If you like big upsets, well, you might have to wait for the NCAA Tournament’s March Madness to get your fix in a major sporting event. That’s because the NFL‘s conference championship Sunday is completely chalk with the top two seeds in the AFC and NFC facing off. It’s also the first time in the Super Bowl era that the top four offensive teams in the league all made the final four.
Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
While the numbers have changed from the Divisional Round, the order of favorites to win Super Bowl LIII on the first Sunday of February in Atlanta hasn’t changed. The NFC top-seeded New Orleans Saints are +175 to win the second Super Bowl in franchise history. They would be right at home in Atlanta as they play there once per season against the NFC South rival Falcons.
New Orleans has never lost a home playoff game with Drew Brees as its starting quarterback with the No. 2 seed Los Angeles Rams (+350) heading to the bayou for Sunday’s first game. For a while this season, the Rams were Super Bowl favorites, but that changed when they lost in New Orleans 45-35 in Week 9. Los Angeles had little problem dumping the Dallas Cowboys in the Divisional Round as Sean McVay became the youngest head coach to ever win a playoff game at age 32.
In the AFC, the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs are +275 to win the second Super Bowl in franchise history. They will host a conference championship game for the first time, which is rather hard to believe. The Chiefs are led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who figures to win the NFL regular-season MVP award the night before the Super Bowl. No MVP has also won the Super Bowl the same season since Kurt Warner’s St. Louis Rams in the 1999 season.
The dynasty of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots (+333) keeps chugging along as the Pats are in a ridiculous eighth straight AFC Championship Game, which is an NFL record. The Pats are rare playoff underdogs, however, with their trip to Kansas City. The last time New England played a road AFC title game, it lost in Denver following the 2015 season.
