Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs - 9/10/20 NFL Pick, Odds, and Prediction
2020-09-10 20:20:00 EDT
The Houston Texans and the Kansas City Chiefs meet Thursday in NFL action from Aritemhead Stadium in week 1 NFL action.
This will be the first game in the NFL’s 2020 Week 1 opening slate. Houston is coming off a pretty nice season last year, going 10-6 and winning the AFC South. The Texans won the Wild Card Playoffs in OT versus the Bills, but lost the Divisional playoffs to the Chiefs. Speaking of the Chiefs, they went all the way in 2019 with a 12-4 record and a thrilling comeback victory 31-20 in Super Bowl LIV.
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The Texans opened with a tepid 2-2 record last year, but continued a pattern of winning two games, then losing one all season. That was good enough to clinch the AFC South by Week 16, the fourth time in five seasons Houston has accomplished that feat and the team’s sixth overall division title.
This year, the Texans will look different in a lot of areas after some pretty busy trading scenarios in the offseason. The major looming question is the DeAndre Hopkins trade, which brought in running back David Johnson. If Johnson can stay healthy, he’ll get plenty of chances to shine in the Houston offense. Starting things off with two games versus the Chiefs and Ravens isn’t going to be easy, however.
As for the Chiefs, there’s not much to complain about when it comes to 2019: a 12-4 record, a record fourth-straight division title, a fifth consecutive playoffs appearance, six Pro Bowlers, four All-Pros and—oh, yeah—a Super Bowl title. It was Kansas City’s first championship since Super Bowl IV way back in 1970 and a big lift for the city.
The Chiefs are thinking repeat in 2020 after bringing back most of their roster intact. Kansas City traded off some future draft capital to round out their lineups, and will be going full steam ahead while this championship window is open. It’s all anchored of course by QB Patrick Mahomes, who signed a 10-year contract extension worth $503 million with bonuses included. Rookie first-round draft pick RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire will also be a fun player to watch in KC this year.
The Texans are 4-1-1 ATS in their last six games on grass and 2-8 in the last 10 Thursday games. The under is 4-1 in Houston’s last five road games and 11-4-1 in their last 16 games in September.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs are 7-0-1 ATS in their last eight games as a favorite and 5-0-1 ATS in their last six games as a home favorite. Kansas City is 4-1 ATS in their last five games in Week 1 and 23-9-1 ATS in their last 33 games versus the AFC.
Pick: I’ve got to stick with the Chiefs here. If this line were a little thicker—say, two touchdowns—I might reconsider, but I do like KC to win this one by a couple of scores. Houston has a ton of question marks after something of a roster overhaul in the offseason, and it stands to reason that they’ll take a few weeks to get going. The Chiefs should be able to pick up right where they left off, and I like a nice win for KC in Week 1.
