Betting the NFC Championship Game – Trends, Tips and Trivia

In the United States, betting on football in January means NFC Championship action in the NFL. Sure, there are important NCAA college bowl games being played that month, but on the pro side, the AFC and NFC Championship games decide who plays for the NFL Championship. That makes these contests very hard-fought affairs. And after the conference championships are decided, there is only one last betting opportunity, the Super Bowl. So NFL bettors are no doubt going to have something riding on the National Football Conference Championship. Aside from the 41 - 0 blanking that the New York Giants gave the Minnesota Vikings in East Rutherford, New Jersey in the 2001 NFC Championship game, these contests are usually pretty tight. Let's take a closer look.

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NFC Champ Has Won 24 Super Bowls (55%) From 1970 to 2014

As we highlighted on our homepage, 5 of the last 7 NFC champs heading into the 2014 - 2015 season went on to win the Super Bowl that year. For savvy sports bettors looking for an edge in this important contest, in those 7 games the home team posted a 4 - 3 record. Since 1970, the first year that the NFC Championship Game was played, the winner of that contest has won 24 out of 44 Super Bowls. The San Francisco 49ers own a 6 - 9 record in NFC Championship contests and have appeared in more than any other team. Dallas has showed up 14 times, earning an 8 - 6 record, and the Los Angeles / St. Louis Rams are 3 - 6 in NFC championship play.

Bet on the NFC Champ to Win by 4.7 Points*

In the last 7 NFC championship games (again entering the 2014 – 2015 season) a total of just 33 points separates the winners from the losers.* That is an average victory of just 4.7 points per game, and none of those games was won by more than a touchdown. Keep that in mind when you are betting the NFC Title Game each year. Those types of stats are readily available online, and can help you make an intelligent NFL betting decision. In the 21st century, it may interest you to know that the favorite has won 7 of 14 contests against the spread (ATS), as has the underdog. So heading into the 2014 NFL regular season, there is no apparent edge by betting the favorite.

Betting the NFC Championship Over/Under Shows No Clear Favorite

For you totals bettors, recent NFC Championship play provides no apparent edge either. Whether you choose the over or under, from Super Bowl XXXV to Super Bowl XLVIII, 7 NFC Title contests have gone over the total, and 7 have gone under. That means if you are a savvy sports gambler looking to enjoy some legal online football betting during the National Football Conference Championship tilt, you have to dig a little deeper to find an advantage. How about this? When the NFC champ also went on to win the Super Bowl, going all the way back to the first such contest in 1970 all the way through 2014, they won the National Football Conference Title game by an average of 12.83 points. So basically, when the NFC Championship Game winner scores an almost 2 touchdown victory, they could be a safe bet to win the Super Bowl that year as well.

If NFC Champ Pitches a Shutout … Not So Good for Super Bowl Chances

Here is another one for you that might go against what you would immediately believe. Six times in NFC Championship Game history the title winner pitched a shutout. However, of those 6 impressive performances, which began in 1979 when the Dallas Cowboys beat the Los Angeles Rams 28 - 0, only twice has the victorious team won the Super Bowl. And those two teams arguably rank among the best of all time; the 1984 – 85 San Francisco 49ers and 1985 – 86 Chicago Bears. And for you numerologists, in an odd-ending year since 2001, only 2 of the 7 NFC Champs went on to win the Super Bowl, heading into the 2014 season. If you are betting the 2015 NFC Title Game, that might give you a little something to think about.

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