Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has never been an underdog in his illustrious 12-game postseason NFL career, but that could change by the time the AFC Championship Game kicks off on Sunday.
The Chiefs held off the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-20 on Saturday, but failed to cover the 9.5-point spread. After the Cincinnati Bengals dominated the Buffalo Bills 27-10 on Sunday afternoon, the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook opened the AFC title game with a line of Chiefs -3 vs. the Bengals. It quickly moved down to pick-em at several books, with the line even moving to the Bengals as a slight favorite at Westgate. The consensus spread on Sunday night at sportsbooks was a pick-em; DraftKings had the line at Chiefs -1.
Mahomes is 9-3 straight-up in his postseason career, but only 7-5 ATS.
In the NFC, the No. 1-seeded Philadelphia Eagles easily dispatched the New York Giants 38-7, covering as 8-point favorites on Saturday night. After the San Francisco 49ers beat the Dallas Cowboys 19-12 (covering as 4-point favorites) on Sunday, several sportsbooks opened with the Eagles a 1.5-point home favorite against the 49ers and a total of 45 or 45.5. That line quickly moved to a consensus number of Eagles -2 on Sunday night, with DraftKings and a few others dealing Eagles -2.5.
Unders went 4-0 in the Divisional Round.
There were several big bets over the weekend, but none bigger than Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale, who had $2 million in money-line wagers on the Cowboys. He has now lost his last two big wagers, as he was heavily invested in TCU to win the College Football Playoff against Georgia.