NFC Championship Odds: Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers Cofavorites

Posted on: January 12, 2023, 04:29h. 

Last updated on: January 12, 2023, 12:53h.

Pauly McGuire Read More
Expertise: Sports Betting, Sports.

The Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers are close cofavorites to win the NFC Championship, with the Eagles at +175 odds and the 49ers at +180 odds to win the conference and advance to Super Bowl LVII.

Jalen Hurts Philadelphia Eagles NFC Championship Odds San Francisco 49ers Dallas Cowboys Giants Seahawks Vikings
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, seen here attempting a pass against the New York Giants, led the Eagles to the best record in the NFC this season. (Image: AP)

The Los Angeles Rams won the 2021 NFC Championship and Super Bowl LVI, but they failed to advance to this year’s postseason.

The 49ers lost to the Rams in last year’s NFC Championship, which featured two NFC West teams. The 49ers head into this postseason as the hottest team in the NFL after winning 10 games in a row, including five straight games with a rookie quarterback.

Team NFC Championship Odds
Philadelphia Eagles +175
San Francisco 49ers +180
Dallas Cowboys +500
Tampa Bay Buccaneers +1000
Minnesota Vikings +1200
New York Giants +2500
Seattle Seahawks +3000

The AFC has three elite teams, but the NFC is wide-open without a truly dominant team. If anyone from the NFC gets hot, they could run the table to win the conference championship and lock up a trip to the Super Bowl. This exact scenario was experienced by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers two postseasons ago, and happened to the Rams last year.

Philadelphia Eagles +175

  • NFC Playoff Seed: #1
  • Record: 14-3
  • Super Bowl LVII Odds: +550

Head coach Nick Sirianni guided the Eagles to a wild-card berth last year, but they were knocked out in the first round by the Bucs. The Eagles got their first taste of the postseason. But their next step is to win a playoff game, and their primary goal is to win the NFC Championship and advance to the Super Bowl.

The Eagles enter the postseason with an ailing quarterback. Jalen Hurts sustained a late-season shoulder injury. But the first-round bye provides Hurts an extra week to heal.

The top-seeded Eagles await the winner of the #4 Tampa Bay Bucs vs. #5 Dallas Cowboys first-round matchup. The Cowboys and Eagles played each other twice this season as NFC East rivals. They split the regular season series, with the Eagles losing to the Cowboys in Week 16 with backup quarterback Gardner Minshew starting in place of Hurts.

The 49ers have shorter Super Bowl odds compared to the Eagles (+550 vs. +500). But the Eagles have slightly better odds to win the NFC Championship (+175 vs. +180).

San Francisco 49ers +180

  • NFC Playoff Seed: #2
  • Record: 13-4
  • Super Bowl LVII Odds: +500

The 49ers have appeared in the NFC Championship game five times since 2011. They won the conference title twice and advanced to the Super Bowl, where they were the runner-up three times. Under Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers are 1-1 in the NFC title games with a victory in 2019 and a runner-up finish last season.

The 49ers lost starting quarterback Trey Lance to a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2. Backup quarterback and last season’s starter, Jimmy Garoppolo, suffered a foot injury in Week 13. The 49ers relied on a third-string quarterback for their final five games. Rookie Brock Purdy, dubbed Mr. Irrelevant as the last player selected in the 2022 NFL Draft, won all five of his starts. Purdy and a strong offensive unit helped the 49ers extend their winning streak to 10 games in a row.

Although Garoppolo could return at some point in the postseason, Purdy is slated to start in the Divisional Round. Purdy doesn’t have to do all the work by himself. He has multiple offensive weapons at his disposal, including running back Christian McCaffrey, tight end George Kittle, and wide receiver Deebo Samuel.

The #2 49ers and #7 Seahawks kick off Wild Card Weekend festivities as the first game on Saturday afternoon. The two NFC West foes met twice before, and the 49ers won both games by a combined score of 48-20.

The 49ers are -9.5 favorites against the Seahawks, and they covered the point spread in both victories this season. They were one of the top betting teams in the NFL this season, with an 11-6 record against the spread.

Dallas Cowboys +500

  • NFC Playoff Seed: #5
  • Record: 12-5
  • Super Bowl LVII Odds: +1200

The Cowboys haven’t appeared in the NFC Championship since the 1995 season during their last Super Bowl run, when Troy Aikman was their quarterback. The Cowboys advanced to the NFC Championship in four-straight years in the early 1990s, but haven’t gotten past the Divisional Round since those glory days.

Behind the scenes, the Cowboys are desperate to win one more Super Bowl before owner Jerry Jones passes away, but time is running out. Without a truly dominant team in the NFC this season, the Cowboys hope they get hot and blaze a clear path to their first Super Bowl in 27 years.

The Cowboys won 12 games, but only secured a wild-card berth because they were in the same division as the Eagles. With the #5 seed, they have a not-so-enviable matchup against Tom Brady and the #4 Tampa Bucs in the first round. Even though the Bucs have a losing record, you never want to face Brady in the postseason. He’s considered the GOAT for a reason.

The Cowboys lost to the Bucs in the first game of the season. But that Week 1 meeting had the vibe of a preseason game, so it’s easy to dismiss the result.

The Cowboys are the only road team in the NFC that’s a favorite during Wild Card Weekend. Oddsmakers opened the Cowboys as a -3 favorite against the Bucs, but the line is now -2.5

Tampa Bay Bucs +1000

  • NFC Playoff Seed: #4
  • Record: 8-9
  • Super Bowl LVII Odds: +2800

Tom Brady would love to win one more Super Bowl before he retires. However, this year’s Bucs might be Brady’s weakest playoff squad. They secured an automatic postseason berth as the NFC South division winner despite a losing record at 8-9. As a division champ, the Bucs were awarded the #4 seed and will host a playoff game on their home turf.

The Bucs find themselves as a +2.5 road dog against the visiting Cowboys. In the first week of the season, the Bucs edged out the Cowboys. That game happened so long ago, it’s as relevant as a preseason game.

The Bucs were the worst betting team in the NFL this season with a 4-12-1 against the spread (ATS) record.

Minnesota Vikings +1200

  • NFC Playoff Seed: #3
  • Record: 13-4
  • Super Bowl LVII Odds: +3500

If you live outside of Minnesota, there’s a good chance you think the Vikings are a fluke. Quarterback Kirk Cousins is a magnet for hate, even from his own fan base.

Cousins and the Vikings have a chance to silence all of their detractors by winning the NFC Championship and advancing to the Super Bowl. Of course, if the Vikings falter at any time this postseason, all of the haters and trolls will be quick to scream, “I told you so!”

First-year head coach Kevin O’Connell inspired Cousins and the Vikings to believe in themselves this season. Now, they’re only three more wins away from securing a trip to Super Bowl LVII, and just four wins away from winning their first-ever Super Bowl. The Vikings never won a title in the Super Bowl era. They were the last team to win the NFL championship in 1969 prior to the merger with the AFL.

Oddsmakers and bettors are skeptical of the Vikings despite them clinching the NFC North with 13 wins. The Vikings are the fifth-highest team on the futures board to win the NFC Championship at +1200 odds, even though only the Eagles won more games than them this season.

The #3 Vikings are a -3 favorite against the #6 Giants on Sunday. The Vikings will attempt to beat the Giants for the second time within a four-week span. In Week 16, the Vikings narrowly defeated the Giants thanks to a last-second field goal.

New York Giants +2500

  • NFC Playoff Seed: #6
  • Record: 9-7-1
  • Super Bowl LVII Odds: +5500

Even the most die-hard Giants fan never would’ve imagined they’d advance to the postseason with Daniel Jones as their quarterback. Credit rookie head coach Brian Daboll for turning around Jones and the Giants, and putting them in a position to succeed every time they stepped on the field.

The Giants had a hot start at 6-1, but quickly cooled off when they ran out of gas in the second half of the season. They were only 2-5-1 in their final eight games, and three of those five losses were decided by eight points or less.

The Giants are one of three teams from the NFC East that qualified for the postseason, including the Eagles and Cowboys. The last three times that an NFC East team won the conference championship, they’d eventually go on to win the Super Bowl.

The winner of the #6 Giants vs. #3 Vikings meets the winner of the #2 49ers vs. #7 Seahawks in the NFC Divisional Round next weekend. The Giants begin the postseason as one of the long shots on the board to win the NFC Championship at +2500 odds.

The Giants lost a tough road game to the Vikings by three points in Week 16. They’ll head back to Minneapolis for a rematch. The Giants are only a +3 underdog against a Vikings squad that won 13 games. In betting terms, the Giants had the best ATS record this season with a 13-4 clip.

Seattle Seahawks +3000

  • NFC Playoff Seed: #7
  • Record: 9-8
  • Super Bowl LVII Odds: +7000

The Seahawks more than exceeded everyone’s expectations by earning a postseason berth. After they traded former All-Pro quarterback Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos, many experts figured the Seahawks would be competing for the #1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. However, the Seahawks didn’t collapse, and secured a playoff berth with a 9-8 record. Meanwhile, the Broncos had an awful season with a 4-13 record, and a banged-up Wilson struggled in his first year with a new team.

Quarterback Geno Smith, Wilson’s backup the previous season, had a stellar season as the Seahawks’ starter. Smith is now one of the cofavorites to win the 2022 NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

The streaky Seahawks ran hot and cold all season. They started out 2-3 before they won four games in a row and seized first place in the NFC West. The Seahawks struggled after their bye week and tumbled out of first place after losing four out of five games. They finished the season with a two-game winning streak to secure a wild-card berth.

The Seahawks are +7000 odds as the long shot on the board to win Super Bowl LVII, and they’re also a long shot to win the NFC Championship at +3000 odds.