The Detroit Lions stunned the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday in the NFL regular-season opener, marking the second straight year that the defending Super Bowl champion lost in the opening game of the season.
With Chiefs All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce sidelined by a knee injury, the Lions secondary stifled Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense in the second half. After halftime, Mahomes went just 9-of-22 for 79 yards in the 21-20 defeat. A third-quarter drop by Kadarius Toney trickled into the hands of Lions defensive back Brian Branch, who ran the interception back 50 yards for a touchdown. Toney had another key drop on the Chiefs’ final drive of the game.
Kelce’s status created considerable line fluctuations throughout the week, especially on Thursday evening, when speculation mounted that he would miss the opener. The vast majority of the nation’s top sports betting sites closed with the Chiefs between -4 and -4.5, with FanDuel dropping the line to Kansas City -3.5. From Tuesday morning until kickoff, moneyline wagers on the Chiefs comprised 51% of the handle, according to a DraftKings spokesperson. When the NFL released the opening week schedule in the spring, numerous operators listed the Chiefs as 7-point favorites.
We are now less than 72 hours from the first Sunday of the NFL season. When teams release their respective injury lists on Friday, bettors will receive a stronger indication of which key players may be on the fence for their Week 1 openers. Over the course of this week, has been tracking all of the major football-related news surrounding the betting industry through a series of daily live blogs.