The Seattle Seahawks’ win over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game impressed the sportsbooks enough to make them the opening favourites on the odds to win Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2.
But only for a few hours.
With the line established, a ton of early money came in on Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos, who quickly became 2.5-point favourites. The spread has remained steady throughout the week.
"The recent trends point to NFC and underdogs, both of which would favour the Seahawks, but we have a motivated Manning who probably sees this as a final chance to tie little brother Eli in Super Bowl victories," Jack Randall of OddsShark.com said.
This matchup was the early Super Bowl betting choice before the playoffs even started, ahead of all the other potential matchups.
Seattle knocked off San Francisco 23-17 in the NFC Championship game, with Marshawn Lynch rushing for 109 yards and a touchdown while Russell Wilson went 16 of 25 for 215 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
The Seahawks have been favoured in all but one of their games so far this season; they were underdogs in San Francisco back on December 8 when they fell to the Niners 19-17 at plus-2.5 on the NFL odds. Going back to 2011, Seattle has been very tough as an underdog, churning a profitable 17-3-1 against-the-spread mark.
Overall the Seahawks have records of 15-3 straight and 12-6 against the spread heading into the Super Bowl, with the OVER/UNDER going 6-12 for totals bettors at the sportsbooks.
The Broncos bounced the New England Patriots 26-16 in the AFC Championship Game, with Peyton Manning completing 32 of his 43 pass attempts for 400 yards with two touchdowns in that contest.
Demaryius Thomas was Manning’s favourite target in that game, with seven receptions for 134 yards and a touchdown for the Broncos in that victory.
Denver has been pegged as the favourite on the NFL odds in each and every one of their first 18 games leading up to the Super Bowl, and they’re 15-3 straight up and 11-7 against the spread in those contests. The Broncos have overall been strong on the OVER, going 11-7 on the OVER/UNDER in 18 games.
However, Denver has played in five straight UNDERs heading into the Super Bowl.
And looking at the overall Super Bowl betting trends, the NFC has had the edge recently at 5-1 against the spread in the last six championship games, although last year the AFC broke up their run when the Ravens topped the Niners 34-31 as a four-point underdog.
As well, the underdogs are 5-1 against the spread in the past six Super Bowl matchups, with four ‘dogs winning those games outright.
