Hoping to ride the success of the home teams in the divisional playoffs, sportsbooks have made the two hosts for the NFL Conference Championships the favorites. In Sunday’s first game the New Orleans Saints are a 3.5 pick against the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship. In the AFC Championship, the Kansas City Chiefs are three-point favorites against the New England Patriots.
As of Tuesday, the lines had not moved for either game. The over/under, though has seen shifts. In the Saints-Rams game the over/under opened at 57 points, and at least at one sportsbook it had gone up to 57.5. In the match up between Kansas City and New England the line has plummeted from 58 to 55.
It might even drop lower. Weather forecasters are calling for an Arctic blast to hit the Kansas City area this weekend and temperatures are supposed to be anywhere from 10 degrees to below zero. If that weather report holds true, the line could move even lower.
Cold weather is no stranger to Arrowhead Stadium in the playoffs, but this has the potential to be the lowest recorded temperature in the team’s history.
The team has hosted regular season games where the weather was frigid. In 2016 they hosted the Houston Texans on Dec. 18 and it was 1 degree. In 1983 in a game on the same date, the thermometer reading was .5 degrees.
One advantage they players will have is a heated field. The Chiefs installed a $2.2 million system that keeps the field a toasty 60 degrees thanks to the pipes of heated water that run below the sand under the stadium turf.
Tom Brady in Unconventional Role
This is the first time since the 2015 AFC Championship game against the Denver Broncos that Tom Brady and the Patriots are underdogs in the playoffs. In that game New England was getting five points, but lost to the Broncos 26-16.
The team has been a playoff underdog four other times in the Brady era and has a 2-2 record. Since 2001 they have never not been favored at home. In the regular season the Patriots hosted Kansas City and won, 43-40. Brady said after the team whipped the Los Angeles Chargers, 41-28 last Sunday that people believe the team won’t reach the Super Bowl.
“I know everyone thinks we suck and, you know, can’t win any games,” Brady told CBS’ Tracy Wolfson after the Los Angeles victory. “So we’ll see. It’ll be fun.”
Rams, Saints Expect Shootout
The Los Angeles Rams are traveling to New Orleans for the second time this season. On Nov. 4 the Rams went to the Superdome and as two-point favorites lost 45-35.
But Rams coach Sean McVay believes he has a different squad now with the emergence of running back C.J. Anderson and cornerback Aqib Talib, who didn’t play in the Week 9 game.
“It’s going to be a great challenge, especially just having to deal with that atmosphere and that environment with those fans going crazy,†McVay said during a media conference call on Monday.