NFL Futures 2023: Analyzing the NFC Championship Odds

Now that the NFL schedule has been released, it is officially time to start diving into these NFL futures bets. For this specific article, we will be tackling the NFC Champion odds and giving our analysis there.

In my humble opinion, there is an elite tier of three teams in the NFC, and then a clear drop-off after that. Those three teams are the: Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, and Dallas Cowboys (in that order).

The NFC’s Elite Tier

After appearing in the Super Bowl last year, it should come as no surprise that the Eagles are currently the betting favorite to make it to the Super Bowl once again this year. If you are on board with the Eagles coming out of the NFC in back to back years, they are best offered on FanDuel at +330 odds.

One thing that is interesting is that the Eagles haven’t been the favorite the entire offseason. Once the season ended, and leading up to the NFL draft, the 49ers were actually the betting favorite to come out of the NFC.

But, the odds swung after the draft in which the Eagles had a widely accepted A+ draft.

Those 49ers were the betting favorite for good reason, too. They have made back-to-back NFC Championship games, and who knows how it would have turned out last year if Brock Purdy didn’t injure his elbow.

The QB position will be a question mark for the 49ers, though, as Purdy is nursing a torn ligament in his throwing elbow. He is currently iffy to be ready to start the season.

Behind Purdy they have another injured QB in Trey Lance, who was the starter last year before suffering a gruesome ankle injury in Week 2 and missing the rest of the season. Behind Purdy AND Lance is Sam Darnold, who is a former high draft pick who, well, is bad.

So, to sum up the 49ers QB situation: they have two young QBs nursing serious injuries and a QB who is, well, very bad. Not great!

Luckily for the 49ers, though, is they have an absolutely loaded roster, both on offense and defense. If you are so inclined that the third time is the charm for the 49ers to make it to the Super Bowl, they are best offered on DraftKings at +425 odds.

Rounding out the tier of elite contenders are the Cowboys. They also have a loaded roster, but they are also labeled as the NFL’s choke artists, as they have yet to make it out of the second round of the playoffs since *checks notes* the 1995 season.

The Cowboys have made the playoffs an astounding 12 times since then, and have lost in either the Wild Card or Divisional round all 12 times. Sometimes in excruciating fashion, such as being eliminated by the 49ers in back-to-back years.

The funny thing is, if you take away the stink of the Cowboys never being able to get over the hump, they have a lot of things going for them. They’ve had the Eagles’ number in recent years, and made some huge additions to their roster in the offseason, adding WR Brandin Cooks and CB Stephon Gilmore.

If you think this is finally the year for the Cowboys, they are best offered at +650 odds at both BetMGM and BetRivers.

The Best of the Rest

Outside of the top three, if you were ever curious about how weak the NFC is compared to the AFC, look no further than the fact that the Detroit Lions have the fourth-best odds. After the Lions, there is a huge drop-off to the Saints and Seahawks.

Sure, the Lions are a fun team with kneecap biting head coach Dan Campbell, who ended the season on a hot streak last year, but let’s not forget that they are still the Lions with a leaky defense, and have Jared Goff at QB.

The team in this tier that I like the most as a possible sleeper is actually the Seahawks. They have had back-to-back great offseasons, most notably their 2022 draft that has completely turned around their franchise.

That draft includes two offensive tackles that had good rookie years, and a possible all-pro CB in Tariq Woolen. Then, this year they drafted another high end CB in Devon Witherspoon and the best WR prospect in the draft in Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Of course, this is betting on journeyman QB turned pro bowl QB Geno Smith to make another leap, but this Seahawks roster is loaded. Not quite as loaded as the “Legion of Boom” days, but they can make some noise.

If you are on board with this line of thinking, the Seahawks are best offered at +1800 odds at BetMGM and Caesars.