Submitted by Admin on January 14, 2011 - 12:24
The Seattle Seahawks will try and pull off another miracle when the travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears in the NFC divisional playoffs. The online sportsbook, Skybook has the Seahawks listed as double digit underdogs once again for this round of the playoffs.
The Seahawks had no pressure in the latest win over the New Orleans Saints because everyone expected them to lose, and that same theory applies this weekend. The Seahawks pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NFL playoff history when the beat the Saints in the wild card game. A win against the Bears on the road could trump that win and become the greatest NFL playoff upset ever as they would advance to the NFC Championship game. It is possible that with a win in Chicago, that the Seahawks will be one win away from the Super bowl.
These teams met in the regular season and the Bears lost to Seattle by the final score of 23-20. It was an upset at the time as the Seahawks were underdogs in that meeting as well.
The Bears have more talent on the field, but that does not always translate to a victory. The Bears have a volatile kick returner in Devin Hester and gun slinging quarterback in Jay Cutler. They have a hard-hitting defense that will give Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck problems and they will have a huge home field advantage. Cutler will be the deciding factor in this game and if he can protect the ball, the Bears could win.
The sports betting trends favor the Bears in this playoff game. The Seahawks are 3-12 ATS in their last 15 road games against a team with a winning home record and 5-16 ATS in their last 21 games following a win. The Bears are 3-1-1 ATS in their last five games as a favorite and 6-2-1 ATS in their last nine games overall.
This game could come down to execution and turnovers. The Bears will look to advance to the NFC Championship game, but have to get by the upstart Seahawks.