This absolutely shocks me. Most people I was around last week were super nervous about the game. My guess is you hang out with a bunch of frat boys or something.

So when's the last time that the team with a better record was more than a 3 point dog at home in the playoffs? Has it ever happened in NFL history before now?

I want to say the Pats got to 3.5 point dogs just before kickoff in the '04 season divisional round against the Colts.

10-6 Packers were -3.5 against the 11-5 Bears in Chicago in the NFCCG 2 years ago.

So the NFL sticks another west coast team with a cross country trip to play in an early time slot? C'mon, NFL.

racist nfl clearly prefers white qbs in the super bowl

Thank you. Is there a better version with the belt showing better? I know it looked better on TV.

Blame the tv networks

Oh, and the west coast teams for having a worse record during the season

It rotates every year and is locked in before the playoffs even start. AFC gets the early slot next year.

It's unfortunate that Jim didn't have a chance to crush Pete's dreams again.

I am shocked that the 49ers are 3 point favorites. I honestly thought the game would be a pick 'em at worst.

4 point favs now

Pounded niners at -3.5 +110
I think line goes to -6 by game time

Like I'm legit confused. Yeah, Atlanta is overrated and SF may be the best team in the league, but when did they become 6-7 points better than the Falcons?

It's confusing for sure. The 49ers aren't 6+ pts better than the Seahawks, and whatever matchup edge the 49ers may have over the Falcons isn't worth that much.

Maybe it's that when SF wins, they probably win by double digits a large portion of the time b/c ATL is ******ed.

it takes away my enjoyment of the buildup. of course you don't care about respect. your team has run insanely hot to win two superbowls in which neither season the gmen were considered a top 5 team.

at least the falcons are on the fringe of that discussion.

Don't forget that Atlanta was coming off a bye last week. People never wanna factor that into the line, but it's worth at least a point and a half.

that was real, real nice. Great analysis of the problem, too.

I think teams will split the difference and scrape one backer out, but you hit the nail on the head there, it's the only solution. I keep trying to find a way to get the DBs involved, because with only the TE on the backside you can roll the coverage. but your slot cover man shouldn't be all that good in run support and the outside corner is too far away. Maybe that's it. put a safety on top of the slot and a safety on the slot, and have him play zone/flat/spy. If there are only 2 WRs it might work. But what I really want to know is, wtf were the GB LBs doing? LOL. it might not be a coincidence but you found some god-awful examples of LB play, that **** was funny.

The 9ers went 3-1 to end the season, CK only had 110 yards rushing in those games combine but passed for ~950 yards. IT's great that CK can run, but he has shown the ability to stay in the pocket. I think the threat of running as much as he can is extremely valuable. If the Falcons decide to stop it, we can still win throwing it now.

you mean -110, right? where'd you get that line.

-4.5 now... The amount of money on SF must be insane.

if this line actually moves to 6 it might be worth a flight to vegas to collect the free money being handed out.

Kaep made some really nice throws vs GB. The 2nd TD to Crabs and Vernon's only catch come to mind.

The threat of Kaep running and the big/athletic oline should allow Kaep to get a lot of time like Wilson did.