The 2020 NFL campaign finally gets underway on Thursday night as the Kansas City Chiefs play host to the Houston Texans as 9.5-point favourites on the NFL odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
The Chiefs will be looking to continue the roll that powered them to a 31-20 victory over San Francisco in Super Bowl 54, and ride a nine-game straight-up win streak into Thursday night's matchup at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Chiefs consistently ran up the score as they marched to their first Super Bowl victory in 50 years, averaging 31.6 points per game during their current win streak. With few key roster changes during the offseason, the Chiefs have remained a steady presence atop the Super Bowl 55 odds, where they sit deadlocked with the Baltimore Ravens as +650 co-favourites.
After shaking up their roster in the offseason, the Texans face uncertainty entering the 2020 season. Houston raised eyebrows by dealing star receiver DeAndre Hopkins to Arizona, and after seeing division rivals Indianapolis and Tennessee make substantial upgrades, the Texans now lag as a +325 wager to repeat as AFC South champions.
Complicating matters is the stiff challenge Houston faces in getting the new season off to a winning start. The Texans have lost outright in five of their last seven meetings with the Chiefs, and have covered just once while losing outright in each of their past seven outings while listed as an underdog of nine or more points.
Elsewhere on the NFL Week 1 odds, the Buffalo Bills begin the pursuit of their first AFC East title in a generation as they battle the New York Jets as 6.5-point home favourites at sports betting sites. The Detroit Lions sit as narrow 3-point home favourites over the Chicago Bears, while Tom Brady makes his Tampa Bay debut, leading the Buccaneers into a NFC South matchup with the New Orleans Saints as 3.5-point road underdogs.
The Bills are coming off their first 10-win season in 20 years, and are likely to enjoy the biggest benefit of Tom Brady's offseason departure from New England. However, Buffalo has produced uneven results against the Jets, falling to defeat in five of their last eight meetings with a New York team that closed out 2019 on a solid 6-2 SU run.
As well, the first Sunday Night Football matchup of the season has the Dallas Cowboys visiting the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium as 3-point chalk. And a Monday Night Football doubleheader opens with the Pittsburgh Steelers visiting the New York Giants as 6-point favourites, followed by a matchup between the Tennessee Titans and Denver Broncos that is pegged as a pick'em at sportsbooks.
