The NFL season is down to one final game: Super Bowl LIV.
The San Francisco 49ers taken on the Kansas City Chiefs in Miami on Feb. 2, with one team known for its hard-hitting defense and the other for its explosive offense.
That contrast and results in the AFC and NFC Championship Games initially has the Chiefs set as 1.5-point favorite. Before you place a bet on the Super Bowl LIV pointspread, take a deeper look at these big game super bowl bets contenders.
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers rolled through the NFC playoffs with one-sided wins over NFC North foes, Minnesota and Green Bay. San Francisco ranked among the best defenses in the NFL this season, giving up an average of only 19.4 points per game. The 49ers are a well-balanced stop unit, with a fierce pass rush collecting 48 sacks and a ball-hawking secondary helping create 27 takeaways on the year.
Part of the defense’s success has to be given to the offense, which ran the football 51.9% of the time. Not only did that rush-centric attack wear down opposing defenses with a physical pace but it also helped the 49ers control the clock for an average time of possession of 31:40, which sits fourth highest in the league.
The 49ers were one of the best bets during the regular season, opening the year on a 4-1 ATS run, and continued to cover most weeks despite oddsmakers adjusting to their success at the sportsbook. Including the postseason, San Francisco is 11-6-1 ATS including a perfect 5-0 ATS record as an underdog – which it is currently for Super Bowl LIV.
Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City didn’t surprise anyone like San Francisco, after just failing to make the Super Bowl last season after an overtime loss in the AFC Championship Game. The Chiefs kicked off 2019 with three straight ATS wins and were 4-3 ATS after Week 7. However, star quarterback Patrick Mahomes injured his knee in the Monday game against Denver and missed two game, in which Kansas City went 1-1 SU and ATS.
Mahomes returned in Week 10, a loss at Tennessee, but would ignite KC in the home stretch of the schedule, picking up six straight wins to close the regular season and earn the No. 2 seed in the conference, going 5-0-1 ATS during that span. The Chiefs would overcome two early deficits in the playoffs, including a 24-0 hole against the Texans in the Divisional Round, to storm back and cover as favorites in both postseason games.
Kansas City enters the Super Bowl with a 12-5-1 ATS record – the best bet in the NFL this season. As mentioned, the Chiefs have gone 7-0-1 ATS since Week 11, outscoring opponents by an average of 16.5 points per game during that stretch. The Chiefs are also 10-4-1 ATS as a betting favorite this season, covering as the chalk better than 71% of the time.