Super Bowl betting odds revealed
Blink and you might have missed it—the NFL playoff picture is fully set, and betting odds paint the Kansas City Chiefs as Super Bowl favorites.
The Buffalo Bills are second in the Super Bowl odds (according to FanDuel), which forecasts a neutral-field AFC Championship game. Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in the middle of the pack despite entering with a losing record and staring down the barrel of a first-round matchup with the 12-5 Dallas Cowboys.
Here’s everything you need to know as the postseason prepares to kick off this weekend.
The AFC
The Chiefs (+330), Bills (+420), and Cincinnati Bengals (+750) unsurprisingly lead the way as the top three seeds in the conference. The Bills and Bengals have beaten the Chiefs in five of their last six combined meetings, with the latter knocking them out in overtime in last year’s AFC Championship game 27-24.
dominance at the quarterback position
The three teams have one common characteristic: dominance at the quarterback position. Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Joe Burrow are widely considered to be the three best at their position, which is why they have been so successful in a QB-friendly era.
The Los Angeles Chargers (+2100) and Baltimore Ravens (+3400) are in the second tier of AFC contenders with noticeable separation from the top three teams. The Chargers also have a prolific quarterback in Justin Herbert, but have been plagued by injuries all season and have been unable to establish any sort of continuity.
The Ravens, meanwhile, are a bit of a mystery. 2019 MVP Lamar Jackson was supposedly on the verge of returning a month ago but has not indicated that he will be back in any capacity. Baltimore is 2-3 in games which he has not started this season and is averaging just 13 points per game during this stretch.
The Jacksonville Jaguars (+4800) and Miami Dolphins (+6000) round out the AFC picture. The Jags head into the playoffs as hot as any team in the league on the back of five straight wins, which is why they could be a worthy longshot bet. QB Trevor Lawrence is playing at an extremely high level, but the team is still very inexperienced on the big stage.
The Dolphins avoided a capitulation, but still have serious problems with injuries at quarterback and an overall decline in play.
The NFC
The Philadelphia Eagles enter the playoffs as the favorites to come out of the NFC at +500, just ahead of the San Francisco 49ers (+550).
Philly worried its supporters by dropping two straight games without Jalen Hurts in the lineup, only to win in his Week 18 return. That being said, Hurts played fairly poorly (20-35, 229 yards, INT), and his long-term health is a concern.
league-best 10-game win streak
The Niners, on the other hand, have shown no chinks in their armor during a league-best 10-game winning streak that concluded with a 38-13 thumping of the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. They have been unaffected by the switch to rookie third-string quarterback Brock Purdy thanks to their assemblance of offensive talent and their employment of the league’s best defense.
The Cowboys (+1300) and Buccaneers (+2800) are next in line – one will end the other’s hopes next Monday during their first-round matchup. Dallas has one of the highest ceilings in the league, but also has one of the lowest floors, as evidenced by its embarrassing 26-6 loss to the Washington Commanders this past weekend.
The Bucs finished the year 8-9, but are getting healthy and have shown improvements on both sides of the football lately. They also beat the Cowboys 19-3 in Week 1 and are 2-0 against them in the Tom Brady era.
The Minnesota Vikings (+3000), New York Giants (+5500), and Seattle Seahawks (+6500) fill out the remaining contenders. Minnesota has the three seed and went 13-4 in the regular season but has a terrible defense and is one-dimensional on offense.
The Giants and Seahawks were nice stories, but are due for early exits. Neither has an ace in the hole like the other teams in the conference, and both teams’ QBs will be making their playoff debuts.