Cardinals emerge as Super Bowl 50 favorites in Las Vegas

The Arizona Cardinals head into the divisional round of the playoffs as the favorites to win Super Bowl 50 at multiple Las Vegas sportsbooks.

The Cardinals are 3-1 at the Westgate SuperBook, followed by the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers at 4-1 each. Arizona is also the favorite at Caesars and William Hill sportsbooks. Sportsbook operator CG Technology, however, has the Patriots as the favorites.

The Denver Broncos, the top seed in the AFC, are 5-1 at the SuperBook, followed by the Seattle Seahawks at 6-1. The Kansas City Chiefs are next at 10-1, followed by the Pittsburgh Steelers (12-1) and Green Bay Packers (18-1).

The Cardinals, Patriots and Panthers began the playoffs at co-favorites at the SuperBook. The Cardinals host the Packers on Saturday in the NFC divisional round. Arizona opened as a seven-point favorite over Green Bay.

Carolina hosts the Seahawks on Sunday. The Panthers opened at pick 'em at the Wynn, but a series of bets came in on Carolina, driving the line up to -2.5. Some books were up to Carolina -3 (even) as of Monday afternoon.

The Seahawks advanced to face Carolina in dramatic fashion, when Minnesota kicker Blair Walsh missed a 27-yard chip-shot field goal with 26 seconds to play in a 10-9 Seattle win. Walsh's miss cost one Las Vegas sportsbook "multiple six figures" and saved a Seahawks backer an $88,000 loss.

"We had a ton of money on the Seattle money line, big, big money," said John Avello, executive director of race and sports at the Wynn. "So that kind of hurt."

A bettor at William Hill risked $88,000 on Seattle winning straight up and prevailed when Walsh's kick hooked wide right. The bettor won $40,000.

The NFC is currently a 2.5-point favorite in the Super Bowl at the SuperBook.