The Kansas City Chiefs will be looking to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl for a third straight year when they host the Cincinnati Bengals in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game as 7-point favourites on the NFL odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Kansas City is coming off a 42-36 overtime victory in an epic clash with the Buffalo Bills on the weekend and is now undefeated in eight straight home games going into Sunday afternoon’s matchup at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Chiefs have scored 37.3 points per game during their current win streak. Kansas City is also riding an eight-game straight-up win streak at home, and has scored 42 or more points in three of its past four home dates.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes deserves enormous credit for the Chiefs’ recent power surge. Mahomes is coming off a three-touchdown, 378-yard performance in the win over Buffalo and has connected on five scoring passes so far in the postseason. Accordingly, he has rocketed to a +175 favourite on the Super Bowl MVP odds. In addition, the Chiefs have emerged as +125 chalk at online sports betting sites to win their second Super Bowl title in three years.
The Bengals, meanwhile, will be making their first AFC Championship Game appearance in 33 years when they hit the gridiron on Sunday afternoon. Last-place finishers in the AFC North in each of the past three seasons, the Bengals have made a stunning turnaround. Buoyed by quarterback Joe Burrow’s breakthrough performance, Cincinnati marched to the top of the division with a 10-7 SU record, and they have also silenced the naysayers with back-to-back playoff victories over Las Vegas and Tennessee.
Overall, the Bengals have posted SU wins in five of their last six outings, surrendering just 19.7 points per game over that stretch. That stinginess extended to last weekend’s 19-16 win over the Titans. The Bengals intercepted pivot Ryan Tannehill three times, and allowed the Titans to penetrate the red zone on just two occasions. However, the Tennessee offensive line faces a huge challenge after allowing Burrow to be sacked nine times last weekend, and on 19 total occasions over their past four outings.
Those recent breakdowns have not helped the Bengals keep pace on the Super Bowl 56 odds, where they lag as the +900 underdogs. However, Cincinnati has history on its side going into the team’s first-ever playoff date with the Chiefs. The Bengals have topped Kansas City in five of their last six head-to-head matchups, capped by a 34-31 home win in Week 17. They are also undefeated in two previous trips to the AFC Championship Game.
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