Conference Championship Previews

Food for thought

Bettors talk about finding value more than anything else. Here's the evolution of futures prices over the course of the season for the 4 remaining playoff teams.

Falcons vs 49ers

Who they’re betting: The public's backing up their Brinks truck on the 49ers. Just under 75% of the tickets written on the game at the largest offshore sportsbooks are coming in on San Francisco. However, it’s important to know the professionals bet San Francisco at prices less than 3 and may end up grabbing the underdog if the price approaches 4.5 to play the middle.

What Atlanta needs to do to win: If I’m Mike Smith, the focal point of my defensive gameplan is making someone else other than Colin Kaepernick run the football. Then again, this shouldn't be rocket science and there's also plenty of reasons I'm not a NFL head coach. Atlanta played Carolina twice this season, surrending 202 yards on 18 carries to Cam Newton. Why is this important? Cam is the closest QB in terms of style to what the Falcons will face this weekend in Kaepernick. The ideal offensive gameplan for Atlanta is establishing both Quiz Rodgers and Michael Turner in the ground game meaning if the tandem combines for 100 yards rushing, Atlanta will keep San Francisco's offense on the sidelines.

What San Francisco needs to do to win: Make Atlanta play from behind so the pressure mounts. Yes, this is rather obvious that you win football games when the other team trails however in this game it takes on added importance.  The Falcons are a team that’s grown accustomed to coasting late so forcing them into a drawn out knuckle dragging street fight is the way to go. Michael Crabtree needs a big game against a suspect Falcon secondary as well. If he can snag 7 catches for 100 yards it will bode well for the 49ers and their big play ability. One small problem: Crabtree's role in this game remains to be seen given the new allegations of sexual assault.

Unit that has to step up: 49ers secondary

Trend: Atlanta is 4-16 ATS as a home dog of 3.5 to 7.5 points since 1993.

Stat to know: Falcons were 1 of only 2 teams (Colts the other) to enter the postseason allowing more yards per play on defense (6.0) than they gained on offense (5.8)

The play: Over 48

Patriots vs Ravens

For teams that don’t reside in the same division, Baltimore and New England sure spend a lot of time lining up against one another. This will be the 7th meeting between the AFC heavyweights since December 3, 2007. In the previous 6 meetings, the Ravens have actually outscored the Patriots by 5 points despite going 2-4 straight up. The largest defeat for Baltimore in those 4 losses: 6 points in October of 2009. Last year the teams met in this exact same scenario with New England listed as a 7 point favorite before winning 23-20. While New England secured the outright win, the Ravens covered wire to wire and should have won outright if not for some timely miscues.

Who they’re betting:  65% of the bets thus far are coming in on the underdog Ravens. This line opened at 9.5 and has been bet all the way down to 7.5 under an avalanche of sharp money. Things will get real interesting come Sunday if the price dips as low as 7.

What the Ravens need to do to win: Rice, Pierce, Rice, Pierce. Baltimore need's to establish the run and keep the Patriots defense off balance. New England takes a lot of heat for having a sub par stop unit and their struggles are magnified against balanced offenses. Weather could be an issue so if the deep ball isn’t in Flacco’s arsenal, Dennis Pitta becomes a key receiving threat across the short middle. Defensively, Baltimore needs to put pressure on Brady and take him out of his comfort zone: easier said than done.

What the Patriots need to do to win: Force Baltimore to abandon the run by scoring early. Tom Brady hasn’t been electric of late in the playoffs but will need to step up here especially if the Pats have a chance to cover 7.5. Shane Vareen, Danny Woodhead, or Stevan Ridley: it really doesn’t matter with the Patriots' next man up mentality on offense. It would be nice for Patriot backers for the mercurial Brandon Lloyd to finally became a factor and compliment Wes Welker in the passing game but you may have a better chance of seeing Manti Te'o"s girlfriend in attendance than Lloyd catching 5 balls.

Unit that needs to step up: Patriots run defense

Trend: Teams that scored 40 pts in their previous playoff game are 2-16 ATS the following week.

Stat to know: The Patriots have lost 2 games against the same team in one season 3 times since 2006 (2011 Giants, 2010 Jets, 2006 Colts)

The Pick: Baltimore +8