ATLANTA (12 - 2) at DETROIT (4 - 10)
Top Trends for this game.
DETROIT is 4-12 ATS (-9.2 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
DETROIT is 0-10 ATS (-11.0 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
DETROIT is 3-12 ATS (-10.2 Units) in all games where the total is greater than or equal to 49.5 since 1992.
Head-to-Head Series History
ATLANTA is 1-0 against the spread versus DETROIT over the last 3 seasons
ATLANTA is 1-0 straight up against DETROIT over the last 3 seasons
1 of 1 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
ATLANTA vs. DETROIT
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Atlanta's last 5 games when playing Detroit
Atlanta is 2-3-1 ATS in its last 6 games
Detroit is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games at home
Detroit is 2-6 ATS in its last 8 games when playing Atlanta
Atlanta at Detroit
Atlanta: 0-6 ATS after allowing 14 points or less
Detroit: 15-5 ATS off a loss by 28+ points
NFL Week 16
Falcons (12-2) @ Lions (4-10) -- Atlanta had big win over Giants last week, but they've lost two of last three road games (win was 24-23 in Tampa); they're 2-3 as an away favorite, with road wins by 16-24-7-1-13 points. Detroit had hideous loss to the Cardinals last week, allowing two more return TDs. For season, Lions don't have a return TD; their opponents have nine. Detroit is 23-11 in its history against the Falcons, but 1-3 in last four; Atlanta is 3-2 in last five visits here. NFC South non-divisional road faves are 4-1 vs spread; NFC North underdogs are 3-5, 1-0 at home. Four of last five Atlanta games stayed under the total; six of last eight Detroit games went over.
Armadillosports.com
Falcons at Lions: What Bettors Need to Know
By Covers.com
Atlanta Falcons at Detroit Lions (3.5, 50.5)
The Atlanta Falcons are on the verge of clinching the top seed in the NFC. The Detroit Lions are just looking to end their dismal season on a high note when the teams collide at Ford Field on Saturday night. NFC South champion Atlanta can secure home-field advantage throughout the conference playoffs with a triumph in the Motor City. The Falcons are wrapping up the road portion of their regular season but have lost two of their last three away from home.
Detroit enters the contest looking to snap its six-game losing streak. Things hit rock bottom for the Lions on Sunday, when they suffered a 38-10 loss in Arizona to the Cardinals, who were coming off their ninth consecutive defeat - an embarrassing 58-0 drubbing at the hands of Seattle. Detroit has not won since posting a 31-14 victory at Jacksonville on Nov. 4.
LINE: Falcons -3.5, O/U 50.5.
ABOUT THE FALCONS (12-2): Atlanta bounced back from a 10-point road loss to Carolina in a big way as it recorded a dominating 34-0 home triumph over the New York Giants on Sunday. The Falcons ran more than they passed for just the second time this season, gaining 125 yards on 35 carries - not including three kneel-downs by their quarterbacks - while attempting just 28 passes. They ran 37 times and passed on 29 occasions in a victory over Philadelphia on Oct. 28. Matt Ryan broke two of his franchise records Sunday. Ryan has now thrown for 4,202 yards on 369 completions through 14 games. He had 4,177 passing yards last season and completed 357 passes in 2010.
ABOUT THE LIONS (4-10): After winning 10 games last season, Detroit will be hard-pressed to record half as many victories this campaign. After facing Atlanta, the Lions host the Chicago Bears, who are very much in contention for a playoff spot. Coach Jim Schwartz is not planning on conceding anything despite his team's downward spiral. "You have something to prove every week regardless of winning streak, losing streak, what happened the previous week," he said. "People are competitive, people have pride. People have confidence in themselves. I think that's what helps people bounce back from stuff like this." Four of Detroit's last five losses have been by seven points or less.
TRENDS:
* Under is 5-0 in the last five meetings in Detroit.
* Under is 4-1 in Falcons’ last five games overall.
* Lions are 1-5 ATS in their last six games overall.
* Falcons are 1-4 ATS in their last five games following an ATS win.
EXTRA POINTS:
1. Lions WR Calvin Johnson needs 182 yards to break Hall of Famer Jerry Rice's single-season record of 1,848 receiving yards.
2. Ryan is the only QB in Falcons history to throw for more than 4,000 yards in consecutive seasons. He is 33-4 at home and has won his last 11 starts at the Georgia Dome.
3. After throwing 41 touchdown passes last year, Detroit QB Matthew Stafford has only 17 this season.
Falcons at Lions
By Brian Edwards
VegasInsider.com
Two teams going in different directions will collide Saturday night at Ford Field in the Motor City, where Detroit will play host to Atlanta. With a win, the Falcons can wrap up homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.
Most books are listing Atlanta (12-2 straight up, 8-5-1 against the spread) as a 3 ½-point favorite with a total of 51. Gamblers can take the Lions on the money line for a plus-170 return (risk $100 to win $170).
Mike Smith’s team silenced its critics with last week’s 34-0 clubbing of the Giants at the Ga. Dome. Matt Ryan completed 23-of-28 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns without an interception.
Julio Jones caught a pair of TD passes against the G-Men. Tony Gonzalez had the other TD grab and Michael Turner rushed for 52 yards and one score. Harry Douglas had three receptions for a team-high 83 yards.
Atlanta’s defense handed New York its first regular-season shutout since 1996. Sean Weatherspoon recorded a team-high nine tackles (six solo), while Thomas DeCoud and Asante Samuel both intercepted Eli Manning. Samuel’s interception on the Giants’ opening drive set the tone for the game and gave his team great field position to draw first blood.
Ryan is enjoying the best season of his career. The Boston College product has completed 68.5 of his passes for a career-high 4,202 yards with a 27/14 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Ryan probably has the best trio of weapons in the NFL with tight end Tony Gonzalez, WR Julio Jones and WR Roddy White, and now Douglas is getting more involved.
White has made a team-high 79 receptions for 1,156 yards and five TDs, while Jones has 69 catches for 1,071 yards and nine TDs. Gonzalez is possibly playing his last season but the future Hall of Famer isn’t slowing down a bit. Gonzalez has 87 receptions for 880 yards and eight TDs.
Atlanta has not had much success running the ball, however. Michael Turner is averaging only 3.6 yards per carry and his back-up, Jacquizz Rodgers, is averaging just 3.9 YPC.
Detroit (4-10 SU, 5-9 ATS) has been creating ways to lose all season and last week’s blowout loss to the lowly Cardinals was the icing on the cake in a nightmare campaign. Arizona snapped a nine-game losing streak by trouncing the Lions 38-10 as a six-point home underdog.
Matt Stafford threw three interceptions against the Cardinals, including a pair of pick-sixes.
Jim Schwartz’s club has lost six in a row, going 1-5 ATS in the process. To give you an idea of how frustrating things have been for the Lions, consider that they are second in the NFL in total offense and 12th in total defense. Until last week’s loss, Detroit’s seven previous defeats were all one-possession games.
Stafford is fourth in the NFL in passing yards with 4,252, but he has a mediocre 17/15 TD-INT ratio. Calvin Johnson leads the NFL in receiving with 106 catches for 1,667 yards and five TDs.
Detroit is 2-4 both SU and ATS at home this year. In a pair of home underdog situations, the Lions lost outright both times but went 1-1 ATS. During Schwartz’s four-year tenure, his team is 8-6 ATS in 14 games as a home underdog.
As if Schwartz didn’t have enough concerns, now injuries are starting to mount. Key players like WR Ryan Broyles, WR Titus Young, DT Corey Williams and DT Nick Fairley have recently been placed on injured reserve. Also, safety Louis Delmas is ‘questionable’ against Atlanta and TE Brandon Pettigrew is ‘doubtful.’
As for the Falcons, they have three key players listed as ‘questionable,’ including DT Jonathan Babineaux, OG Tyson Clabo and DB Chris Owens.
Atlanta has won five of its seven road games, posting a 4-2-1 spread record. The Falcons are 2-2-1 ATS as road favorites this season, 11-7-1 ATS as road ‘chalk’ during Smith’s five-year tenure.
I had a phone conversation Friday afternoon with Matt Youmans, who covers the sports betting beat for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Youmans told VegasInsider.com, “Bookmakers are prepared for a one-sided attack on the Falcons. It’s a bad situation in Detroit right now. I’ve heard the coaching staff isn’t getting along and that [head coach Jim] Schwartz and [offensive coordinator Scott] Linehan have been going at each other all year long.”
The ‘under’ is 9-5 overall for the Falcons, but they have seen the ‘over’ go 4-3 in their road assignments.
The ‘over’ is 9-4-1 overall for the Lions, 4-2 in their six home games.
Kickoff is slated for 8:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN.
B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets
Atlanta veteran defensive end John Abraham has registered a team-high 10 sacks.
DeCoud has a team-high six interceptions for the Falcons.
Seattle owns the NFL’s best spread record with a 10-4 ATS ledger. The Seahawks have covered the number in three straight and they’ve seen the ‘over’ hit in four consecutive game and six of their last seven. Pete Carroll’s team is 6-0 both SU and ATS at home going into Sunday night’s NFC West showdown vs. San Francisco.
Philadelphia continues to own the NFL’s worst ATS record, going 3-10-1 vs. the number.
In addition to Detroit, there are six more home underdogs in Week 16, including Jacksonville (+14.5 vs. New England), Philadelphia (+6 vs. Washington), Arizona (+5.5 vs. Chicago), Baltimore (+2.5 vs. the Giants), Kansas City (+7 vs. Indianapolis) and Seattle (+1 vs. San Francisco).
During John Harbaugh’s five-year reign as Baltimore’s head coach, the Ravens are 1-3 ATS in four games as home underdogs.