Vikings, Patriots Betting Favorites for NFL Conference Championships

Tom Brady and the big game-tested Patriots (14-3) square off against the sack-happy Jacksonville Jaguars (12-6) Sunday in the AFC championship game in Foxborough, Massachusetts – with the victor headed to the Super Bowl. They split first-round draft picks into multiple seconds and thirds to stock a defense with players who either won’t become too expensive or can be let go without a huge drop-off. “Can the Steelers beat the Patriots?” If the Jags’ defensive line can put pressure on Tom Brady, this game is winnable for them.

While it’s nearly unimaginable that Brady would miss the clash, he remains questionable on the injury report.

“If you look at the Jacksonville Jaguars, most of their payroll is on the defensive side of the ball, same with the Minnesota Vikings”, said retired All-Pro safety Darren Woodson, now an National Football League analyst for ESPN. They’ll be tough to run against, so it’s imperative that Case Keenum makes good decisions in the passing game. Those three guys are easily considered top 10 quarterbacks in the league, but all they and their teams won this season was an early vacation. Like Winston, Bortles had been a turnover machine. More specifically, the Jaguars could create matchup problems for the Patriots.

⦁ Over in the AFC, the Patriots are much more used to the AFC Championship, clinching their 7th straight appearance but with an average asking price of $1,102 and cheapest ticket coming in at $790, this is the most expensive non-Super Bowl Patriots ticket we’ve ever tracked.

The Jaguars, 12-6 SU and 10-8 ATS, will be trying to defy a trend where visiting teams are 3-10 SU and 5-8 ATS in the playoffs against New England since the 2009 postseason.

If there’s one thing Bill Belichick and his Patriots coaching staff do better than any other team, it’s putting together a solid game plan.

Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles has made plays with his legs the last two weeks, something that Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia said makes the Jaguars a “very unsafe group”.

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs (14) runs in for a game winning touchdown against the New Orleans Saints during the second half of an NFL divisional football playoff game in Minneapolis, Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018.

And not far from the shadow of U.S. Bank Stadium, site of the Super Bowl in two weeks, Day Block Brewing is hosting a game viewing with happy hour specials such as “purple reign shots”.

Over the course of the entire lifetime of the Eagles franchise they have hosted 21 total playoff games and four NFC Championship games.

But yet here we are; somehow we’ve found ourselves in this weird post-Jeff Fisher reality.

Minnesota are favoured to prevail against an Eagles team quarterbacked by Nick Foles with Carson Wentz on the sideline with a torn ACL.

The Philadelphia Eagles are fully embracing their underdog role entering the NFC Championship Game. Game script was part of that, as the Jaguars were defending a lead for most of the game.

Vogel will record the Eagles-Vikings game on his DVR at home, but he fears he’ll hear in-game updates while he’s on the plane.

While Foles got by doing the bare minimum against the Falcons, that same output likely won’t be enough against Mike Zimmer’s men on the biggest stage. Under new coordinator Pat Shurmur, the Vikings started to find offense without the normal investments: Quarterback Case Keenum was an undrafted free agent.

At the beginning of this season, we launched our Sports on Earth Confidence Pool, which allows you to compete against me (and Vegas and Five Thirty Eight, ESPN’s smart analytics site). “Kids wouldn’t get invited anywhere else … it’s right here in the community”.