Packers vs. Falcons: Final Odds, Spread Picks for NFC Championship Game 2017

The Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers are prepared to play a shootout in the Georgia Dome on Sunday at 3:05 p.m. ET.

According to OddsShark.com, Atlanta is a six-point favorite, and the game has an over-under total of 61.

The over-under total is particularly remarkable because it has somehow climbed higher during the week. It's already the highest over-under in NFL postseason history, according to Evan Silva of Rotoworld.

Fans could be in for a really fun game on Sunday in which the first team to 35 points (or the one with the ball last) wins the game.

Read on for the spread and over-under picks for Sunday.

Analysis

Tom Silverstein and Michael Cohen of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported some big news on Saturday, as wide receivers Jordy Nelson, Geronimo Allison and Davante Adams should all be ready to go on Sunday.

The wideouts have been on the Packers injury report all week. As of Friday, they were all listed as questionable, and none of them practiced that day.

How effective can each of them be? Will they be on the bench more often than not, and when they are on the field, will they more or less be decoys? Or will one (or all) of them be productive?

They are impossible questions to answer from the outside, so an educated guess is the best one: They'll all be at less than 100 percent (no NFL player is at 100 percent at this time of year), but they'll contribute. That's pretty important considering Nelson and Adams combined for 26 touchdowns this year.

Also, how can you bet against Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers doing well, even if three of his wide receivers are banged up? He has thrown for 24 touchdowns and one interception in his past nine games (including postseason). He's turning the Hail Mary into a routine play and 10-second dodges of oncoming defensive linemen into an art form.

Even if the three questionable wideouts are at 50 percent capacity on Sunday, that should be enough for Rodgers to do damage against a Falcons team that gave up 32 points to the Pack when these teams played in October. That day, Rodgers didn't have wide receiver Randall Cobb or running back Ty Montgomery, but he still managed four touchdown passes.

The problem for Green Bay, however, is stopping the Falcons offense. There's nothing on paper (or in reality, based off their 33-32 midseason loss to Atlanta) that suggests Green Bay can slow down the Atlanta attack.

It's hard for any team to do so (Atlanta only scored fewer than 23 points once this year), but it's more impossible in the Georgia Dome.

Look at quarterback Matt Ryan's home stats this season: 19 touchdowns, four interceptions, 72.4 percent completion rate, 119.1 QB rating. This isn't exactly 1972, where football was basically lawless and defenses could get away with darn near everything, but Ryan's numbers are incredible even in a quarterback-friendly era and dome environment.

It helps having an All-World wide receiver (Julio Jones) and two complementary wideouts who each bring different skill sets (possession receiver Mohamed Sanu and big-play threat Taylor Gabriel).

Otherwise, the Falcons are lucky enough to feature a unique and effective running back duo that no other NFL team has the luxury of having.

Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman combined for 24 regular-season touchdowns and wrecked havoc on teams on the ground and in the air, as both players proved to be formidable pass-catchers all season. In fact, Freeman was the Falcons' leading receiver (80 yards) in a 36-20 win over Seattle last Saturday.

Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, who submits a fantastic scouting report of the Packers' opponent every week, wrote about Atlanta on Wednesday, and the top theme was the running back duo. McGinn quoted a scout who said the following: "Freeman is more of a stop-start, change of direction guy. Coleman is a fast, north-south, one-cut runner. Very talented. Lot of open-field speed. Hits the hole hard. They complement each other well."

Coleman didn't play against Green Bay earlier this season, and he can do some serious damage against a Packers pass defense that allowed the most yards per attempt this season (8.1).

Conclusion and Prediction

The over-under is the easy part: Bet the over. This game could climb to 65, and I'd still go over. There's just nothing that suggests either team is going to stop the other.

The pick against the spread is hard. Green Bay certainly can take this game outright, let alone win against the spread in getting six points to start, but the Packers' wide receiver injuries are concerning, and the Falcons are just too good at home.

And, for what it's worth, the sharps are on the Falcons, per the Greek Sportsbook:

Pick: Atlanta (-6) and the over as the Falcons win, 38-30.