Two teams with plenty of playoff history both individually, as well as together, will face off on Sunday when the Seattle Seahawks visit the Green Bay Packers, with the winner going to the NFC Championship Game. While the 49ers and Vikings seem like fresh faces in the race to the Super Bowl, it seems like the Seahawks and Packers have been the foundation of the NFC playoffs for the last decade.
These two teams have faced off 22 times before. The Packers lead the all-time series 13-9 while outscoring the Seahawks 583-462. However, they have only played each other three times in the playoffs.
In the 2003 and the 2007 playoffs, Green Bay came out victorious. We can’t forget the infamous Brandon Bostick game in 2014, though, that propelled the Seahawks to the Super Bowl.
The Packers are four-point favorites in the game.
Seahawks Running Game Sputtering
Since losing Chris Carson, Rashaad Penny and CJ Prosise for the season, Seattle’s run game has been pretty bad. Signing Marshawn Lynch has gone, unsurprisingly, poorly. In the divisional round against the Eagles, Lynch ran the ball six times for seven yards.
Travis Homer also got 11 carries and racked up only 12 yards. In Week 17, Homer was better, getting 62 yards on 10 carries. Lynch was uninspiring then too, rushing for 34 yards on 12 carries.
If the Seahawks are going to win on Sunday, it’ll be all Russell Wilson yet again. Against the Eagles, Wilson threw for 325 yards and led the team in rushing with 45 yards. That makes DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett all the more important against a solid Green Bay secondary.
Betting Lines
The Packers are four-point favorites. The over/under has also been set at 47 points. The Seahawks are 8-8-1 against the spread, with eight of those games hitting the over. On the road, however, the Seahawks are a whopping 6-2-1 against the spread.
The Packers are 10-6 against the spread, with only six of those games hitting the over. Green Bay is just as good at home as Seattle is on the road, as the Packers are 7-1 against the spread at home. They were favorites in all those games.
Injury Updates
The Seahawks’ offensive line has taken a big hit when it comes to injuries. Mike Iupati, George Fant and Duane Brown all did not participate in practice on Wednesday. It’s unclear if any of them will be able to suit up for Sunday.
Among other people on the injury report were Metcalf, DE Jadeveon Clowney and DE Ziggy Ansah, all of whom were limited in practice on Wednesday.
For the Packers, it looks to be all good news. Coach Matt LaFleur said there is a sickness going around the locker room, but other than that, the Packers should be all healthy.
The Pick
This one is tough to call. The Packers have arguably the better team, but it seems like Aaron Rodgers can’t get the job done in the postseason lately. On the other hand, we’ve all seen this story before with Seattle. January is when the Seahawks play their best football despite what they do in the four months prior.
However, I’m going to trust Rodgers and company this time around. Aaron Jones is terrific, Davante Adams is Davante Adams, and the Packers’ pass defense is ranked 14th in the league.
Take the Packers -4.
