Posted on 1/4/2008 3:52:04 PM

NFL Football Betting Action – Washington vs. Seattle

By Charles Jay

NOTABLE STAT: Washington's Todd Collins has five TD passes and no interceptions

(For more useful trends and stats, visit our unique Matchup Tool)

The Washington Redskins (9-7 SU, 7-7-2 ATS) come into the NFC playoffs on a hot streak, and on Saturday they visit Qwest Field in Seattle (artificial turf) to take on the Seattle Seahawks (10-6 SU, 9-6-1 ATS), the NFC West champions, in game that kicks off at 4:30 PM ET and will be televised on NBC.

In the BetUS NFL football betting odds, the Seahawks are listed at -3, with the total posted at 40.5 points.

Here are some of the NFL betting trends and stats relative to this matchup:

* WASH has won and covered its last four games

* WASH has played four UNDERS in its last six games

* WASH has played four OVERS in its last six road games

* SEA has won and covered six of its last eight games

* SEA has won and covered its last five home games

* SEA has played seven of its last ten home games UNDER the total

* WASH has won and covered four of the last five meetings

* WASH has covered four of the last six meetings as the visiting team

* The last five meetings held in Seattle have gone UNDER the total

Seattle is in the playoffs for the fifth straight year, while Washington came on strong toward the end. They should have beaten Buffalo, if not for a little coaching gaffe that made the Bills' winning field goal that much easier. Then they beat Chicago and the Giants, went to Minnesota and thumped the Vikings,, and finished with the home win over Dallas. But when you look at those games, they faced a rookie quarterback in Trent Edwards, the Rex Grossman-Brian Griese combo, the ineffective Tarvaris Jackson, a swirling wind in the Meadowlands where no one could pass, and Dallas' second-teamers.

But here it's the capable Matt Hasselbeck, Pro Bowl-bound, not our favorite but a guy who operates Mike Holmgren's offense well and has a healthy complement of receivers. The 'Skins have used Sean Taylor's recent death as a rallying point, but the hard reality is, they are minus a Pro Bowl safety, and somewhere along the line someone is going to exploit it.

Todd Collins has done a great job for Washington. He's thrown five touchdown passes with no interceptions since taking over for Jason Campbell as the starting quarterback, and gives his team a better chance at this crucial time of the year than Campbell probably would have. But Collins has been one of those guys who's "managed" the game; he hasn't been in a situation where he's had to trade points a little.

We've been down this road before with a "surging" Washington team that came into Seattle in the playoffs with high hopes. two seasons ago, they lost a 20-10 decision at Qwest Field where they couldn't get any offense together, and Seattle went on to the Super Bowl. Its true that Shaun Alexander is not a big factor this year. But Holmgren has mitigated that by moving more and more toward the pass. And the capable Maurice Morris shares running duties with Alexander.

Joe Gibbs has made adjustments in the past, in fact winning Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks. And we respect the Redskins weaponry - Clinton Portis, Antwaan Randle-El, Chris Cooley - but we know that Gibbs' blueprint is going to be ball-control, and though we've seen Washington do it against teams with offenses that weren't very threatening, can he do it in this atmosphere? Seattle has, after all, won and covered five straight games at Qwest Field, which is notoriously loud and forces opponents into a lot of delay of game calls.

We'll lay the field goal with Seattle, the three-point favorite in the BetUS NFL playoff betting odds.

BetUS NFL betting odds: SEATTLE -3, Total: 40.5

JAY'S PLAY: SEATTLE

> > Check NFL Playoffs Betting Odds Here

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(Charles Jay of TotalActionExtra.com is a member of the NFL too - that is, "not for long" if you don't get results. He is now a regular contributor to the BetUS.com Locker Room)