Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers Enter NFL Playoffs as Bettors’ Super Bowl Favorites

Posted on: January 5, 2021, 12:20h. 

Last updated on: January 5, 2021, 01:09h.

Bill Huber Read More

Expertise: Sports Betting, Sports.

The Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs met in Super Bowl I. Now they may have a rematch in the 55th Super Bowl next month. But who do sports bettors think will win the championship?

The Chiefs were the Super Bowl favorites entering the NFL season, and they’re the favorites heading into the playoffs.

The Packers, with presumptive MVP Aaron Rodgers, finished 13-3 to gain the No. 1 seed in the NFC. They are +450 at PointsBet, +500 at William Hill, +550 at BetMGM, and +600 at Westgate SuperBook.

Super Bowl Championship Odds

While it’s not reflected in the odds, the Chiefs might have the more difficult path to the championship. The AFC is the superior conference, and the Chiefs have struggled a bit. Before losing last week with superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes getting the day off, each of their last seven wins had come by six points or less.

 The Packers have an easier path through the NFC than anybody in the AFC, with the Chiefs having to deal with the Bills and the Ravens and the Steelers,” said Andrew Mannino, the senior sports content analyst at PointsBet, to Casino.org. “In the NFC, Seattle’s a very good team, New Orleans is a very good team. But I think this is shaping up to be Green Bay’s conference.”

At William Hill, Kansas City leads the way in the number of tickets (12 percent) and total dollars wagered (25 percent).

“We expect Kansas City to be favored no matter who they play, and I’d imagine that bettors will be getting behind them,” Mannino said. “I think people really like Buffalo. They’ve got a few guys putting up highlight-reel performances week after week, and it just feels like a special year for Buffalo, and I think bettors are responding to that.”

Extra Playoff Games

The NFL added two teams to the playoffs as a way to produce extra revenue. That was good news for the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears, who would have had their lockers cleaned out by now. It’s also good news for sportsbooks. Rather than four games on Wild Card Weekend, there will be six games on what’s being called Super Wild Card Weekend.

Because of the typical Week 17 uncertainty over which stars would play and which stars would sit, handle at PointsBet was down 20 percent compared to the previous week. That will more than rebound this week with a two-day extravaganza of playoff games.

There’s sort of an attitude that I think goes along with fantasy football, where people shy away from Week 17,” Mannino said. “They assume starters won’t be playing on good teams, so they don’t have the same confidence in betting on winning teams that they do during the rest of the regular season and the playoffs. We expect it to bounce up significantly for the wild-card round.”

On Saturday, the Indianapolis Colts will play at the Buffalo Bills, the Seattle Seahawks will host the Los Angeles Rams, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will visit the Washington Football Team.

On Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens will visit the Tennessee Titans, the New Orleans Saints will host the Chicago Bears, and the Cleveland Browns will play at the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Washington-Tampa Bay game will be noteworthy for at least two William Hill bettors. Washington, which won the NFC East with a 7-9 record, is a long shot to win the Super Bowl.

That didn’t stop one bettor from betting $2,000 on Washington at +12500, for a potential payout of $252,000. Another bettor put down $40,000 on Tampa Bay at +1200 for a potential payout of $520,000. Tampa, Fla., is hosting this year’s championship game.