Michael Vick and the Eagles Defeat the Green Bay Packers In NFC Wild Card Game

The NFC Wild Card game for Sunday has the potential to be the best game of the weekend. The most anticipated game in the first week of the NFL playoffs will be the game between the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles. The game features two of the most popular signal callers in all of football and could be the closest game of the weekend.

The latest NFL sports betting odds for this game as posted by BetPhoenix have the Eagles listed as 2.5 point home favorites.

This game is a rematch of a week one meeting between these two teams.

In that game, the Packers won on the road but had to hold off a late rally led by Michael Vick at quarterback. Vick did not start that game as Kevin Kolb was knocked out by the Packers defense. That started a great run by Vick and he is now considered a MVP candidate and one of the most explosive offensive weapons in the game.

His opponent for this game is not too shabby either as Aaron Rodgers is one of the most accurate passers in the game today. Rodgers leads a quick strike offense that is capable of putting up big points. The Packers are attempting to make history, as no team has won the Super Bowl after having a losing record on the road, and no sixth seed has represented the NFC in the Super bowl.

If they hope to win, they will have to stop the Vick and a big-play offense.

The Eagles have produced 80 plays of 20-plus yards, and that is tied for tops in the league. The big arm of Vick and Desean Jackson are one of the deadliest combinations in the game. Jackson had 21 receptions of at least 20 yards, six of which went for 50 or more, making him a home run threat that will demand double coverage.

Critics of Vick will say that he is susceptible to the blitz and is reverting back to his younger days when he would run first and pass later. The evidence that is used to prove this is the game against the Minnesota Vikings. The game was meaningless and a tough scheduling spot for a tired Eagles team. It should not to be used as a measuring stick for this team or for Vick.

The Eagles are 7-3 against the spread (ATS) in their last 10 games as a favorite of 0.5-3.0 and 5-1 ATS in their last six games after accumulating less than 150 yards passing in their previous game. The Packers are 1-3-1 ATS in their last five playoff road games and lose in this big game of the week.

The glaring weakness for the Packers is their inability to play well on the road. They lost games on the NFL highway to teams like the Detroit Lions, and Washington Redskins, arguably two of the weaker teams in the league.

The Packers are headed in the right direction and their future looks bright, but they won’t beat Philadelphia.

Michael Vick and the Eagles advance in the NFL playoffs.

Matt Regaw is a B/R Featured Columnist and the founder of BookieBlitz.com, your one-stop shop for sports articles, previews and predictions. Feel free to contact Matt at [e-mail].

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