The New Orleans Saints will face the Seattle Seahawks for a second time when the two squads square off at CenturyLink Field on Saturday, January 11th. The Division Round Playoff battle is scheduled to get underway at 4:35pm ET on FOX. Opening NFL Point Spreads from offshore bookmaker 5Dimes have the top seeded Seahawks, who are the current favorite to win Super Bowl XLVIII (+240 odds), listed as a -8 against the spread home favorite. The Over/Under is Saturday's postseason clash is set at 46.5 points.
The Saints may still be having nightmares from their last visit to CenturyLink Field as the Seahawks handed them their worst loss of the season. Seattle embarrassed New Orleans the December 2nd Monday Night Football game, outscoring Sean Payton's troops 34-7.
The Seahawks top ranked defense held Drew Brees and company to 12 first downs, 188 yards, and a 3.4 yards per play average in the crushing loss.
It stands to reason, given Payton's much hyped game planning abilities, that New Orleans will turn in a better performance this time around, but will it be good enough to eliminate Seattle from the playoffs? The odds makers are convinced it will not; in fact, they are expecting another relatively easy win for Pete Carroll's Seahawks.
The Saints' Wild Card win at Philadelphia last weekend was encouraging as it represented their first road victory since defeating the Falcons 17-13 in Atlanta on November 21st; however, it was not enough to generate a great deal of confidence in their ability to upset the Seahawks.
Seattle did show some chinks in its armor down the stretch, though, losing 17-19 at San Francisco and 17-10 to Arizona to finish 2-2 in the season's final quarter. The loss to the Cardinals also marked its first setback at CenturyLink Field since December of 2011 (the 49ers).
Still, it seems unlikely New Orleans would procure just its second ever road playoff win at the expense of a team that is 15-1 straight up and 12-4 against the spread in its last 16 home games.
Series Notes: The Seahawks are 5-2 both straight up and against the spread in the last seven meetings between these two franchises. Seattle is also 4-1 both straight up and against the spread in its last five home games against New Orleans.
Notable Trends: The Seahawks are 6-1 both straight up and against the spread in their last seven games as a home favorite with a spread between 8 and 10.5 points. The Saints are 1-5 both straight up and against the spread since 2000 when playing as an underdog coming off back to back wins, the most recent being on the road (courtesy of Dr. Meyer's SDQL).
New Orleans Saints vs Seattle Seahawks NFL Point Spreads:
New Orleans Saints +8 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), +310 (Moneyline)
Seattle Seahawks -8 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), -370 (Moneyline)
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