Bengals, Eagles Drawing Early Money for NFL Championship Weekend

With the NFL down to four teams, bets have already started coming ahead of the conference championships this weekend.

The Cincinnati Bengals upset the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round and will now take on the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. The Chiefs handled their business against the Jacksonville Jaguars but find themselves as two-point home underdogs to the Bengals. 

The other side of the bracket had the Philadelphia Eagles thump the New York Giants, while the San Francisco 49ers came out victorious over the Dallas Cowboys. Philadelphia opened as two-point favorites over the 49ers, but that number has since increased to three and back down to 2.5. 

• Highest Ticket% ATS: Philadelphia Eagles 80%
• Highest Handle% ATS: Philadelphia Eagles 84%
• Highest Ticket% ML: Cincinnati Bengals 85%
• Highest Handle% ML: Cincinnati Bengals 76%

The early tickets and money have come in relatively heavy on both Cincinnati and Philadelphia. Joe Burrow’s Bengals are looking to make their second consecutive trip to the Super Bowl, and they’ll need to beat Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs for the fourth straight meeting.

Cincy appears to have the formula to take down KC, and the betting market is consistent with that thought process. The Bengals have generated action with their odds on the spread and moneyline. With a small spread, it’s nearly a pick’em game for the AFC Championship.

The Bengals have seen 77% of tickets and 81% of the handle go towards them, in addition to 85% of tickets and 76% of the handle toward their moneyline odds of -105. Serious steam has helped push Cincy from a 1.5-point underdog to a 2-point favorite in less than 48 hours.

With home-field advantage in the NFC Championship Game, the Eagles also draw substantial interest in the early betting market. After an impressive performance over their division rival, Philly is attracting bettors.

The Eagles have won two of their last three games against the 49ers and look like a team ready to take the next step. Philadelphia has seen 80% of tickets and 84% of the handle backing them as favorites, while 44% of tickets and 74% of the money aligns with their moneyline odds of -150.

With the sizable gap between the tickets coming in towards the Eagles on the moneyline and the overall money, some big bets have already been placed on Philly to win the game outright.