The PiRate Simulator gave back some booty to the mean Vegas Buccaneers last week, going 2-3 in the Divisional Round selections. This brings the playoff selections results to 10-4. We cannot lose now, because there are only three games left in which to make selections, and we will not go 0-6. So, we are playing with house booty.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
San Francisco 49ers (12-4-1) at Atlanta Falcons (14-3-0)
Time: 3:00 PM EST
TV: Fox
Georgia Dome Forecast: Indoors
PiRate: San Francisco by 1.1
PiRate Mean: San Francisco by 0.2
PiRate Bias: San Francisco by 0.5
PiRate Vintage: Atlanta by 2.0
Vegas Line: San Francisco by 4
Totals: 49
Money Line: San Francisco -XXX Atlanta +XXX
100 Computer Simulations: Atlanta 52 San Francisco 48
Average Score: Atlanta 24.6 San Francisco 24.4
Standard Deviation: 7.4
Outlier Home: Atlanta 30 San Francisco 10
Outlier Visitor: San Francisco 19 Atlanta 7
Outlier High: 62 Points
Outlier Low: 24 Points
PiRate Captain Says: The computer calls this game a statistical dead heat. We believe possibly that the 49ers are going to find the Falcon defense prepared and ready to slow down Colin Kaepernick and the college-style offense. Until one of these zone-read option QB’s actually wins a Super Bowl, we are going with the belief that a standard drop-back passer and a prepared defense will win every time when there are just four teams left in the playoffs.
It is just gravy that we get the Falcons as home ‘dogs. They have the added incentive of being the overlooked team of the four that are left, and we believe Matt Ryan and company are primed to have one of those very memorable games.
Baltimore Ravens (12-6-0) at New England Patriots (13-4-0)
Time: 6:30 PM EST
TV: CBS
Gillette Stadium Forecast: Clear with temperatures falling from the low 30’s to the low 20’s during the game
PiRate: New England by 10.8
PiRate Mean: New England by 9.2
PiRate Bias: New England by 7.9
PiRate Vintage: New England by 6.7
Vegas Line: New England by 9
Totals: 51 ½
Money Line: New England –XXX Baltimore +XXX
100 Computer Simulations: New England 62 Baltimore 38
Average Score: New England 29.4 Baltimore 23.6
Standard Deviation: 8.4
Outlier Home: New England 48 Baltimore 17
Outlier Visitor: Baltimore 41 New England 20
Outlier High: 79 points
Outlier Low: 44 points
PiRate Captain Says: Asking New England to win by double digits in a grudge game rematch of last year’s AFC Championship is asking too much in our opinion. The Patriots should win the game, but we believe that 9 times out of 10, this game would have an outcome with the margin under 7 points, no matter which team won. We’ll go with those odds and take the Underdog and the points.
The weather should be very cold, but dry and not too windy. Tom Brady and Joe Flacco should provide three hours of quality entertainment and bring this game down to yet another last possession outcome. Remember in the past though that almost every rematch of a conference championship game has been won by the team that won the year before.
Green Bay won the Ice Bowl rematch with Dallas in 1967 after winning a close one in 1966. Pittsburgh won the rematch with Houston in 1978 and 1979. This game ranks up there with those games in historical importance. It also doesn’t hurt that Green Bay and Pittsburgh were the home teams for those games, and New England is for this one.
Selections
1. Baltimore +9 ½ vs. New England
2. Atlanta +4 vs. San Francisco
3. 10-point Teaser
Baltimore +19 ½ vs. New England
Atlanta +14 vs. San Francisco
Baltimore and New England OVER 41 ½