After a disappointing opening night loss to the Lions, the Chiefs are favored to bounce back on Sunday down in Jacksonville.
Despite being favored over the Detroit Lions in their 2023 regular-season opener, the Kansas City Chiefs dropped the outing by a narrow one-point margin and started the year on a sour note. That isn’t stopping the betting market from showing Andy Reid’s team some love on the road for its second game, though.
As the Week 2 market opens and soon solidifies, the Chiefs are favored ahead of their weekend matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Per the line at SI Sportsbook, Kansas City is given a 2.5-point advantage over Doug Pederson’s squad.
There’s a decent amount of recent history between these two clubs, with both sides meeting twice during the 2022-23 campaign. A Week 10 showdown in Kansas City saw the hosts win 27-17, then a rematch in the Divisional Round of the playoffs ended in a 27-20 victory for the Chiefs despite a Patrick Mahomes ankle injury. The Jaguars did put together a great close to the season, however, and came back against the Indianapolis Colts to win by double-digits in Week 1 of this year.
On the activity and injury fronts for the Jaguars, there isn’t a ton that can organically shift the opening line back in their own favor. Cornerback Gregory Junior suffered a Week 1 hamstring injury and offensive lineman Brandon Scherff got hurt during the game, although the latter ultimately returned. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence and almost all of his teammates escaped the NFL’s first week of games unscathed.
On the other side, there are a couple of notable (ongoing) developments for the Chiefs. As tight end Travis Kelce continues to rehab from a hyperextended knee and bone bruise, his status could sway the line by game time. The holdout of defensive tackle Chris Jones is also something to consider. If Jones reports to the team at some point and his chances of playing rise, that could be a big deal in the eyes of the market.
In either event, whether Kansas City’s perceived advantage expands or decreases in the coming days is worth monitoring. This is shaping up to be one of the better games on the still-young NFL slate, as Lawrence and Mahomes are two of the most talented signal-callers in the sport. It’s also yet another example of Reid facing off against one of his former coaches, which always adds intrigue to what should already be a very fun matchup.
