
Now that the dust has settled, two champions have emerged. The Seattle Seahawks will be representing the NFC in the Super Bowl, while the New England Patriots rep the AFC.
This will be a rematch of what is widely considered the greatest Super Bowl matchup of all time 11 years ago in Arizona.
While we will no doubt be subjected to thousands of references to Russell Wilson's interception over the next two weeks, Seahawks fans can at least take comfort in the fact that their team is favored to win it all.
According to the early figures available at DraftKings Sportsbook, Seattle is considered a 4.5-point favorite over New England.
It's an interesting line, given how dominant the Seahawks have looked against just about every team except the Los Angeles Rams this season. Despite playing in literally the most competitive division of all time, Seattle finished the regular season with the highest point differential in the NFL at +191.
To get here, the Seahawks not only had to win the NFC West, they had to go through two more prove-it games against the Rams and the San Francisco 49ers, who managed to win 12 games despite a slew of injuries to key players. LA was equally tough, as tonight's NFC Championship had been dubbed the greatest playoff matchup in the last 50 years.
Meanwhile, the Patriots took a very different path to Santa Clara. In his first year as head coach, Mike Vrabel does deserve credit for turning New England's ship around immediately, taking a 4-13 cellar-dwellar to a 14-3 contender and posting a +170 point differential, tops in the AFC.
The Patriots had the benefit of the easiest schedul in the NFL, though - and potential MVP Drake Maye's lack of playoff experience is likely to be a factor against Mike Macdonald's defense.
We will follow the odds as they change over the next 14 days - but for our money the Seahawks should be more like -6.5 or -7.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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