NFL Betting: The Three Factors to Know Before Betting on the NFC Championship Game

The NFC saw two thrilling divisional games play out, setting us up for what should be a thrilling NFC Championship game as the Lions head to the Bay to face the 49ers. Both teams finished the regular 12-5, with the Niners capturing the top seed thanks to a conference winning percentage tiebreaker.

Below, we will share the three most important factors to know before betting on this exciting NFL playoff matchup. We’ll give you everything you need to bet confidently on the Sunday’s game at NFL betting sites.

The Niners enter the game as a home favorite. Here are the latest odds from FanDuel Sportsbook:

Beating the Rams at home is the most impressive things this Lions team has done this season. Aside from that, there is nothing impressive about what the Lions have done this season. Detroit beat just three teams that finished with a record above .500 in the regular season. One was the opening against the Chiefs and the other was against a Packers team that was at its worst.

The Lions losses came in their toughest games, including against the Ravens, Packers, Bears, Seahawks, and Cowboys. Those are all good teams, but the Lions found themselves unable to get wins. 

Beating the Rams at home is impressive, though there are major issues with the LA defense. We are less impressed by their win over the Bucs, a middling team they barely managed to fend off in front of a wild Detroit crowd. That crowd helped the Lions pull out a win last weekend, but they won’t have that advantage as they head to San Francisco this weekend.

While the Niners managed to get a comeback win against the Packers last weekend, they did lose a top playmaker in Deebo Samuel. The receiver injured his should in the win, and details around his status has been murky. Reports are the Niners currently believe he has a 50% chance to play, giving us little to go on.

The Niners will likely be unwilling to give many more updates on Deebo as they want to keep the Lions on their toes. That will make betting on the game difficult, so we recommend waiting until later in the week when we know more. We will see if the injured star is able to practice this week, which should indicate his ability to play and perform this weekend.

The Lions run defense finished second in the league in yards allowed (88.8 YPG), but their pass defense has been a nightmare (247.4 YPG). They were carved up by Baker Mayfield last week, passing for 349 yards and three touchdowns. Mike Evans had no issue finding open space, catching eight passes for 147 yards.

The Lions offense was able to bail them out against a bad Tampa unit, but that won’t be the case on Sunday. They will face a Niners offense that had the fourth most passing yards per game (257.9 YPG) and second-most touchdowns (33). While Jordan Love and the Packers were able to work well against the unit, the Packers offense had been playing as well as anyone in the league. 

While the Lions offense is at least as good as the Packers, they’ll face a Niners team that will now have a playoff game under their belt. They went into last week with most of their starters having not played in over two weeks, thanks to resting them in Week 18. Add that to the heavy rain, and you can see why they almost lost the game.