In what might appear a bit surprising at first, the Minnesota Vikings NFC Championship odds have opened at 9/5, which makes them the clear-cut favorite to win the conference in the eyes of Las Vegas bookmakers. So why are the #2-seeded NFC Central champs favorite over the #1-seeded Philadelphia Eagles?
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Both teams finished with identical 13-3 records, although to be fair the Eagles pulled many of their starters in a meaningless final-season tilt against the Dallas Cowboys that saw Philly suffer defeat 6-0.
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The first wave of bookmaker's NFC championship odds before Wild Card weekend has made one thing incredibly clear: Las Vegas does not trust Eagles' backup quarterback Nick Foles as he attempts to replace the MVP-type shoes left void after Carson Wentz went down late in a critical 43-35 win over the Los Angeles Rams on December 10.
Vegas has the Minnesota Vikings NFC championship odds at 9/5, which is considerably better than the Eagles at 3/1 despite the fact Philly is the #1 seed. One has to wonder how Foles' clunker of a first half against Dallas last weekend altered bookmaker's thinking.
As an example: Before Foles' awful performance, the Eagles had 8/1 odds to win Super Bowl LII. Today they are listed as 10/1 even with home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Eagles will open their Divisional round against either New Orleans, Carolina, or Atlanta. If the betting public starts to lay down heavy money on one of those three teams, you can expect the Eagles' odds to go down while Minnesota's continues to climb the ladder.
If you like the Vikings to win the NFC and play Super Bowl LII at home in February, now might be the time to jump on them.
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Minnesota Vikings NFC Championship Odds
Along with the 9/5 odds Vegas has favored the Vikings at, here are the rest of the odds to win the NFC title for the 2017-2018 season. Odds are updated continuously by Vegas Insider and will most likely change slightly as bettors lay money down during Wild Card weekend and teams get eliminated.
Team | Odds |
Minnesota Vikings | 9/5 |
Philadelphia Eagles | 3/1 |
New Orleans Saints | 5/1 |
Los Angeles Rams | 5/1 |
Atlanta Falcons | 10/1 |
Carolina Panthers | 12/1 |