The 2020 NFL season kicks off Thursday night with the defending Super Bowl-champion Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium. The game kicks off at 8:20 p.m. ET. Below, we make our 5 best props bets for the Chiefs in the NFL’s season opener, with our NFL picks and best bets.
5 NFL prop bets to make on the Kansas City Chiefs
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Thursday at 8:48 a.m.
Chiefs to score first (-200)
En route to winning Super Bowl LIV, Kansas City famously had to overcome double-digit deficits in all three postseason games, including 24-0 early in the second quarter of the divisional-round home contest against these same Texans.
The Chiefs went on to outscore Houston 51-7 the rest of the way last January, but spotting the opposition a double-digit lead isn’t a recipe for sustained NFL success.
We have to believe head coach Andy Reid and his staff seized on one of the team’s few flaws this offseason and have stressed faster starts.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire to score game’s first touchdown (+700)
It’s almost always a good idea to correlate prop bets, so here’s one to pair with the above.
Count on Reid and the Chiefs being eager to showcase their new toy in the first-round draft pick from LSU on the national stage, and what better way to do that then by scheming for CEH to score the season’s first TD?
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Chiefs to lead at halftime/win game (-152)
Here’s another prop to correlate with the idea the Chiefs will emphasize starting fast. It’s also a high-percentage play.
K.C. is the largest betting favorite of the week at 9.5 points, and ProFootballReference.com data from the last decade of regular-season play says favorites of nine-plus points won outright 84.1% of the time. At the same time, only 22.6% of teams who trailed at halftime went on to win games over that same span, so go with the odds and double down on this high-percentage Chiefs combo.
Travis Kelce Under 69.5 receiving yards (-110)
The Chiefs tight end was the most damaging weapon in the comeback postseason win against the Texans, catching 10 of 12 targets for 134 yards and three TDs. Earlier in Houston’s 31-24 upset victory at KC in Week 6, Kelce was limited to a pedestrian four catches for 58 yards and no scores.
It doesn’t take a gridiron genius to figure Texans head coach Bill O’Brien will try to curtail Kelce Thursday night. Don’t expect the Chiefs to force feed the tight end, either, as they certainly have other talented options to turn to.
Patrick Mahomes Under 20.5 rushing yards
The freshest picture we have of Mahomes is as a potent rusher with 135 yards and two TDs on the ground in the Chiefs’ three postseason games last winter. He ran for at least 29 yards in each of those contests, but that was, of course, do-or-die time with KC in all-out rally mode for much of the postseason.
Prior to the 2019 playoffs, though, Mahomes rushed for 21 or more yards in only 10 of 33 games. He also infamously injured his knee on a quarterback sneak in Week 7 last season and wound up missing the next two games. If Kansas City is in charge most of Thursday night, as expected, expect Mahomes and the Chiefs to play it safe and not tempt fate on the run.
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