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The Saints-Seahawks line opened at -10.5 in favor of New Orleans, one of the biggest road favorites of the season. A few of the books were moving up to -11. That should be the trend as 85 percent of the early spread betting action was on the Saints. The total in this game was 45 with balanced action on the OVER/UNDER.
Gambling911.com has determined the line on this game should be -7. There is a rather large overlay on this game, and probably rightfully so. Until Week 17, when they managed to get the job done against division rival, the St. Louis Rams, Seattle had lost 7 of its last 10 games.
The reigning Super Bowl champs lost to a very solid (and some would say, more deserving to make the Playoffs than Seattle) team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during Week 17. Because Seattle won its weak division, the 7-9 Seahawks will host a team that has never won an NFL Playoffs game on the road.
The Saints loss Sunday should not be particularly worrisome. They had little to play foras they were locked into the fifth playoff seed in the NFC following Atlanta's 31-10 win over Carolina. New Orleans pulled several starters in during the 4th quarter.
"We did the right thing, the smart thing. And that's part of the reason why some guys didn't play today when they probably could have," said Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who left the game with the Saints down by only one touchdown. "You're thinking about, 'How can we put ourselves in the best position to succeed this next week?'"
Seattle, meanwhile, must be able to show they are worthy of making the Playoffs with a losing record, the first team to ever do so.
"There is no apologies for making it into the playoffs. The easiest way to make it to the playoffs is to win your division, period, point-blank," Seattle safety Lawyer Milloy said. "We did that."
- Dan Shapiro, Gambling911.com
