Are we ready for Jack’s NFC Championship Game prediction for all the leagues at Wannamakeabet.com? I cooled down a bit last week going 2-2 but still remain hot as I have gone 10-4 thus far in the playoffs. The first game of this year’s “Championship Weekend” gives us a rematch of the battle between the New Orleans Saints and the Los Angeles Rams. The Saints won the first game 45-35 on November 11th. Don’t forget, there’s still time to join our NFL Playoffs League, click here for details. And if you’re not a member of our site yet, click here to join now, it’s free!
Los Angeles Rams + 3.5 O/U 56.5 at New Orleans Saints
Perhaps the biggest question analysts of this game are asking is this: Include me in that group Who will win the war in the trenches? That’s what I care about. As much as people want to talk about the high flying Michael Thomas or Marcus Peters eating gumbo with Sean Peyton, these games are won up front. The Cowboys couldn’t stop the run last week when the Rams offensive line decided to impose its will. And that was C.J. Anderson running the ball, not Todd Gurley. And the Saints shut down the Eagles running game, which is much less impressive considering they didn’t stop Zeke Elliott.
A closer look at the D
Let’s take a closer look at the defenses. During the regular season this year, the Rams are ranked 19th in the league and the Saints are ranked 14th. But if you look closer at the post season numbers for the rush and pass, there is something worth noting. The Saints are give up 283 yards per game in receiving yards compared to the Rams who only give up 186. This bodes well for Peters, Talib and company. The Saints were ranked 29th in the league against the pass this year.
How about against the run? Advantage Saints. #2 in the league for the season. This was the big story going into the Dallas game and the reason why I predicted Dallas would be in the game and possibly win. They had Zeke Elliott, perhaps the best running back in the league, and yet they were able to step up and stop him. Will we see more of the same in stopping the run this week and Suh and Donald getting home to sack Breese? I think they will.
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The Saints allowed 14 first-quarter points to the Eagles on Sunday, but then came roaring back to shut out Nick Foles and company. This has been a slightly disturbing pattern over the past month or so. Go down early, and then come roaring back. If this is their playbook, it must have Saint fans a bit uncomfortable heading into this game. They must get off to a fast start.
The first game was a wild affair back in Week 9: there were three touchdowns scored in the final 2:30 of the first half and 18 points scored in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter after the two teams failed to produce any points in the final quarter before that point. But For the most part, the game was filled with methodical drives almost all of which resulted in touchdowns: the Saints had 11 drives and only three failed to result in points. Seven of them went for touchdowns. But something tells me this game between the two will be a lot tighter, and only because the stakes are so much higher.
In the end, it feels pretty even. Both teams are well-coached, have outstanding running games, underrated defenses and top-tier quarterbacks. As I said earlier, I feel like this one is going to come down to defense and because the Rams have the superior pass rush and superior offensive line, I see them winning this game. I know home teams have great records in the Championship games over the past five years (8-2) which has me on the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. But not for this one. For this game, I’m taking the Rams.
Jack Kincaid is a senior NFL Analyst for Wannamakeabet.com