The Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons will battle for the right to face the San Francisco 49ers in next weekend’s NFC Championship Game when they butt heads this afternoon. Start time in today’s game between the feathered adversaries is set for 1:00pm ET; the will be broadcast live on FOX. The latest NFL Playoffs Odds have the hosting Falcons listed as a -2.5 against the spread favorite and the Over/Under set at 46 points. Seattle is drawing +123 moneyline odds to earn a third meeting with the Niners.

All the talk this week has, seemingly, centered on the Seahawks and their physical defense (namely Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner). Russell Wilson and Seattle’s ever improving offense has been a big topic as well.

The Seahawks are certainly deserving of the attention, they have, after all, won six games in a row and, for the most part, proven their road woes a thing of the past. Seattle is 4-5 away from home this season counting last week’s Wild Card win at Washington.

Atlanta, despite its 13-3 record, has generally been dismissed as a sheep in wolves clothing. Most pundits seem to believe the Falcons are pretenders to the NFC throne, perched atop the conference in record only.

To be fair, Matt Ryan and his cohorts have done their part, in some ways, to earn the skepticism. The Falcons have been here before, putting together a pretty regular season record only to fall flat in the postseason. Since Mike Smith took over as head coach and Ryan stepped in under center, Atlanta is an ugly 0-3 in the playoffs.

The Falcons’ paper tiger reputation partly comes from its soft schedule as well with Atlanta only playing three winning teams all season long. But production is production in the NFL and the Falcons got the job done in most cases.

The schedule argument is a bit hollow too. Atlanta played the Saints, Bucs, and Panthers twice, and they also squared off against an 8-8 Dallas team. New Orleans was considered by many a highly talented underachiever while Carolina, which closed out the season with four straight wins, was generally regarded as the best loser in the NFL. Tampa Bay also had a mixed bag of a season, looking equal parts brilliant and pathetic. Throw the Cowboys into that category as well as they nearly earned a postseason berth in the season’s final weekend.

Considering those factors/teams, the Falcons schedule suddenly looks a lot more difficult, and, perhaps, more arduous than most want to admit. Regardless, Atlanta has enough talent and more than enough motivation to put its best forward against a road weary Seattle team. Here’s predicting it will do just that.

Free Pick: Take the Falcons -2.5.

Seattle Seahawks vs Atlanta Falcons NFL Odds:

Seattle Seahawks +2.5 (+100), Over 46 (-110), +123 (Moneyline)

Atlanta Falcons -2.5 (-120), Under 46 (-110), -143 (Moneyline)

NFL Free Picks: Seattle at Atlanta Betting
What pro football bettors need to know about Seattle Seahawks at Atlanta Falcons on Monday (1/13/13) - a free pick from Pregame.com's Marco D'Angelo, with Bryan Leonard and host Scott Spreitzer.

-$25 of picks FREE! No Obligation - No Credit Card Required - Becoming a member is Fast and Free!

Get some amazing NFL secrets from RJ Bell at the Pregame Forum! Click Here.