Super Bowl LVIII odds update ahead of championship round: Fade the 49ers

The 2024 NFL Divisional Round supplied an electrifying weekend of entertainment, as the Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions, and San Francisco 49ers each advanced to the championship round.

Aside from the Ravens' blowout victory of playoff Cinderella Houston, the rest of the Divisional Round delivered nail-biting finishes that could have gone either way.

Below we look at the current Super Bowl LVIII odds following the Divisional Round and provide YouBet's pick to win it all on Feb. 11.

49ers remain Super Bowl favorite, look beatable

The 49ers have spent a majority of the NFL season favored to win the Super Bowl, but on Saturday night Brock Purdy and Co. barely snuck by a feisty Green Bay Packers squad in a 24-21 win. With the help of a late missed field goal by the Packers that would have handed them a seven-point lead, and poor decision-making by Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love on his final drive, San Francisco reached the NFC Championship Game for the third straight season. The Niners have lost each of their last two appearances to the Los Angeles Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles.

While San Francisco survived on a rain-soaked night inside Levi's Stadium, the No. 1 seed got exposed in its first action of the 2024 playoffs. Purdy was off-target most of the evening, the defense dug the team in a hole in the third quarter, and the Niners lost wideout Deebo Samuel to injury early in the game. Star running back Christian McCaffrey put the team on his back, lifting San Francisco to victory with his second touchdown of the night, when he ran the ball into the end zone with 1:06 left in regulation.

On the final possession of the game, Love had the Packers in position to march down the field for a game-tying field goal, but he made an ill-advised, deep cross-body pass on 1st-and-10 from Green Bay's 36 to seal his team's fate with 52 seconds to go. 

Heading into the NFC Championship Game, the Niners sit at +145 odds to win the Super Bowl and will host the third-seeded Detroit Lions, who are the longest shot (+750) to claim what would be the franchise's first Super Bowl title.

Ravens in driver's seat to Super Bowl title

Over in the AFC, the top-seeded Ravens came out firing at home against the fourth-seeded Houston Texans in a 34-10 rout. Lamar Jackson was determined to erase the bitter taste of the Ravens' early exit from the postseason back in 2020, when they earned the No. 1 seed but bowed out in the Divisional Round. This time around, Jackson led Baltimore to a presiding victory as he rushed for 100 yards and two scores while adding 152 yards and two more touchdowns through the air on 16-of-22 passing.

Jackson became the first QB since at least 1948 to throw for two touchdowns, run for two touchdowns, and rush for 100 yards with a 100 passer rating in a regular season or playoff game. On the whole, Baltimore outrushed Houston 229-38, and the Ravens' stingy defense held rookie C.J. Stroud to 175 passing yards. The Texans' only points in the game came on a first-quarter field goal and a punt-return touchdown in the second quarter.

The Ravens will get a visit from the defending Super Bowl champ Kansas City on Sunday afternoon. Jackson is 1-3 for his career against the Chiefs but got a 36-35 win in his most recent matchup with the AFC powerhouse, back in 2021 in Baltimore.

The Chiefs, a +350 choice to collect a second straight Lombardi Trophy, beat Buffalo on the road Sunday night in a 27-24 slugfest. Patrick Mahomes connected with tight end Travis Kelce for a pair of touchdown passes, and Kansas City scored on five of its first six drives to reach a sixth straight AFC Championship Game. Mahomes also improved his postseason record to 13-3 with a win in his first true road playoff matchup.

The Divisional Round finale was arguably the most gripping, as it featured five lead changes and neither team led by more than seven points throughout the game. Buffalo had a chance to potentially send it to overtime, but Bills kicker Tyler Bass missed the game-tying field goal from 44 yards out on a bitterly cold evening in Orchard Park. Kansas City ran out the clock from there.

2024 AFC/NFC Championship preview

The Ravens will kick off Championship Sunday at 3 p.m. inside M&T Bank Stadium. Baltimore is a three-point favorite over Kansas City; the total is set at 44.5.

The Ravens owned the league's top scoring defense during the regular season (16.5 points per contest) as well as the sixth-best pass defense (191.9 yards per game). The Chiefs ranked fourth against the pass (176.5) but struggled at times against the run. On Sunday, those issues continued as Bills quarterback Josh Allen ran for 72 yards and two scores on 12 attempts, and running backs James Cook and Ty Johnson combined for 101 yards on the ground. Kansas City will be in major trouble if it cannot stop the Ravens' run game, which topped the league with 156.5 yards per game in the regular season.

Baltimore is playing at a high level right now, and the Ravens' slow start in the first half against Houston can be excused due to the No. 1 seed having virtually two weeks of rest with a bye week in the first round and their starters sidelined in a meaningless Week 18 matchup.

Jackson is also dialed in. On Saturday, he faced a career-high blitz rate of 75% from Houston and managed to go 13-of-18 passing for 120 yards with two touchdowns against the blitz. He got rid of the ball in 2.25 seconds on average in the second half, as well.

After the Niners showed their weaknesses on Saturday, their time may be coming to a close in the 2024 postseason. Another NFC North team in Detroit is waiting anxiously to take down the NFL's top dog, but it will require a better effort on defense from the Lions to send the Niners packing.

Detroit has surrendered the most passing yards per game in the playoffs (338), but its run defense has been solid (78.5 yards per outing). However, the Lions defense ranks in the bottom 10 against tight ends, and George Kittle has been a massive target for Purdy. He had 81 yards and a touchdown on four catches in the Divisional Round.

It's likely the Niners will escape with another win at home in the championship round, but look to the winner of the AFC to secure the Super Bowl crown.

YouBet Super Bowl LVIII bet

Baltimore is seemingly a team of destiny, and the Harbaugh family is having a year. Back Lamar and the high-flying Ravens to go all the way with a win in Super Bowl LVIII.