NFL conference championships action report: Bettors all-in on 49ers

Find line reports, best bets, and subscribe to push notifications in the Betting News section.

The NFL conference championship round is upon us, which means increased attention from bettors on a pair of games. Where is the sharp money going? Which lines are moving the most? We're tracking the action on the biggest postseason contests.

We talked to Jay Rood, Bet.Works' chief risk officer and theScore Bet's head trader, to see how sharps and public bettors are playing the conference championship round.

All lines courtesy of theScore Bet.

Tennessee Titans at Kansas City Chiefs (-7.5, 53)

The Chiefs opened as 8.5-point favorites after their epic divisional-round comeback win over the Texans, but bettors are buying the Titans' chances of scoring a third consecutive upset in a wild postseason.

To date, moneyline bettors are backing the Titans (+280) at twice the rate of the Chiefs (-340), which is to be expected in a championship spot like this. But spread bettors are leaning toward Tennessee, too, thanks to a punishing run game and a mostly turnover-free postseason.

"I give Tennessee a fair chance in this to actually pull another upset," Rood said. "If not, I think it'll be a close game. Tennessee's doing exactly what you need to do in the playoffs."

While the early returns favor the Titans, the public could come back in a big way on the Chiefs. Parlay bets are running at a 2-to-1 rate for Kansas City in ticket count, which is often an indicator of what the public will do come game time. Rood also expects bettors outside of the established markets to back the public-friendly Patrick Mahomes.

"I could see this (line) going to 7 maybe in New Jersey and Las Vegas, where it already is at a few places," Rood said. "I think in some of the newer jurisdictions, the favorite's gonna get a lot of play here, especially in the Midwest."

The public is driving money toward the over, too, which has pushed the total from a 52.5 open to 53 as of Friday. That's evident with player props, with bettors going high on lines like Mahomes' yardage (305.5), Travis Kelce's receptions (6.5) and yards (79.5), and Derrick Henry's yardage (110.5) and touchdowns (0.5).

Green Bay Packers at San Francisco 49ers (-7.5, 46)

The 49ers opened as 7-point favorites last week and drew split activity before absolutely dominating the Vikings. This week, against another NFC North foe, they again opened as 7-point favorites - but bettors haven't been making the same mistake twice.

San Francisco is drawing twice as many tickets and five times as much money as the Packers are, with books initially juicing the line for the Niners before eventually moving them to 7.5-point favorites. Some Green Bay money is coming back at that number, but it won't be enough to offset a Sunday liability.

"It's pretty strong toward San Francisco," Rood said.

Parlay bettors are also high on the 49ers, betting them with twice as many tickets and four times as much money. Even moneyline bettors are splitting the handle on this matchup, which rarely happens with such a massive favorite.

Additionally, bettors are fancying the over at a 6-to-1 clip, which is perhaps a surprise after San Fran's dominant defensive showing last week. Nonetheless, the opening total of 45 has shifted to 46 after a 6-to-1 money edge to the over.

That attitude is apparent in the player props. Despite the Niners' elite secondary, there's been two-way action on Aaron Rodgers' passing yards (238.5) at a number he's reached just three times over his last nine games.

C Jackson Cowart is a betting writer for theScore. He's an award-winning journalist with stops at The Charlotte Observer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Times Herald-Record, and BetChicago. He's also a proud graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, and his love of sweet tea is rivaled only by that of a juicy prop bet. Find him on Twitter @CJacksonCowart.