The Bettors Guide to the NFC Championship

What Betters need to know: NFC Championship

The Line and Trends

Philadelphia Eagles -4 ½ -110 -200 O 47 -110
Arizona Cardinals +4 ½ -110 +165 U 47 -110

The BetUS line opened favoring the Eagles by 3 ½ points and has since jumped up a point to its current mark which indicates that the majority of bets coming in have been on the Eagles to cover.

The latest trends are as follows:

* The Philadelphia Eagles are 5 and 0 against the spread in their last 5 playoff games on the road.

* The Philadelphia Eagles are 6 and 1 against the spread in their last 7 games overall.

* The Arizona Cardinals are 4 and 1 against the spread in their last 5 games against an NFC opponent.

* The Arizona Cardinals are 3 and 7 against the spread in their last 10 games as the underdog.

Conditions

The only thing that will be affecting the players is going to be the crowd noise. The Cardinals kept the dome shut in their Wild Card win over the Falcons and it seemed to work as they kept Matt Ryan under 200 yards passing and forced two interceptions. The University of Phoenix Stadium will no doubt be the loudest place in the state, over 60,000 seats sold in less than five minutes. I’d say they’re jacked up.

What will be a factor is the surface, being artificial, it equates to speed. This is more of an advantage for the Cardinals as they have the more explosive offense tend to go for the bigger plays. It won’t hurt Philly but they are more a methodical offence, although Brian Westbrook has been known to break a few in his day.
   
Road to the Championship

Philadelphia Eagles

The NFC Championship matchup is a surprise to many people. The Philadelphia Eagles had to have all the stars align for them to even make it to the second season, and then they went on the road to a hostile Minnesota, which is an indoor stadium, in the wild-card round and beat the Vikings straight-up against the BetUS spread. They then did the unthinkable, beating their arch rivals, the New York Giants, on the road to advance to the Championship game. Taking out the reigning Super Bowl champion in New York, for the second time this year, and making it look easy, is a sign this team is firing on all cylinders.

Arizona Cardinals

Despite being underdogs throughout the playoffs, the Cardinals have made their loyal betting public some serious cash this post season. They put on a defensive display, as strange as that sounds, against the Atlanta Falcons. They held the leagues third best rushing attack to 60 total yards, grabbed two picks and returned a fumble to the house. If people were not yet convinced that the Cardinals could play D, they went into Carolina, who had not lost a game at home all year, and absolutely annihilated the Panthers. Delhomme threw FIVE interceptions. I really can’t give Arizona to much credit for the picks, that was just the worst quarterbacking display I have ever seen, period.

For most people, the Cardinals are the biggest shocker this position. Despite having their division locked up early in the season, most people argued they just didn’t have the right team structure to go far in the playoffs. Who’s laughing now? On Sunday they get to host the NFC Championship game and it’s going to be a hell of a game.