Matt Ryan, and his Atlanta Falcons take flight to New Meadowlands Stadium set for battle against the New York Giants in hopes that the saying; “third times a charm,” comes to fruition. Matty-Ice, won’t have to rescind the nick-name, but failing Sunday and regressing to 0-3 in his playoff career might alter the meaning just a bit.
The stage was set early in the week when Giants defensive lineman, Justin Tuck labeled the Falcons front “dirt bags,” for their excessive play through, and after the whistle. But, whatever got into Atlanta’s offensive line has paid dividends. Labeled the weak link early on after surrendering 13 sacks to Chicago, Philadelphia, and Tampa Bay to start the season, Atlanta finished in fine fashion ranking 6th in sacks allowed with 26. Something has to give here, as the Giants rank 3rd in the NFL with 48 sacks. Whichever unit wins this battle, likely ends up victorious in war.
My true number makes the New York Giants -1.25, so the current line (-3) is inflated after a nationally televised thrashing of their NFC East rival, Dallas Cowboys in a win or go home situation. One outfit I speak with has Atlanta circled, but there’s no rush to show their hand early with New York getting a majority of public money, and an expected influx of recreational bettors lining up at the windows fiending for playoff action this weekend. The recipe for Falcons success is simple, FEED THE HORSE! When Michael Turner has 21+ touches, Atlanta is 28-2 — and the Giants have issues stopping the run, allowing 4.5 yards per attempt (ranked 23rd).
The total is different story, sharp bettors gobbled up a key number in 49 early, sending it down to 47 where it currently resides. My true number is 45, so there was value moving on the opening number with a playoff atmosphere to boot. The move was also to get ahead of potentially poor weather elements forecasted for Sunday. However; If the weather holds, expect this number to tick back up close to where it opened with the aforementioned increase in public betting for the playoffs. The Under is 6-1 the last 7 times New York and Atlanta has squared off.
THINGS TO NOTE:
* New York Giants have not won a home playoff game since the 2000-2001 NFC Championship when they drubbed the Minnesota Vikings 41-0.
* The road team has covered 8 straight in this series.