Who Makes The NFC Championship? Seattle Heads to The Frozen Tundra, While Minnesota Battles In The Bay

To borrow a term from college basketball’s March Madness, the NFL is getting set for their own version of the “Elite Eight” as the remaining eight teams square off in the divisional round. Last week’s wild card winners (including two 6-seeds) now take on the No.1 and No.2 seeds in each conference, and the Super Bowl just lies two wins away. The two 6-seeds (Tennessee and Minnesota) winning last week just shows the unpredictable nature of the NFL playoffs--anything can happen, and it did. Will there be more upsets this weekend?

Let’s take a closer look at the divisional matchups and some tips for when you're betting online with 888 Sport, starting with the two NFC games.

Minnesota Vikings (+245) @ San Francisco 49ers (-315)

o/u 44 (-110), 49ers -7 (-110)

The Vikings come into Santa Clara, er, I mean San Francisco, flying high after a monumental upset of Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints in the Wild Card round. Nobody thought they could go into the Superdome and come out with that victory, but they did. Quarterback Kirk Cousins played just well enough, and running back Dalvin Cook showed he was back to being healthy as he ran for 98 yards and two touchdowns on a season-high 28 carries. Don’t expect all of that usage to change in this game.

The 49ers have arguably the best pass rush in the league. They don’t need to blitz because they get plenty of quarterback pressures from the likes of (probably) Defensive Rookie of the Year Nick Bosa, DeForest Buckner, and Dee Ford. They are an elite unit. The Vikings aren’t going to want to put Cousins in too many obvious pass situations, so high-volume for Cook. When they do throw, look for lots of play-action passes; Cousins is a great play-action passer.

The 49ers offense led by Jimmy Garoppolo will also be facing a tough defense in the Vikings, particularly the Vikings defensive line. They don’t need to blitz much either, as the defensive line gets plenty of pressure on the quarterback. To combat that defensive line, look for the 49ers offense to run play action with All-Pro tight end George Kittle and fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who has excellent hands. Jimmy G. will also look for slot receiver Emmanuel Sanders to get open on short and intermediate routes.

The Vikings linebackers will have to step up and make plays in the middle of the field, particularly to prevent Kittle from going crazy all day--not an easy task, to say the least. Another name to look out for is 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel, a true speedster who the Vikings secondary will have to keep in check or he could have a field day.

Our favorite plays for this game:

• ​Deebo Samuel Total Receiving Yards over 50.5 (-118).
• Total Points over 44 (-110) 
• George Kittle Total Receiving Yards over 78.5 (-110)
• Minnesota Vikings +7 (-110).

Seattle Seahawks (+165) @ Green Bay Packers (-205)

o/u (-110), Packers -4 (-110)

The Seahawks beat Philadelphia last week and now head into the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field to face the 2-seed Packers. If the Hawks want to get past the Pack, they will definitely have to do better than last week’s rushing performance. Yes they are down to two running backs (Marshawn Lynch and Travis Homer), but 19 yards on 17 carries is not going to do it against the Packers, no matter the heroics of Russell Wilson. They have to find answers there.

If they’re going to win this game, however, Wilson will have to continue to get the ball to rookie wide receiver DK Metcalf, who had a breakout performance in the Wild Card game vs. Philly. This means lots of vertical and deep cross targets for Metcalf. With all the injuries on the Seattle offensive line, Wilson will have to get rid of the ball quickly, or Packers defensive end/OLB Za’Darius Smith will wreak havoc in the Seattle backfield all day.

When the Packers have the ball it’s the Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Jones, and Devante Adams show. The Seahawks defense will have their hands full trying to stop Jones, who is not only a really good rusher of the ball, but an excellent pass catcher as well. The Packers will try to release him out of the backfield and get him matched up with a linebacker and exploit the mismatch. The Seahawks just hope that linebacker is do-everything backer Bobby Wagner, who has the athleticism to stay with Jones.

They’re calling for temperatures in the teens for this game (pack your long johns), so we expect a tight and physical game here, and a low-scoring one.

The value plays are as follows:

• Seahawks +4 (-110)
• Total Points under 47 (-110)
• Away Team -4.5 and Under 47.5 (+240).

Favorite prop:

• Russell Wilson over 24.5 Rushing Yards (-118)​--that one was an easy hit last week so let’s run it back.

All four of these teams are a win away from the NFC championship; it’s so close they can taste it. That should provide for two great games between four pretty well evenly-matched teams. Enjoy watching, and good luck!

*Credit to the main photo of this article belongs to Jeff Haynes/Associated Press (Rodgers), John Hefti/Associated Press (Samuel), Julio Cortez/Associated Press (Metcalf)