Super Bowl 58 odds update: Money coming in on defending-champion Chiefs after 49ers open as slight favorites

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Super Bowl LVIII features some familiar faces as Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and the Kansas City Chiefs are making their fourth Big Game appearance in the last five years.

The Chiefs- with the backing of Kelce’s semi-famous plus-one, Taylor Swift- are striving to win the first back-to-back NFL championships since Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and the New England Patriots accomplished the feat in 2003-04.

The final obstacle in the defending champs’ path is a formidable one, though, in the NFC’s top-seeded San Francisco 49ers. Coach Kyle Shanahan’s team has been the odds-on Super Bowl 58 favorite at the top online sportsbooks since mid-November and opened as slight favorites for the Feb. 11 matchup in Las Vegas.

Below, we take a closer look at the Chiefs and Niners, where the Big Game odds opened, are now, and where they may be headed for Super Sunday in 13 days and counting.

For a deeper dive into the Big Game wagering outlook, visit our dedicated Super Bowl 58 odds page.

Super Bowl 58 odds update: Chiefs’ backers weighing in, moving line

As we teased above, the 49ers opened as a Super Bowl favorite of just a little less than a field goal late Sunday as their 34-31 NFC Championship Game win over the Detroit Lions was concluding.

However, money almost immediately flooded in on the underdog Chiefs, who hours earlier had upended the top-seeded host Baltimore Ravens (17-10) in the AFC title game.

U.S. sportsbook giants DraftKings and BetMGM installed San Francisco as a 2.5- and 2-point opening favorite, respectively, but those lines were both down a single point as of Monday morning.

As of early Monday afternoon, the Niners’ moneyline at DK had moved from a -155 open to -115, while the Chiefs’ ML moved from +130 to -105.

It’s been a similar story at BetMGM, with the sportsbook reporting Monday morning that 70 percent of the early bets and 78 percent of the handle had come in on Kansas City.

But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing for the King of Sportsbooks.

“The 49ers are BetMGM’s biggest remaining liability to win the Super Bowl,” BetMGM senior trading manager Tristan David said in a Monday news release. “Even though early action is on the Chiefs as underdogs, the sportsbook is cheering for a Kansas City victory.”

And with the difference between a less-than-a-field-goal underdog and less-than-a-field-goal favorite being nearly negligible, don’t be surprised if K.C. is the latter come kickoff Super Sunday.

The Super Bowl 58 game total, which DK opened at 49 points, had settled in at 47.5 as of Monday afternoon.

Super Bowl 58 odds update: San Francisco 49ers (-120) seeking first championship in 29 years

The Niners (14-5) have played in seven of the last 13 NFC Championship Games, but Super Bowl 58 marks only their second Super Bowl appearance during that span.

And, ironically, that one ended in a 31-20 loss to Reid, Mahomes and many of these same Chiefs to cap the 2019-20 season. And so San Francisco, which won each of the first five Super Bowls it played in from 1981-94, is seeking its first Lombardi Trophy in 29 years.

These current 49ers appear well-equipped to do so with a league-most nine Pro Bowl selections and the regular season’s third-ranked scoring offense and defense.

However, the postseason has been anything but easy as QB Brock Purdy and Co. needed second-half rallies to beat both the visiting Green Bay Packers (24-21) and Detroit Lions (34-31), failing to cover the spread in each outing.

A better effort surely will be needed against Mahomes and Co., who have won 13 of their last 15 postseason contests, including a pair of Super Bowl victories.

Super Bowl 58 odds update: Kansas City Chiefs (+106) are NFL’s new dynasty

Don’t look now, but the Chiefs (14-6) immediately followed the Patriots’ NFL dynasty with one of their own.

In his six seasons as K.C.’s starter, Mahomes has made it to the AFC title game each year with four Super Bowl berths. The all-world QB is 14-3 as a postseason starter, with the two of the losses coming in overtime.

This regular season was a “down” year for the Chiefs, who ranked 15th in scoring with 21.8 points per game and went 5-5 down the homestretch to finish as the AFC’s third seed.

As a result, Kansas City’s Super Bowl odds were as low as 10-1 entering the playoffs.

But the K.C. offense has picked up the pace in the postseason and has been the perfect complement to the best defense of the Mahomes Era.

The Chiefs limited foes to the second-fewest points (17.3) per game during the regular season and have been even better in playoff wins over the Miami Dolphins (26-7), Buffalo Bills (27-24), and the Ravens, surrendering only 13.7 points per outing.

Now comes a second Big Game meeting with the 49ers in four years.

History is on the Chiefs’ side, as the winner of the first game in the previous four Super Bowl rematches that have occurred within a seven-year span also went on to win the second meeting.

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