NFC championship: Vikings at Saints

While the AFC championship features greenhorn Mark Sanchez against wily vet Peyton Manning, the NFC title game will see two experienced QBs going head to head in the New Orleans Saints’ Drew Brees and the Minnesota Vikings’ Brett Favre.

Going into Sunday’s tilt, online sportsbooks have New Orleans listed as a 3.5-point home fave and the Total is currently 53.

The Saints are favored by a field goal in first half NFL Betting and the Total for the first two quarters is set at 26.5.

SPORTSBETTING.com is reporting balanced action on this game, much more so than the AFC matchup between the Jets and Colts.

The NFC’s Top 2 seeds performed similarly in the divisional round, handily defeating their opponents.

The Saints covered as 7-point home faves as they defeated the Arizona Cardinals 45-14 and the Vikes stopped Tony Romo and the surging Dallas Cowboys in a 34-3 win — Minnesota covered as a 3-point home favorite.

Let’s look at some NFL Betting numbers from this matchup:

NFC Championship Trends:

- In their last nine games overall, Minnesota has the edge over New Orleans, going 8-1 straight up and 6-3 against the spread.

- The last nine games between these two teams have produced 1 Over, 7 Unders and 1 Push. .

- New Orleans has a record of 14 Overs and 3 Unders in their last 17 starts vs. teams from the NFC North.

- The Saints are only 3-8 ATS in their last 11 starts.

- The last 11 January road games have not been kind to Minnesota and its bettors, as the Vikings are 1-10 SU and 1-10 ATS.

- The Saints haven’t been too sharp either though in January, as they are only 4-9 SU and 3-10 ATS.

- The last 13 times New Orleans has been favored by 4-points or less, it has been a boon for bettors, as they boats a record of 10-3 ATS. In this situation, they have scored 11 Overs and 2 Unders.

- Minnesota, on the other hand, has burned a hole in bettors’ pockets in their last 13 games when underdogs of +4 or less; as they have a record of 3-10 SU and 3-8-2 ATS in that situation.

Super Bowl Odds:
In Super Bowl XLIV futures betting, the Saints are +200 favorites while the Vikings are +400.

Both teams have a lot of offensive weapons so the NFC title game should be a good one.

Good luck.

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