NFL Championship Sunday: Matchups, Odds and Best Bets

There are four football teams left to battle in a pair of championship games for two spots at Super Bowl LX in San Francisco, California in a few weeks. Sunday afternoon features a pair of gridiron clashes featuring the New England Patriots visiting the Denver Broncos in the 2025 AFC Championship Game in the afternoon window, followed by the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks in the primetime battle for the 2025 NFC Championship Game. All roads lead to Golden State for the NFL’s biggest game of the season on Feb. 8, 2026.  

AFC Divisional Game: (2) New England Patriots @ (1) Denver Broncos

Denver hosts their first AFL Championship Game since January 2016, however the Broncos lost Bo Nix to a season ending ankle injury following last weekend’s win over the Buffalo Bills. Jarrett Stidham, a Patriots draft pick from 2019, steps in for his first meaningful action over the last two years. Despite the adversity, this matchup should come down to which top 10 defense performs better on Sunday afternoon. 

Kick Off: 3:00 p.m. ET  (Sun., 01/25/26)

Location: Empire Field at Mile High (Denver, CO)

TV: CBS / Paramount+

New England brings overwhelmingly positive results against the spread (14-5), the moneyline (16-3), and the over-under (12-7) this season. Denver has a losing mark versus the spread (8-10) and the over-under (8-10), while crushing the moneyline (15-3) in 2025. 

New England enters as a road favorite with a 59% chance to advance to Super Bowl LX, per ESPN. 

Best bet: Drake Maye 250+ passing yards

Maye secured a win against the fifth-ranked Los Angeles Chargers defense in the Wild Card round behind 334 combined passing and rushing yards. The 23-year-old needed 189 yards of combined offense to help New England past the sixth-ranked Houston Texans defensive unit in the Divisional Round. The 2024 first-rounder needs one more primetime out to return the Patriots to the AFC Championship-winning stage for the first time since 2018. 

Denver is right behind Houston on the end-of-season team defense list in the seventh spot, allowing 187.2 yards per contest to opponents. The Broncos have been solid against the pass and the run (6th in each ranking) during the 2025 regular season. Watch for Carlton Davis III lurking in the secondary as he has two interceptions in the 2025 postseason, only one behind the Rams’ Cobie Durant. Denver will need a big-time performance from a strong defensive crew to stop one of the AFC’s premier quarterbacks.

If the injury situation were different, there is little doubt that Denver enters this contest as home underdogs against New England. It feels like the sportsbooks are hedging their bets in this matchup between two highly-ranked defenses. The risky play is to back Denver and celebrate some profits alongside a Broncos appearance in San Francisco. 

NFC Championship Game: (5) Los Angeles Rams @ (1) Seattle Seahawks 

The 2025 NFC Championship Game features the third matchup of the 2025 campaign between the Rams and the Seahawks in Seattle, Washington. The squads split their meetings with Los Angeles claiming a two-point home victory in Week 11, while Seattle claimed a one-point shootout in overtime at home during Week 16. The NFC West rivals know each other well which should make for a very entertaining primetime contest in the Pacific Northwest. 

Kick Off: 6:30 p.m. ET  (Sun., 01/25/26)

Location: Lumen Field (Seattle, WA) 

TV: FOX

The Rams own positive marks against the sportsbooks this season with winning records against the spread (12-7), the moneyline (14-5) and the over-under (11-8). Seattle has dominated the spread (13-5) and the moneyline (15-3), while struggling a bit versus the over-under (10-8). 

According to ESPN, Seattle is expected to advance to the Super Bowl with a 53% chance of victory on Sunday night. 

Best bet: Sam Darnold 275+ passing yards

Darnold has been limited in practice since suffering an oblique injury in the week leading up to the Divisional round win over the San Francisco 49ers last weekend. The 28-year-old didn’t have to do much in the blowout win as Seattle did a good job of getting the ball out of his hands quickly. The Seahawks will likely enter the NFC Title game with a similar gameplan and try to limit the hits to their star quarterback. 

The Rams defense has been the weaker part of the defensive unit with a 17th-ranked passing crew. With that said, the Rams have created four interceptions this postseason as opponents shift away from the run game. If Los Angeles can slow down Kenneth Walker III, they could force an injured QB to do the heavy lifting in primetime. 

On the other side of the field, Seattle’s defense will need to stop Matthew Stafford, a 37-year-old NFL legend who guided the Rams to a Super Bowl title win during the 2021 season. The Seahawks must win the turnover battle against the Rams on Sunday night, especially with a limited Darnold behind center if they want to hoist the George Halas Trophy to the Seattle sky on Sunday night. 

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