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Large percentage of bets are on the Bengals and Eagles early in the week

There are six days for bettors to take a side on the AFC and NFC championship games, but those who like getting on a side early have clear preferences.

According to BetMGM, more than 80 percent of the money bet on the conference championship games is on the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC and the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC.

There are a lot of bets still to come and those numbers could change drastically before kickoff on Sunday. But it’s interesting to see that bettors jumped all over those two teams when the spreads were released.

Eagles get most of the NFC action

The Eagles are coming off a dominant win over the New York Giants, but it’s still a bit surprising to see them getting almost all of the early money from bettors.

The Eagles opened as 1.5-point favorites and it quickly moved to 2.5. That’s due to bets on the Eagles. As of Monday morning, 80 percent of bets and 84 percent of the money wagered on the spread was on Philadelphia.

The odds on the Eagles -2.5 had shifted from -110 to -115, indicating that the line might be close to moving again, to Eagles -3.

The 49ers have been very good to bettors, covering the spread in nine of their last 10 games. They covered again versus the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday as well. But Philadelphia has been very good all season and a huge performance on Saturday night against the Giants has bettors rushing to get the Eagles before the line gets to a field goal or higher.

The home favorite is getting the attention in the NFC game, but the opposite is the case in the AFC.

Early bettors for the conference championship games like the Philadelphia Eagles and quarterback Jalen Hurts.  (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Early bettors for the conference championship games like the Philadelphia Eagles and quarterback Jalen Hurts. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

AFC bettors like the Bengals

Perhaps due to Patrick Mahomes’ ankle injury, early bettors are fading the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Chiefs also opened up as 1.5-point favorites versus the Bengals, but that has moved to -1 based on early action. The Bengals are getting 81 percent of the early money bet on the spread for the AFC title game.

The Chiefs are a team casual bettors like to back, but the Bengals are hot after soundly beating the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. The Chiefs didn’t cover against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday but that was partially due to Mahomes’ health.

Mahomes suffered a high ankle sprain in the first quarter and was clearly affected after that. Bettors like the idea of ​​taking Burrow and a peaking Bengals team over an injured Mahomes. It doesn’t hurt that Cincinnati has won three in a row against Kansas City, including last season’s AFC championship game. That line could also keep moving the Bengals’ way.

Most of the bets for the two conference championship games won’t come in until the weekend. Some bettors knew right away who they liked.