NFC Championship Betting Line and Trends
The Philadelphia Eagles (14-3) have never lost in the playoffs as home underdogs, going 4-0 straight up following a 15-10 win over the Atlanta Falcons in the Divisional Round last week.
However, the top-seeded Eagles will have an even bigger challenge in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game as consensus three-point home underdogs against the second-seeded Minnesota Vikings (14-3) at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Despite being seeded lower, the Vikings are definitely perceived as the better team, with most of the success of the Eagles this season attributed to MVP candidate Carson Wentz, who is out with a torn ACL suffered in Week 14 versus the Los Angeles Rams.
But it was actually backup Nick Foles that put Philadelphia in position to host the NFC title game, relieving Wentz and leading the team to a victory at Los Angeles. If the Eagles lose that game to the Rams, then they would be visiting Minnesota this week.
Foles and counterpart Case Keenum for the Vikings will no doubt be one of the biggest stories the week leading up to the game, but how each team’s defense limits those signal-callers will ultimately determine who plays at U.S. Bank Stadium in Super Bowl 52 on February 4.
When Keenum has played this year, Minnesota has gone 13-3 straight up and 10-6 against the spread. Keenum clearly has more experience under center this season, but Foles has been in the league longer.
Philadelphia has history on its side though, especially in this series. The Eagles have gone 9-3 SU in the past 12 meetings with the Vikings, according to the OddsShark NFL Database, covering 11 of the previous 14 games between the teams dating back to 1985.
In addition, Minnesota may have the added pressure of trying to win in order to host the Super Bowl in its home stadium.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia players like Lane Johnson and Chris Long have enjoyed wearing dog masks and encouraged fans to do the same at the game to mock the team’s status as underdogs. The Eagles are having fun with how they continue to be viewed in the eyes of oddsmakers, using that as added motivation to pull off another upset Sunday.
