Of all the things to know about NFC Championship game betting, the most important one is not falling in love with trends or specific numbers. Instead, it is vital to put this information into context with the big picture of the game actually being played this weekend.
For example, home teams have won outright in six of the past eight NFC Championship games. However, away teams are 2-1 in the last three years. It would have been easy to pick the Green Bay Packers based on the first state last season, but when you looked at the bigger picture, ignoring it and going with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made more sense. We even told you so.
That brings us to this year’s showdown between the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams. At the moment, LA is favored with the line sitting at -3.5 and the over/under being 46.5. Before partaking in some football betting, here are a trio of things you should know about NFC Championship game betting in 2022.
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3 things to know about NFC Championship game betting
1) Divisions mean nothing
There is a desire in some circles to focus on this as a matchup of divisional rivals and the hyped “third game” phenomenon. This is pure non-sense. Since 1985, the NFC Championship game has featured two teams from the same division on three occasions. Hardly a large enough sample size to make any conclusions.
Digging deeper doesn’t offer any clarification. Home teams are 2-1. Only one time did a season sweep come into play and that happened all the way back in 1986-87. The Giants and Washington Football Team faced off with the former having won both regular season contests. New York won in the playoffs too, sweeping their rivals and advancing to the Super Bowl.
2) Underdogs overperform
Underdogs have won outright in three of the past four NFC Championship games and are 8-6 against the spread over the past 13 seasons. One thing to note, only once (2008–09) in the past 30 years has the NFC Championship game featured two sides that played on Wild Card Weekend.
3) The over has paid off
Perhaps the most important thing to know about NFC Championship game betting is that the over pays off. Six of the last seven and 12 of the previous 16 NFC title deciders have gone over. In 2022, the number has been set at 46.5. That’s the same total as the Rams and 49ers week 18 clash which went over.
However, the O/U for their week 10 encounter was 50 and that went under. Of course, that was Los Angeles’ worst offensive game of the season. Given the defensive injuries to both teams and the favorable weather conditions, all signs point to the NFC Championship game going over once again.
