Betting tips / Richard O’Hagan / 16 January 2012 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

Green Bay went down in a massive upset on the weekend, and Richard O'Hagan has a feeling their rampage will continue when they meet San Francisco next weekend.

New York Giants 37-20 Green Bay Packers
All week the Giants' players had been talking about the 'feel' of this team being similar to the one that shocked the unbeaten New England Patriots to win Superbowl XLII. They proved their point with a comfortable victory over this season's top side, the 15-1 Packers, in a game in which they were never behind.

In truth, though, the Packers contributed hugely to their own defeat. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers, already enshrined by many as the League's Most Valuable Player, paid the price for taking a fortnight off (the Packers had a bye last week and Rodgers sat out the final, meaningless, game of the regular season) as his offence misfired badly. Passes were dropped or went astray in a way not seen during the rest of the season and the usually vociferous crowd at Lambeau Field was reduced to startled silence long before half time.

New York now go to San Francisco, where they lost a game they should have won easily back in Week 10. Much will depend upon whether their defence can shut down the Niners' receivers the way that they did the Packers', while Eli Manning will need to pick apart a defence which has been much more consistent than Green Bay's.

The Giants are currently [2.12] to win this game, which is generous as, on current form, they should be favourites for this one.

New Orleans Saints 32-36 San Francisco 49ers 36
The Saints found out the hard way that just having the most prolific aerial offence in NFL history isn't enough to win you the Super Bowl. If your defence is the thirtieth worst in the league and your offensive line collapses like a soggy cardboard box whenever it comes under pressure, someone is eventually going to find you out. The Niners did just that, putting Drew Brees under more pressure than he has been all season, forcing four turnovers in the first quarter alone.

More importantly, they had the best of a crazy final quarter in which the lead changed hands five times - four of them in four minutes - and which ended with their oft-maligned quarterback Alex Smith leading an 80-yard final drive to make the winning score with just nine seconds left on the clock.

Green Bay's loss means that the 49ers have an unexpected home game against the Giants next Sunday night (2.30am Monday morning UK time). They will hope that star running back Frank Gore is fit after he exited Saturday's game with a knee injury, as none of their backups are in anything like the same class. They will also hope that their defence can put the same kind of pressure on Manning. The Giants QB was sacked just once when they met back in Week 10 and is in much better form at the moment.

Such was the nature of the 49ers' win on Saturday that the market has them at [1.73] to take this game.

Recommended Bet
New York Giants to beat San Francisco 49ers at [2.12]