team that ended up averaging 38.5 points, Alabama took a 6-3 lead in the third quarter, the Tide couldn’t hold on, however, as LSU tied it early in the fourth and won 9-6 in OT on Drew Alleman’s third field goal in a game in which no touchdowns were scored. This won’t be like most of the other bowl games we have seen this year, expect it to be tight and touchdowns to be at a premium.

At the time that defeat appeared to put an end to Alabama’s hopes of a second national championship in three years, however they just edged Oklahoma State by a .0086 margin in the BCS standings before earning the chance for revenge in New Orleans. While some argued the 11-1 Cowboys deserved the trip to the Superdome, this matchup seems appropriate considering Alabama was the only team not to lose to LSU by at least 13 points.

Excluding Alabama, LSU outscored opponents 491-131. The Tide’s defense is undoubtably the best in the country, ranked first at 191.3 yards per game, ahead of second-place LSU at 252.1 and they will again face a huge challenge in shutting down the Tigers’ offense.

LSU quarterbacks Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee split time and combined for nearly 2,000 passing yards and 20 TDs while capably directing a ground attack that averaged 215.2 yards. Jefferson, expected to start this game, was suspended four games for his role in a bar brawl in August. He ended up rushing for 248 yards, making him one of five Tigers with at least that many. LSU was led by Michael Ford and Spencer Ware.

If Alabama succeeds in containing LSU’s offense for a second time, the final score of this game could be similar to the first matchup. It’s a huge ask but Alabama has always been a college known for stepping up on the big occasion and even more so in Bowl games.

One thing is for sure, the game will be tight and it a must watch for all fans of American Football.

Betting Tips

The match is a coin toss, no doubt about it, it’s impossible to give a definatitive tip on a match so close, the only bet I can advise with Alabama having such a strong defence is to back the under’s on the points spread. You can back under 40.5 points with most bookmakers at a price of around 1.91. Other than that sit back and enjoy what promises to be a classic!

Their opponents this weekend come in the form of Denver, a team with a strong defence and a quarterback few can still fathom is playing at the highest level. The Broncos are also dealing with injuries to key offensive personnel and point scoring has been mightly difficult behind Tim Tebow.

With the Steelers’ offense banged up, their defense will look to frustrate Tebow and the Broncos, and the injury to Mendanhall’s right knee leaves third-year running back Isaac Redman and rookie John Clay as the only healthy ball carriers on the roster. It’s hard from any point of view to imagine this defence struggling to contain tebow and it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see Denver pounding the football 80% of the time in this game.

In the two games he’s played since initially hurting his ankle, Roethlisberger has thrown for 551 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions for a 62.2 quarterback rating. In his first 13 contests, he had 21 TDs to 11 picks, averaging 1.66 more yards per attempt, for a 95.6 passer rating. Although while Roethlisberger hasn’t been at his best lately, he’s been considerably better than Tebow.

After being the talk of the NFL while engineering some amazing fourth quarter comebacks during Denver’s six-game winning streak, Tebow has seemingly lost his magic as his team hasn’t won since. He has four interceptions and two fumbles in the last two games, and is coming off a terrible performance in last Sunday’s 7-3 loss to Kansas City, misfiring on 16 of 22 passes and throwing for 60 yards with a pick for a 20.6 QB rating. The Bronco’s only won the division with thanks to Oakland”s loss after finishing 8-8, any repeat of this performance will see the Broncos out of the game by half time on sunday.

Betting Tips

I just cannot see where Denver are going to score enough points to win this game and to make it worse they come up against a sides who are probably the best in the business at getting the job done whilst not playing well. Big hitters can pound into the 1.25 available on the Pittsburgh outright whilst value hunters will have no problem taking the Steelers at -7.5pts on the handicap market.

New York got off to a 6-2 start before a four-game losing streak brought back memories of collapses in recent seasons. The Giants, though, went 3-1 over their final four games and won the NFC East by beating Dallas 31-14 at home last Sunday night. It was the second win over Dallas in a month and another game where Eli Manning took total control over Tony Romo after his brilliant 4th quarter performance in Texas in December.

A lot of people now hold the belief the team is playing its best football heading into the postseason, like the Giants did in 2007 when they knocked off three division champions before shocking 18-0 New England in Super Bowl XLII.

The Atlanta Falcons are hoping there will be a difference this time from the last two postseasons with Matt Ryan and Mike Smith. These teams have never met in the playoffs, and that will change Sunday in the first postseason game at MetLife Stadium. Back in the playoffs after a 10-6 season. The Falcons were the No. 1 seed a year ago before getting routed by Green Bay in the divisional round and also fell at Arizona in 2008 in Ryan and Smith’s first season with the club.

Ryan enters off his best season, throwing 29 touchdown passes to tie the Giants’ Eli Manning for the league’s sixth-highest total. That figure, along with Ryan’s 4,177 yards and 92.2 passer rating are career bests, with receivers Roddy White and rookie Julio Jones combining for 2,252 yards and 16 TDs.

Manning, meanwhile, finished 67 yards shy of 5,000 to reach his second Pro Bowl. He set an NFL record with 15 fourth-quarter touchdown passes and his fourth-quarter passer rating of 110.0 was the NFL’s second-best mark.

Betting Tips

Manning has been aided in his heroics by the stunning emergence of Victor Cruz this season, becoming one of the most incredible 3rd down receivers in the game, he will need to be at his best again in this conetst as the Falcons have managed to shut down the running game of the Giants in recent meetings. This game is probably the closest and hardest of the four to call, I do think the extra post season experience of Manning and the Giants will be the deciding factor and with Matt Flynn still to prove he can carry his promise into solid post season performances they can advance to the divisional series with a hard fought win in Atlanta on sunday night.