The Week 2 lines are out in Vegas, and the Kansas City Chiefs are favorites for the first time this season. The Chiefs are three-point favorites over the Denver Broncos for their Thursday Night Football tilt at Arrowhead Stadium, via Oddsshark.
For the Chiefs, they are opening at home against their blood rival on primetime. Without question, the crowd is going to be amped through the proverbial roof. Add in the return of Eric Berry, and the fans might legitimately set another world record for noise.
On the field, this is a great matchup. In Week 1, the Broncos showcased a fantastic defense but an offense that really struggled. Denver failed to score an offensive touchdown and struggled mightily to run the ball until its final drive. Meanwhile, Peyton Manning look mortal, throwing for 175 yards on 24-of-40 passing with 175 yards and an interception. In case you are bad at math, that is 4.4 yards per attempt. That’s brutal.
In Kansas City, the Chiefs should be feeling good about themselves. In the season opener, Andy Reid’s team was able to force two turnovers and capitalized on both with touchdowns. Alex Smith also looked good, aggressively throwing down the field to both Travis Kelce and Jeremy Maclin. The Chiefs have some things to clean up, mainly getting a ground game going, but there is not any alarming facet to worry about.
Another matchup that Kansas City should be feeling confident about is the pass rush going against Denver’s offensive line. The Chiefs notched five sacks versus the Houston Texans, while the Broncos allowed four to the Baltimore Ravens. Denver’s left tackle and center are only playing in their second career games, and Ryan Harris is its right tackle. This is a major opportunity for Justin Houston, Tamba Hali, Dontari Poe, Jaye Howard, Dee Ford and Allen Bailey to feast on Manning.
Here’s to hoping the Chiefs finally get the monkey off their back.