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The Houston Texans and the Kansas City Chiefs square off underneath the bright lights at Arrowhead Stadium to kick off the first game of pandemic football. Welcome to 2020.
Houston has undergone significant changes in the offseason with coach and general manager Bill O’Brien trading away three-time All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins. The Texans’ offense now consists of a speedy receiving corps that includes Randall Cobb, Brandin Cooks, Will Fuller, and Kenny Stills. The philosophy is to allow quarterback Deshaun Watson to determine where to place the football; to take advantage of his ability to read defenses and pick them apart. The Texans also have defensive end J.J. Watt returning from a torn pectoral muscle to beef up the pass rush.
The Chiefs return to Arrowhead Stadium, the site where they thumped Houston 51-31 in the AFC divisional playoffs, to prove that it wasn’t a fluke, not even their successful Super Bowl run that saw Kansas City mount comebacks in every round of the postseason. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes earned a big contract from the Chiefs, and Kansas City has added more firepower in the backfield with former LSU running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
The sports world will be also interested to see what happens when two NFL teams finally play one another in the era of COVID-19. The Texans and Chiefs have been in their own bubbles for the month of August. Afterwards, can the Texans continue their massive winning streak of negative COVID tests?
To get ready for the Opening Night action here is important game day information so you can catch the game. Follow the @TheTexansWire and @therealmarklane.
Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs — Thursday, Sept. 10 at 7:20 p.m. CT
TV channel: NBC (Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth)
Radio: Sports Radio 610 (KILT-AM & 100.3 FM), Mega 101 (KLOL-FM) (Marc Vandermeer & Andre Ware)
Location: Arrowhead Stadium
Forecast: Rainy, 60 degrees, 8 mph wind
Referee: Clete Blakeman
Odds: Chiefs -9.0