And then there were 4… Championship week in the NFL is here, which means by the end of it we will know the 2 teams who will collide in the Super Bowl for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. Sunday’s festivities will get started with the #1 seed Baltimore Ravens hosting the Kansas City Chiefs for the AFC title. The NFC Championship pits the top-seeded San Francisco 49ers against the Detroit Lions.
Make sure you check out our NFL predictions as we add our picks on the side and total for every game. We’re up +52.1 units on our NFL picks this season, so you don’t want to miss what our expert handicappers are rolling with! For now, let’s break down the NFL championship weekend opening lines and give our best early bet to make.
NFL championship weekend opening lines and odds
Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing.
Kansas City Chiefs +3 (-105) vs Baltimore Ravens -3 (-115) – Sunday, 3:00 pm ET, CBS
Detroit Lions +7 (-115) vs San Francisco 49ers -7 (-105) – Sunday, 6:30 pm ET, FOX
Best early bet for the NFL championship weekend games: Detroit Lions +7 over San Francisco 49ers (-110)
I backed the Lions -6 in this opening lines piece for the Divisional Round, and that proved to be a winner. I’m going right back to the well this week. A full touchdown is simply too much to give to a Detroit team that has won 5 of its last 6 games. During this stretch, its only loss is on the road against Dallas, and that was a controversial 20-19 thriller. The Lions then beat a red-hot Rams squad before taking care of the Buccaneers on Sunday. Jared Goff has been interception-free in 5 of the last 6 contests, while the Aidan Hutchinson-led defense has not allowed more than 24 points in any of the last 6.
It goes without saying that the 49ers are lucky to be here. Anyone who watched the game against Green Bay knows San Francisco should have lost. The Packers failed to capitalize on opportunity after opportunity. That allowed the Niners to stay in the game despite Brock Purdy looking shaky throughout, and finally Purdy (and Christian McCaffrey) came up big on the final drive. San Fran is obviously a great team and may be able to win outright, but this feels like a championship game that will go down to the wire.