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NFL Playoffs: Divisional Round Shocks Shake Up Super Bowl Betting


One of the best weekend’s of NFL action in some time? I’d certainly say so!

All four games from the Divisional Round delivered exactly as expected, drama, quality play, big-time decision making and more. What they didn’t deliver is the results we expected.

Three of the four favourites were beaten, and the other, the Kansas City Chiefs, were taken into overtime before beating the Buffalo Bills.

After a wild weekend, the Super Bowl betting has changed dramatically, so let’s take a look at where we stand now.

Kansas City Chiefs New Super Bowl Favourites

The Kansas City Cheifs, the only favourite to win over the weekend, are now favourites to lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy in February.

Led by Patrick Mahomes, who was incredible on Sunday night, the Chiefs are 13/10 with William Hill and lead the betting market.

Winners two years ago, losing finalists last year, the Chiefs have far more experience at this stage of the season than any of the other three, and that will certainly help them.

Next up, an AFC Championship game where they have home field advantage against the Cincinnati Bengals.

LA Rams Dump Buccs and Brady

The LA Rams were in cruise control for the first half of their tussle against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, a meltdown in the second half made things much closer than they needed to be.

Just when the Buccs were back, Matthew Stafford made a great play and held his nerve to set up the chance for LA to score a winning field goal, which they did.

Complain all you like about their performance in the second half, the key here is they went from being well ahead to tied, but instead of folding, found a way back, and that takes great team courage and belief.

The Rams are now second favourites for the Super Bowl, and have home field advantage in the NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers.

49ers Stun Rodgers and the Packers

Of the games last weekend, the Green Bay Packers were the strongest favourites to take to the field, but failed to fire after an early score, and were eventually beaten by the San Francisco 49ers.

What the 49ers impressed with was their ability to keep one of the best offensive groups to a low score, and next up, they have to do the same with a Rams team that scored freely for most of their game against the Buccs.

The 49ers are different to most, built on strong defensive play and a very wild and varied offence that has many tricks waiting to happen, can they keep going and get by the Rams on Sunday?

Bengals See Off Top Seed Titans

While the Tennessee Titans may not have been the strongest top seed we have ever seen in the AFC, they earnt that title, though the Cincinnati Bengals didn’t seem phased by it on Saturday.

The Bengals won a tight game, scoring a field goal to win it, and that was despite giving quarterback Joe Burrow no help at all during the game.

He was sacked nine times after huge pressure from the Titans defence. The Bengals now face the Kansas City Chiefs, who shouldn’t put as much pressure on Burrow, can the Bengals cause another big shock and win?

Craig Jones

Craig Jones

Content Manager on Freebets. Experienced punter, from back street, smoke filled betting shops in the 2000s, to state of the art, dedicated betting apps of the 2020s. Covering the gambling industry with expert opinion and looking at the latest innovations.