Injury news impacts Chiefs' point spread vs. Lions in Week 1
The latest injury news for the Kansas City Chiefs has impacted the point spread in the season opener. Chiefs star TE Travis Kelce suffered a hyperextended knee during practice. His status for the game is now up in the air as the team awaits MRI results. With that in mind, several betting outlets have now adjusted […]
The latest injury news for the Kansas City Chiefs has impacted the point spread in the season opener.
Chiefs star TE Travis Kelce suffered a hyperextended knee during practice. His status for the game is now up in the air as the team awaits MRI results. With that in mind, several betting outlets have now adjusted their point spreads for the Week 1 tilt with the Detroit Lions.
When the season opener was revealed back in May, the Chiefs were touchdown favorites over the Lions. According to DraftKings Sportsbook, they're now just 5.5-point favorites entering the Week 1 matchup on Thursday, Sept. 7.
The most fascinating thing about all of this is that the point spread didn't shift at all with news that star DT Chris Jones wouldn't play in Week 1. It took a future Hall of Fame tight end potentially missing the game due to an injury in practice to shift the odds a single point in favor of Detroit.
That's telling about how the oddsmakers view both Jones and Kelce.
As for the over/under point total (53) and money line (-250), those seem to be holding steady until there is more news on Kelce.
The bottom line: Even if Kelce does manage to tough out the hyperextension and play against the Lions on Thursday, the people with money on the line aren't expecting him to be as effective as he normally is. That's a reasonable expectation given Kelce's age (33), but let's not forget that he's not exactly your average player either.
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Featured image via Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
