Earlier this season, the Atlanta Falcons went into one of the most hostile places in the entire league, and if not for one infamous "non-call," they may have been able to come away with a victory. Nonetheless, they gained a lot of respect that day, and proved their mettle by going on to win the NFC South championship. On Saturday afternoon they will play host to the Seattle Seahawks with an opportunity to advance to the NFC title game. This game will begin at 4:35 PM ET at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, and while Fox Network televises it nationwide, BetAnySports customers, who get reduced juice on their gridiron action, can continue to wager after the opening kickoff as they access the state-of-the-art software made available through Live Betting Ultra.

The previous meeting was a 26-24 Seattle victory, in which Atlanta went down 17-3 but came all the way back to take the lead. After Seattle kicked a field goal with a little less than two minutes remaining, Atlanta had the ball and Julio Jones, the All-Pro wide receiver, was apparently fouled by Seattle All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman. But nothing was called, so the Falcons failed on that fourth-down conversion.

Are the elements in place to make this one a different story? Well, Matt Ryan, who had some conflict with offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan last season over his desire to have a quicker tempo in the attack, got some of what he wanted and went on to have his best season. Ryan threw for 4613 yards and 9.3 yards per attempt, with 34 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. He recently was named the first-team All-Pro quarterback by the Associated Press, beating out Tom Brady for that honor. Aside from Jones, who caught 76 passes for 1313 yards, Ryan was able to find Mohamed Sanu 55 times and developed a new and dangerous target in Tyler Gabriel, who averaged 16.5 yards per catch. Also, there was judicious use of running backs coming out of the backfield to catch passes. Tevin Coleman and Davonta Freeman caught 77 balls between them, and obviously there is the added attraction of them being able to really move the ball on the ground, as they combined for 18 touchdowns rushing.

In the NFC playoff betting odds posted on this game by the folks at BetAnySports, the Falcons are laying points on their home field:

Atlanta Falcons -5
Seattle Seahawks +5

Over 51.5 points -110
Under 51.5 points -110

Yes, there is the Seattle defense to deal with, and to demonstrate what a contrast this game presents, Atlanta led the league with 33.8 points per game, while Seattle is currently second-best in the NFL on defense, allowing 17.5 points per contest. We know that Pete Carroll likes to get a strong pass rush with only four people if he possibly can, so there's a lot of pressure on the defensive ends – Cliff Avril and Frank Clark – who combined for 21.5 quarterback sacks this year. Naturally there are standouts all over the stop unit, including defensive tackle Michael Bennett and middle linebacker Bobby Wagner, but safety Earl Thomas will not be on the field, having suffered a season-ending leg injury, and there will be occasions when strong safety Kam Chancellor will have to supply the deep coverage. What that does is take Chancellor farther away from the line of scrimmage, where he has been known to be an enforcer against enemy running plays.

BetAnySports patrons know that Russell Wilson has shown a susceptibility to being sacked throughout his career, and much of that has been a defensive move, as he tries to avoid throwing bad passes. No one can question that he has the ability to scramble around and evade the enemy pass rush, although the knee and ankle injuries he suffered this season have limited his mobility somewhat. It will be almost entirely incumbent upon Vic Beasley, the edge rusher who led the league with 15.5 sacks, to put some heat on Wilson. And Atlanta's defense, which has permitted opponents to convert 41.6% of their third down chances, might be off-balance if the Seahawks are able to get a ground game going like they did last week against the Detroit Lions. Thomas Rawls, who has been inconsistent, had 161 yards rushing last week, and if he is rounding into form, he could be just what the doctor ordered.

If you are looking for the best sports betting experience ever, come to BetAnySports, where you can get reduced juice, which gives you better odds, along with the thrills and chills of Live Betting Ultra...... Don't forget that there are free play bonuses and plenty of payment options available when you want to make a deposit or replenish it, including your Visa card, person-to-person transfers and Bitcoin, the virtual currency which affords a lot of privacy, and which never incurs a transaction fee!