NFL

NFL Championship Games Betting Tips: Back experience to count in 8/5 Super Bowl match-up

The four NFL helmets ahead of the Championship Games
The Chiefs host the Bills and Commanders face the Eagles for a place in the Super Bowl

Paul Higham picks out who he thinks will make it through to the Super Bowl as he previews the NFC and AFC Championship games and picks out his best bets for Sunday's two showdowns...


And then there were four... It's Championship Game weekend when we'll find out who makes it rhough to Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans next month, and what a couple of games we have on the menu.

Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes renew their fantastic rivalry as the Buffalo Bills look to finally beat the Kansas City Chiefs when it matters, while the surprise package of the Washington Commanders look to make history and score another huge upset at the Phiadelphia Eagles.


Super Bowl Odds:


The Eagles are Super Bowl favourites since they're well fancied to beat the Commanders, while there's nothing between the Chiefs and Bills with the defending champions chasing a historic three-peat just about fancied.

These games could go either way though....

NFC Championship Game

Washington Commanders @ Philadelphia Eagles

(Sunday 20:00 kick-off)

Match Odds: 9/43.25 | 4/111.36
Spread: Eagles -6.5
Total Points: 47.5

Jayden Daniels is bidding to become the first rookie QB ever to play in the Super Bowl and the good news about facing NFC East rivals Philadelphia is he's already beaten them once this season - but the bad news is Philly have won nine in a row at home and seemingly hold all the aces.

Saquon Barkley rushed for 296 yards and four TDs in two games against the Commanders, who like the Rams last week bottled him up for large stretches but just couldn't avoid the big splash plays that make him such a threat.

Jalen Hurts will wear a knee brace and his limited mobility could be an issue, and if Washington get ahead he'll have to win this win in the air throwing to AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith - doubts over Dallas Goedert are another worry for Philly. But I fancy both teams to hit the 25 point mark at 7/24.50.

The Commanders slowed Barkley down when Hurts left their last meeting with concussion, so if he's struggling with that knee Washington will go all-out to stop the run, but Philly have enough about them to get their points - how Daniels deals with the Eagles' top-ranked defence is the killer question.

Daniels set a rookie QB record with 891 rushing yards this season and is the leading passer in the play-offs with 567 yards - but Jalen Carter will be in his face all night long and Daniels will have to get the ball out quickly or take off to try and keep the pash rush at bay.

So expect a lot of up-tempo stuff from Washington and a lot of pass attempts from Daniels, Zach Ertz will get plenty of catches and Dyami Brown has been a sneaky x-factor during the play-offs. You can double up Ertz with Barkley to both score touchdowns in a 4/15.00 Bet Builder.

The Commanders making the Super Bowl would be a huge story and they've certainly entertained us this season, but in Philly and with the Eagles so dominant on both lines I think they'll have just enough control to keep them at arm's length. 

Pick: Eagles


AFC Championship Game

Buffalo Bills @ Kansas City Chiefs

(Sunday 23:30 kick-off)

Match Odds: 11/102.11 | 8/111.73
Spread: Chiefs -1.5
Total Points: 48.5

The huge Mahomes v Allen showdown we all wanted. The Bills beat the Chiefs during the season and have generally looked more impressive throughout the campaign, yet they're slight underdogs here after losing three straight play-off games to their arch enemies. Buffalo have also lost five straight road play-off games overall.

Allen will put on a show, he always has even in those losses and he's cleaned up the mistakes this season, while the Bills have built a power ground game that helped them become the first team ever to score 30+ pash and rush TDs in a season.

I'd back Allen to throw two pass TDs & score one rush TD himself at 10/34.33 regardless of whether you're backing the Bills to win or lose.

The Bills have committed the fewest turnovers (8) this season and forced the most (35) - but the Chiefs have gone eight straight games without a turnover now, and with those 16 straight wins in one-score games comes comfort when the game goes down to the wire - which this surely will.

Travis Kelce will be the obvious danger but Mahomes will look to use Xavier Worthy's speed along with DeAndre Hopkins and Hollywood Brown's skills as even though their defence has been stellar they'll need to score points to keep pace with the Bills.

Buffalo have looked a different animal this season and this really is a coin toss that could come down to who has the ball last. But last week Baltimore committed big turnovers and then dropped the pass that could've forced overtime. 

Kansas City just don't make those mistakes with the game on the line - and so despite many experts backing the Bills, and with plenty of reason to going on their roster and performance this season, I'm backing the intagible of that winning mentality to get Kansas City over the line - yet again. 

Pick: Chiefs


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