[Tommy]

A pair of first place NFC teams are set to go at it Sunday when the Seattle Seahawks host the New York Giants. Seattle has the NFC West well in hand with an 8-2 mark, four games better than second-place St. Louis. The Seahawks clinch their second-straight division title with a win and run their current win streak to seven games.

The Giants grip on the NFC East is more tenuous. They are 7-3 on the season and took over first place on Thanksgiving Day by a half game when Dallas dropped to 7-4 with a 24-21 home overtime loss to the Broncos. The Giants need to win Sunday to stay in first, however, as the Cowboys hold the tie-breaker by virtue of an earlier 16-13 home win over the New Yorkers.

The Giants have had their difficulties on the road. Besides the loss to Dallas the Giants were also blown out early in the season at AFC West team San Diego 45-23. Their lone road win came at 2-8 San Francisco by a 24-6 score. They are credited with a road win for beating New Orleans in a rescheduled contest that was actually played at Giants Stadium so their road record is listed at 2-2.

The Giants finish up with four of their six games on the road. Following the Seattle contest they host Dallas then play at Philadelphia, host Kansas City and finish up with road contests at Washington and Oakland. So the Giants had best start proving they can play on the road if they are to remain atop the NFC East.

They might have a difficult time though getting the job done versus a Seattle team that is 5-0 at home. The Seahawks defeated Atlanta, Arizona, Houston, Dallas and St. Louis this year at home. The games versus the winning teams, Atlanta and Dallas, were close with Seattle winning each by three points. It defeated Atlanta 21-18 and Dallas 13-10. The games versus the losing clubs were not close, as the Seahawks defeated the Cardinals, Texans and Rams by a combined 110-38.

The Seahawks did not play well at home last year. They were 6-3 in the host role including a 27-20 playoff loss to the Rams as a four-point choice. It was the Seahawks eighth consecutive home pointspread loss. They covered in their home opener when they defeated San Francisco 34-0 but then never covered again.

The Giants went 3-5 on the road a year ago and 4-4 ATS. But they were 3-1 S/U and ATS with Kurt Warner at quarterback and 0-4 S/U and 1-3 ATS with current starter Eli Manning.

Manning has improved in his first full season on the job. He has a passer rating of 81.4 on 52.1% completions. He has thrown 18 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He has a plethora of targets in wide receivers Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer and tight end Jeremy Shockey and is ably supported in the running game by Tiki Barber. The Giants rank 4th in the NFC on offense and 11th on defense. They have scored 281 points and allowed 184.

Seattle has similar numbers with 272 points scored and 187 allowed. It ranks first in the NFC in offense at 389.2 yards/game and is 9th on defense. QB Matt Hasselbeck has an 89.3 QB rating on 63.3% completions with 12 TD's and 7 interceptions. Shawn Alexander has rushed for 122 yards/game and 19 touchdowns.

Seattle and New York have not played since the 2002 season when the Seahawks came East and dropped a 9-6 decision at Giants Stadium as a 6.5-point underdog. This time around the Hawks are favored by 4.5 at home with a total of 47.5. But before you get down on this contest, don’t miss out on the Experts Guaranteed Selections. Remember, at Vegas Experts you only pay after you WIN!