Chiefs and Rams open as favorites
The Kansas City Chiefs opened as one-touchdown favorites over the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship Game after a thrilling playoff weekend filled with dramatic upsets.
The Chiefs edged the Buffalo Bills in a back-and-forth duel on Sunday night to punch their ticket to the AFC Finals for the fourth consecutive season. Caesars Sportsbook opened with the Chiefs as 6.5-point favorites over the Bengals. The line quickly moved to Kansas City -7 at bookmakers around the country.
In the NFC Championship Game, the Los Angeles Rams opened as 3.5-point favorites over the San Francisco 49ers.
The Chiefs were the only favorites to survive the Divisional Round. The three underdogs – San Francisco, Cincinnati and Los Angeles – pulled off the upset. It is only the third time in the Super Bowl era that there have been three straight-scoring upsets in the Divisional Round.
The Bills nearly pulled off the fourth upset, something that has never happened in the Divisional Round during the Super Bowl era. Buffalo took a 36-33 lead over Kansas City with 13 seconds to play, only to see Patrick Mahomes lead the Chiefs into field goal position with quick passes to Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. Harrison Butker converted a 49-yard field goal to force overtime and Mahomes connected with Kelce for the winning touchdown on the first series of overtime.
“I admit I thought the game was over,” SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas executive director John Murray told ESPN. “We had our management team preparing for the AFC Title Game between Bengals and Bills. Awesome. We were planning on the Bills by 7.5 against the Bengals.”
Adam Pullen, assistant director of operations at Caesars Sportsbook, said he would have given the Chiefs odds to win the 10-1 game when they started the series from their 25-yard line trailing by three points with 13 seconds to play.
“I know it’s Mahomes, but it’s 13 seconds,” Pullen indicated. “It had to be 10-1, maybe higher.”
Sunday’s NFC Divisional Round game also had an exciting finish. SuperBook opened betting on the NFC Championship Game between 49ers and Rams after Los Angeles took a 27-3 lead over the Buccaneers in the third quarter. The bookmaker eventually was forced to stop betting on the 49ers-Rams game as the Buccaneers came from behind.
Down 27-3, Tampa Bay had odds of 25-1 to win the game. The Buccaneers tied the score 27-27 with 42 seconds to play, but Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford connected with Cooper Kupp on a 44-yard pass to set up Tampa Bay’s 12-yard line. Kicker Matt Gay connected on a 30-yard field goal, sending the Rams to the NFC Championship Game, where they will face a 49ers team that has defeated them in six straight.
“That was the most exciting playoff game I can remember watching,” Murray indicated. “At least until the game afterward.”
The Chiefs enter championship week as consensus favorites to win the Super Bowl. Kansas City is at +130 to win the Super Bowl at Caesars Sportsbook, followed by the Rams at +210, the 49ers at +450 and the Bengals at +750.
