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Belmont.com featured a betting total for the Giants-49ers NFC Championship game at 42 that can be wagered on here.
The Conference finals are finally here as four teams remain with a shot to hoist the Vince Lombardi trophy in earlier February. Two of those teams, San Francisco and New York meet in the Bay area this weekend with the winner being crowned as the NFC champion. However, rather than focus on who is going to win, the total on this game appears to be a more intriguing betting option.
Belmont line and total: San Francisco -2.5 & 42
These two teams met earlier this year as San Fran came out on top with a 27-20 victory in early November. That game was a grinding, slugfest (much like this game should be) until the fourth quarter when they combined for three touchdowns pushing the total over the number of 42.5. It can`t be forgotten that it was 9-6 at halftime with the place kickers being the stars. With the stakes raised significantly this week, you can expect that both teams will rely heavily on those same kickers.
New York has been very strong on defense in these playoffs, something that started in the final weeks of the season as the Giants were fighting for a playoff spot. They haven`t allowed more than 20 points against in the last four weeks and those 20 points came to one of the league`s best offense out of Green Bay. New York held Atlanta (25 points per game) to 0 points offensively, as an Eli Manning intentional grounding penalty in his own end zone created the only blemish on the scoreboard in a 24-2 playoff win. New York now gets to play a San Francisco offense that was ranked 26th during the regular season and really struggles to sustain drives at time. That defensive front of New York`s will be creating havoc for QB Alex Smith all night and as they have done so far in the playoffs, they will tighten up significantly in the red zone.
San Fran knows about their own offensive inefficiencies and understands that they cannot let Eli and company get hot early on and run away from the 49ers. Yes, San Fran has put up 30+ points in their last two outings but those defenses are nothing compared to what they will see from the Giants. A ground and pound attack will slow down the Giants pass rushers and force them to clog gaps in the middle. Look for the 49ers to employ this tactic to start as they want to make this game as “ugly” as possible, rattling Eli, controlling the clock with ball control and letting their record-setting kicker David Akers put them on top. They are 1-4 O/U in their last five as home favorites and 1-4 O/U when favored by 3 or less. At the same time, New York is 2-7 O/U in their last nine playoff games and 2-5 O/U when coming off a win.
Expect this game to play out a lot like the first half did in the first meeting with points coming at a premium.
Take the under.
