NFL Potential Game of the Year: Chiefs at Ravens Getting Heavy Action

Posted on: September 28, 2020, 12:22h. 

Last updated on: September 28, 2020, 02:17h.

Bill Huber Read More

Expertise: Sports Betting, Sports.

On Monday night, the Ravens will host the Chiefs in one of the most hotly anticipated regular-season games in years. The betting interest is running hot, too, in a matchup pitting the leading Super Bowl favorites.

“This will be one of the bigger betting Monday night games we’ve ever had,” said Johnny Avello, the director of race and sportsbook operations for DraftKings, to Casino.org.

The Kansas City Chiefs won last year’s Super Bowl, while the Baltimore Ravens had the season’s best regular-season record. Their quarterbacks have won the last two NFL MVP awards.

Money on Kansas

Interest in this game started early and has only intensified as the week has progressed.

In terms of the amount of action, tonight will definitely shake out to be a monster,” said Patrick Eichner, PointsBet’s director of communications, to Casino.org.

“I remember taking a look earlier just before kickoff of the Thursday night game and the Chiefs-Ravens matchup was a not-so-distant second already in terms of handle, interest, action. By the time we get to kickoff tonight, there’s sure to be a lot of action on that game,” he continued.

At PointsBet, the Ravens opened as 2.5-point favorites. It crept up to 3.5 but fell back to 3 on Monday afternoon. The over/under rose, too, from 52 to 54.5 points. At DraftKings, the game opened at 3.5 and has stayed put, though the total moved from 52.5 points to 54.5.

At BetMGM, the Ravens have been a steady 3.5-point favorite with a total of 54.5. The total at William Hill was up to 55.5 with about 5 hours until kickoff.

We’re pretty split,” Eichner told Casino.org. “We’re slightly favoring the Ravens on the side. The Chiefs are obviously the much more popular underdog play, with them being a 3-point dog. You can’t find Chiefs moneyline at a value like that, so the Chiefs’ moneyline will continue to be the popular play heading into the game. I expect it to get more lopsided on that.”

With Kansas City’s ability to score points in a hurry, as it did in last year’s run to the championship, the in-play betting will be what Eichner is watching.

They are a squad that has proven so often that they are able to flip the switch and make plays, no matter if they had a bad first half or a bad three quarters,” Eichner said.

“They seem to have that switch they can flick and throw themselves right back into any football game. It will be interesting to see how the live money starts to come in. That will be really telling as far as what our final result is on this game,” he continued.

With most of the money on the moneyline and the spread being placed on Kansas City, sportsbooks will be rooting for a low-scoring game won by the Ravens by one or two points.

Super Bowl Favorites

The Chiefs opened the season as a solid favorite to be repeat Super Bowl champions. But the odds have moved following a pair of thoroughly dominant victories by Baltimore.

The winner tonight will obviously impact those odds.

If the Ravens win this game by a touchdown, they would probably drop to about 4 1/2 to 1 from 5, or possibly 4, and the Chiefs probably would get raised up to 6 or maybe even 6 1/2,” Avello told Casino.org. “If the Chiefs were able to win this game, they’re probably going to get dropped to 4 and the Ravens are probably going to get boosted up to 6. That’s the way I would see that happening.”

For player props at DraftKings, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the 2018 MVP, has an over/under of 292.5 passing yards. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, the 2019 MVP, has an over/under of 255.5 passing yards and 62.5 rushing yards.