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Sam Panayotovich
FOX Sports Betting Analyst
This Sunday at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium, the unstoppable force must upset the immovable object to make his fourth Super Bowl appearance.
Obviously, Patrick Mahomes is the former and the Ravens are the latter.
Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs are 3.5-point underdogs against the top-seeded Ravens and some Las Vegas sportsbooks are out to -4. At the end of the day, though, Mahomes is the great equalizer to balance the betting action.
Not only is Mahomes making his sixth straight appearance in the AFC Championship, he’s right back in a role where he makes you money. The Chiefs have been an underdog only 11 times since September 2018, and they’re 8-3 straight up and 9-1-1 against the spread.
There will be a hungering appetite to bet Kansas City this weekend.
“Mahomes getting points is tough to pass up,” Golden Nugget executive sportsbook director Tony Miller told FOX Sports. “I know they’re on the road, playing outside in the cold again. And I know they’re up against the hottest team in the NFL with a great quarterback and a great coach.
“But Mahomes and Andy Reid can never be counted out.”
All of that said, doesn’t Baltimore feel a tad undervalued? The Ravens are clearly the highest power rated team in the AFC, and they’ve been walloping teams at full strength for two-and-a-half months.
The Christmas Night destruction of the 49ers in San Francisco was as impressive as it gets, when Baltimore led by 21 points with seven minutes to go.
The Ravens’ top-rated defense is also a major step up in competition from the decimated Dolphins’ unit and the battered Bills’ secondary. Baltimore’s D is truly elite, and it checks all the boxes in terms of advanced metrics.
“I wouldn’t say they’re underrated,” Miller argued. “They’re playing the best football right now. Lamar Jackson is the MVP and John Harbaugh has a Super Bowl trophy under his belt. A team like that…
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/2024-afc-championship-odds-mahomes-getting-points-is-tough-to-pass-up
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Publish date : 2024-01-26 15:07:16
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