It’s the eagerly anticipated return of the NFL early on Friday morning as The Kansas City Chiefs begin the defence of their Super Bowl title by hosting the Houston Texans.
Arrowhead Stadium is normally one of the most raucous venues in the league, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, only about 20% of the seats will be occupied for this mouth-watering season opener.
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These two teams clashed in the most recent playoffs’ Divisional Round. On that occasion the Texans raced to a 24-point lead before Pat Mahomes and co flexed their muscles, eventually running out 51-31 victors. They also met in week 6 of the regular season when the Texans upset the Chiefs 31-24. So, if recent history is anything to go by, the total match points total of 54.5 will surely be popular amongst overs bettors.
The two teams have been busy during the offseason tying up their franchise QBs to blockbuster deals. The Chiefs broke the mould by handing Mahomes the richest contract in sports history, a whopping 10-year deal worth over $500 million. And the Texans weren’t far behind making their signal-caller Deshaun Watson the second-highest player in the league by handing him a 4 four-year, $160 million extension. The Texans did, however, trade Watson’s number one wide receiver, DeAndre Hopkins, away to Arizona, so there will be question marks surrounding their WR corps.
But what do our traders make of the match-up? I caught up with Paddy Power US trader Ian Dent to get his thoughts on the big season opener…
Handicap: Kansas City -9
“I think this is an excellent game for the opening night, but I would lean towards the Chiefs on the handicap market -9.”
“They have an explosive offence with Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill and second-year receiver Mecole Hardman, I think they could potentially put up a lot of points. The handicap is nine points but the Chiefs are the sort of team that can pull away quickly and I think they can cover the points here.”
First & Anytime TD scorer – Darrel Williams (KC)
“I’m going to go with the Chiefs running back Darrel Williams here. There’s been a lot of buzz around their rookie, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, but I think that, especially early in the season, Williams is going to get a lot of snaps they might even use him at the goal line so there may be a bit of value in Williams in these markets at decent odds”
The long wait is almost over, It promises to be another cracker as these old foes face off in the season opener, and Paddy Power will have all the best NFL markets and in-play odds throughout the 2020 NFL season.
Trader Tips Summary:
- Handicap: Kansas City -9
- First TD scorer – Darrel Williams (KC)
- Anytime TD scorer – Darrel Williams (KC)
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