As the 49ers sit and wait for their division championship round opponent to be determined, eight teams will get ready to throw down during wild card weekend. The 49ers will face one of the New Orleans Saints, New York Giants or Atlanta Falcons, pending the Saints-Lions contest. All three provide unique challenges and over the course of the week we will take a look at each of the three teams and what they bring to a possible playoff matchup with the 49ers.
The odds are out for all the first round games and the only real surprise is the size of the Saints-Lions line. The line opened with the Saints as 10.5 point favorites. I'm a big believer in the Saints at home, but even I am a bit surprised by the opening line. Oddsmakers might be trying to push some money onto the Lions with this line. When you get into double digit lines, it makes it a little dicier to pull the trigger on the favorite.
The Giants opened as three point favorites against the Falcons. The Giants won three of their final four games after losing four straight starting with their week ten loss to the 49ers. The Falcons are an odd team. They finished 10-6 and never had a losing streak, but something has seemed off with them this season. Losing at Tampa Bay doesn't help, but that was also before the Bucs quit on Raheem Morris. Beyond that, there's something funky about this team and I can't quite place my finger on it.
There are also some Super Bowl odds available that are rather interesting. Here are the twelve teams and their current Bovada (formerly Bodog) odds via at Odds Shark:
Green Bay Packers +180
New England Patriots +400
New Orleans Saints +450
Baltimore Ravens +800
Pittsburgh Steelers +1100
San Francisco 49ers +1100
New York Giants +2000
Atlanta Falcons +3500
Detroit Lions +4000
Houston Texans +4000
Denver Broncos +5000
Cincinnati Bengals +6500
The Packers remain overwhelming favorites, with the Patriots and Saints not too far behind them. If Coach Harbaugh was looking for some more shin kicks, he got them with the Super Bowl odds. The 49ers are behind two teams that have to win three games to reach the Super Bowl, including one they beat. That's not to say these odds are bad as the oddsmakers do factor in a variety of issues when setting the odds.