As ever the Super Bowl champions kick off the NFL season which means that the New England Patriots get things underway on Thursday night. They play host to the AFC West champions Kansas City Chiefs in a tasty looking opener.
Both these sides managed 12 or more wins last season and they will be looking to emulate that over the course of the upcoming campaign although they will recognise they face a tough opener here.
New England Patriots
The champions head into this match in a much better space this year than they were at the respective period last year. Back then quarterback Tom Brady was suspended and there was all sorts of fallout from ‘deflate-gate’ taking place. That did not stop them launching a Super Bowl winning campaign though.
It will be interesting to assess the Patriots here. They are a relentless winning machine but at some point you’ve got to think that age will catch up with Tom Brady and then we will see what they are really about. They are already without Julian Edelman for the entire campaign so they need Brady to be firing throughout the season.
Kansas City Chiefs
What was a promising season for the Chiefs last time around was soured with their playoff defeat to Pittsburgh Steelers. In Alex Smith they have a quarterback who has a reputation for being too conservative in the big matches. He is under pressure this season with the talented Patrick Mahomes drafted in.
This may be a decent marker for the Chiefs. If they can win on prime time at a place as tough as New England they should fear nothing for the rest of the campaign. If they find themselves well beaten it could be a dent to their confidence and mentality which they could do without with some tricky matches to come.
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Betting
I’m going to take two bets for this season opener. I always like to ride the defences at this stage of a season before injuries cripple them and the Chiefs have one of the best defences in the league. New England usually defend well enough with Belichick being a master of negating the strength of the opponent so I’m expecting a low scoring game here.
It may take a week or two for both offenses to begin firing on all cylinders with the changes in personnel and ideas so I like the look of under 48.5pts here in a match which if it is tight will be low scoring and if it is won wide will likely be won by New England. They are unlikely to go to town on this defence though so under 48.5 looks a good play.
Travis Kelce has been around a while but he probably had a breakthrough campaign last season where he caught 85 passes at an average of 5.66 catches per game for 1,125 yards and I see no reason why he won’t continue that form here. There is talk that he will be utilised in a wide receiver set up which will see him up against smaller defenders who he could dominate. Even if he is through the middle he and Smith have an excellent link so his receiving line at 63.5 yards looks too low.
Tips
Back Under 48.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Betfred
Back them here:
Back T.Kelce – Over 63.5 receiving yards for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Paddy Power
Back him here:
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