NFL conference championship game odds: Early action favors Eagles, Bengals

Less than 48 hours have passed since NFL Conference Championship Game odds hit betting boards across the land. And in that short time frame, a solid consensus opinion has formed within the wagering community.

That opinion: We’re headed for an Eagles vs. Bengals matchup in Super Bowl LVII.

Here’s a look at all the early NFL Conference Championship Game odds moves and betting action for Sunday’s 49ers vs. Eagles and Bengals vs. Chiefs showdowns.

Odds updated as of 3:15 p.m. ET on Jan. 24.

The Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers have been on an NFC Championship Game collision course seemingly for months.

In fact, you can probably count on one hand — and maybe one foot — the number of NFL bettors who truly believed the Eagles (15-3) and 49ers (15-4) wouldn’t end up duking it out for a spot in next month’s Super Bowl.

Now that the inevitable has happened, though, we’ve seen an interesting twist in the betting market.

A week ago, Super Bowl and conference championship futures odds suggested that Philadelphia and San Francisco were essentially dead even. And if there was a market lean, it was in the direction of the 49ers, who are riding an NFL-best 12-game winning streak.

In fact, after sitting behind the Eagles all season, San Francisco last week passed by Philadelphia — albeit barely — in odds to win the Super Bowl at multiple prominent sportsbooks.

» READ MORE: Sizing up some early Eagles-49ers NFC championship betting props

However, after the Eagles hammered the New York Giants 38-7 on Saturday night and the 49ers got past Dallas 19-12 about 24 hours later, Philadelphia was installed as the NFC Championship Game betting favorite.

Most shops opened the host Eagles anywhere from -1.5 to -2. But after being inundated with Philly money, those shops quickly moved to -2.5.

That remains the consensus point spread — although several sportsbooks on Monday jumped to as high as Philadelphia -3 (-105) before dialing back to -2.5 (-115).

One of the books that briefly flashed Eagles -3 was BetMGM. And understandably so.

Since opening Philadelphia as a 2-point favorite late Sunday, the vast majority of BetMGM’s point spread action has been on the home team. As of early Tuesday afternoon, BetMGM reported that 77% of all wagers placed and a whopping 87% of all dollars collected were on the Eagles.

Meanwhile, the opening moneyline price varied from sportsbook to sportsbook but was generally in the Philadelphia -140 to -150 range, with San Francisco catching between +115 and +125 odds to win outright.

At BetMGM, the moneyline opened Eagles -140/49ers +115 and is now at Eagles -150/49ers +125. The action is split, though, with 59% of the moneyline tickets on San Francisco but 66% of the dollars on Philadelphia.

The total mostly bounced between 45.5 and 46 early on. The consensus is now 46, with FanDuel on the high side at 46.5.

As for the action on the total, BetMGM on Tuesday reported that 66% of the bets and 75% of the money it has taken has been on the Under.

While the point spread for the NFC Championship Game has more or less been as steady as a merry-go-round, the AFC Championship Game number has gone on a wild, high-speed roller coaster ride — without a safety harness.

As the Bengals were putting the finishing touches on their 27-10 upset victory over the Bills in Buffalo on Sunday afternoon — thus setting up a second straight Cincinnati-Kansas City AFC title game — several books opened the Chiefs as a 3-point home favorite.

That number disappeared in an instant, as both public and sharp bettors pounced on underdog Cincinnati. Their reasoning: the uncertain status of Kansas City star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who suffered a severe ankle injury in his team’s 27-20 divisional round win over Jacksonville.

» READ MORE: Super Bowl Odds: Eagles take over as favorites to win Super Bowl LVII, according to at least one sportsbook

As the Bengals’ money poured in, the point spread not only dropped but some shops briefly flipped to Cincy as a 1-point road favorite.

By Sunday night and into Monday morning, Kansas City was back in the point spread driver’s seat as a consensus 1.5-point favorite.

That number then toggled between Chiefs -1.5 and Chiefs -1 for several hours before jumping the fence yet again — first to Bengals -1, then Bengals -1.5.

Now? Cincinnati — which went to Kansas City a year ago and beat a healthy Mahomes 27-24 to earn the franchise’s third Super Bowl berth — is up to a consensus 2.5-point road favorite.

That’s the number customers can find at BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook and FanDuel.

As for the point spread action at BetMGM, 78% of all wagers and 81% of all dollars favored the Bengals by midday Tuesday.

Like the spread, the Cincinnati-Kansas City moneyline has been all over the place. It’s currently ranging from a high of Bengals -140 (Chiefs +118) to a low of Bengals -130 (Chiefs +110).

BetMGM — which opened K.C. -140/Cincinnati +120 and is now at Cincinnati -135/K.C. +115 — reports that 78% of the moneyline bets and 77% of the cash is on the visitors.

As for the AFC Championship Game total, the number has dipped from a consensus opener of 47.5 to the current consensus of 46.5 — mostly amid concerns about Mahomes’ health.

BetMGM opened on the high side at 48.5 but has since dropped 2.5 points. However, while 67% of BetMGM’s tickets are on the Over, 58% of the money is siding with the Under.

» READ MORE: Full sports betting coverage from The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Inquirer is not an online gambling operator, or a gambling site. We provide this information about sports betting for entertainment purposes only.