Entering Week 15 of the regular season, the NFL futures market is officially piping hot. In particular, the odds to win the NFC Championship and the odds to win the AFC Championship are all the rage.
You might be wondering why. That’s fair. The reason comes down to opportunity. The competitive landscape this late into the season is well known. That gives bettors plenty of information off which to base their decisions. And yet, the prospective payouts haven’t changed much. Every conference winner bet still yields better than even money. You cannot say the same when betting on odds to make the NFL playoffs.
So, with just a few short weeks to go in the 2023 NFL regular season, we have decided to bet on NFL conference futures. In this edition, we’ll focus on our best bets to win the 2024 NFC Championship. Here are the latest odds for these NFL futures:
To Win NFC 
San Francisco 49ers +110 +115 +100 Philadelphia Eagles +350 +355 +340 Dallas Cowboys +420 +425 +410 Detroit Lions +1000 +1100 +900 Minnesota Vikings +4000 +4100 +3900 New Orleans Saints +5000 +5100 +5200 Seattle Seahawks +5000 +5100 +4900 Los Angeles Rams +5000 +5500 +4900 Atlanta Falcons +5000 +5500 +4900 Green Bay Packers +5000 +5500 +4900 Tampa Bay Buccaneers +5500 +6000 +5400 Chicago Bears +100000 +100000 +100000 Washington Commanders +100000 +100000 +100000 New York Giants +100000 +100000 +100000 Arizona Cardinals +100000 +100000 +100000
We cannot stress this enough: Please remember to double-check these online NFL betting odds right up until you actually submit your wager. Our NFL futures for the NFC are accurate entering Wednesday, December 13. The NFC Championship game will not take place until Sunday, January 28. That gives the best NFL online betting sites plenty of time to make adjustments leading into opening kick-off.
Predicting the 2024 NFC winner is far from an easy exercise. However, the field of candidates is narrower than we’ll see in the AFC. That should make it slightly easier to come up with a sensible prediction.
Which team should you bet on to win the NFC? The San Francisco 49ers? The Dallas Cowboys? The reigning NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles? Someone else? Let’s get to figure it out.
Should the San Francisco 49ers Still Lead the NFC Futures Pack?
The San Francisco 49ers (+110) were touch and go for a few weeks in the middle of the season. During that time, they saw their NFL futures betting lines take a nosedive. But they have since rebounded to register as the odds-on favorite to win the 2024 NFC Championship.
And look, San Francisco has earned. At this writing, they have won five straight while showcasing all their usual dominant defensive schemes. Not only that, but Brock Purdy is leading an offense that has routinely torched even the most elite defenses both on the ground and through the air.
Indeed, some semblance of inconsistency remains in the Niners’ passing attack. But it’s growing fainter by the game. San Francisco has earned this top billing.
Better NFC Championship Bet: Dallas Cowboys or Philadelphia Eagles?
This would have seemed like a ludicrous question entering the season. The answer was of course the Philadelphia Eagles (+350).
Emphasis on was.
The Dallas Cowboys (+420) have now taken up the mantle as the best team in the NFC East and second-best squad in the entire conference. Their NFL futures don’t quite reflect it, but they’ve developed into a more bankable bet than the Eagles.
No, this is not hyperbole. Dak Prescott and the Cowboys offense are regularly ascending past 35 points. More recently, the defense has reached another level, locking up opponents on third and fourth downs and forcing turnovers in droves.
For their part, the Eagles’ own offense can still hang with the best. But their defense has imploded relative to last season. Philadelphia has dropped to 28th in points allowed per game and ranks inside the bottom three of total passing touchdowns surrendered. Conference champs can get by without elite defenses. But it’s much harder to win that title when your defense is actively bad. This round goes to the Cowboys—rather comfortably, too.
Who is the Best NFL Futures Dark Horse in the NFC?
There is only one answer here: The Detroit Lions (+1100).
To be blunt, this has less to do with the Lions themselves and more to do with the rest of the NFL futures market in the NFC. The list of alternatives is underwhelming. The Minnesota Vikings (+4000) don’t make sense after losing quarterback Kirk Cousins for the year. The Seattle Seahawks (+5000) have fallen off their torrid opening pace. The Los Angeles Rams (+5000) no longer have the defense required to make a deep run. The Green Bay Packers (+5000) definitely don’t have the offense to make a deep run of their own.
That basically leaves the Lions. We would have felt good about them a few weeks ago. But the defense has slipped over the past few weeks. If they don’t get their pass prevention under control, they’re a candidate to lose in the first round.
Official 2024 NFC Championship Prediction
Taking the 49ers to win the 2024 NFC Championship is the safe play. But NFL futures aren’t strictly about safe plays.
For some reason, we just can’t shake the Cowboys. Their offense is beyond legitimate. People claim they’ve played a soft schedule. That’s partially true. But Dallas has also run up the score against teams like the Seahawks, Eagles and Rams.
Many still don’t believe they stack up against the Niners. We disagree. Their offense is better than it was when these two teams met in Week 5. And Dallas’ defense is even better than that.
If NFL futures consisted of best-of-three series or something, then yeah, the Niners would be the right pick. But while San Francisco appears to have the higher floor, the Cowboys are currently playing like the team with the loftier ceiling.
OSB Prediction: Dallas Cowboys (+420)
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