NFL Bargain Bets: Wild-Card
January 3rd 2008 by Old Man Winner
Washington Redskins +3.5
@
Seattle Seahawks
I love this game. Everything seems to be moving in Washington's favor. Seattle
has played poorly in two of its last three games, they have not played a team
with a winning record in two months, and they have depended on their passing
game to win them games. Washington has won four in a row (two against playoff
teams and one against Minnesota who they needed to beat to get into the
playoffs), they have rallied after an emotional period in which their star was
murdered and their coach admitted to making the biggest blunder of his career
(calling consecutive timeouts that likely cost them the Buffalo game).
Washington seems to be this year's Cinderella team, this year's "team of
destiny."
And, as we all know, to win in the playoffs teams need to be extra physical in
order to control the ball and the clock, which usually translates into winning
the rushing game. In Washington's last two games, they have held the Viking's
(#1 rushing team in NFL) RB's to only 43 yards, and Dallas to a total of 1
rushing yard last week. They did this while they were rushing for 100 yards
against the Vikings #1 rush defense and over 130 yards vs. Dallas. This is
especially relevant since the weather forecast for Seattle Saturday calls for a
90% chance of rain, along with winds from 15-20 mph. Seattle will have a tough
time successfully passing against a jelling Redskin secondary in these
conditions.
Although Seattle probably has the single biggest home field advantage in the
NFL, I think that the Redskins will prevail this week in an ugly, low-scoring
game.
Did I mention that I absolutely love the half point? This absolutely could come
into play and be the difference maker!
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