Thursday Night Football Betting Odds: Broncos vs. Chiefs
Sportsbook has your Thursday Night Football betting odds for the Broncos vs. Chiefs. Sportsbook.ag Line: Kansas City -3, Total: 42.5
DENVER BRONCOS (1-0) at KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (1-0)
Early season pole position in the AFC West is on the line at Arrowhead on Thursday night when the Chiefs host the Broncos.
Peyton Manning’s season is off to a rocky start despite Denver's Week 1 win over Baltimore, and the team visiting a tough matchup with star TE Travis Kelce and Kansas City which rolled on the road at Houston last Sunday.
Manning is currently mired in the least productive stretch of his career having thrown just three touchdown passes in his past five regular-season games. Prior to this current spurt, Manning had a pair of five-game runs with four TD tosses; the first five games of his career and the final two games in 2004 crossing over to the beginning of 2005. Fortunately for the Mile High faithful, the Broncos are 4-1 over this Manning skid thanks in large part to a steadily improving defense. The only team to score more than 17 points against Denver in those five games was the Bengals in Week 15. The Broncos lost that game 37-28 and Manning threw four interceptions, something he hadn’t done since 2010.
A similar defensive effort to last week bodes well for the Broncos, as Kansas City is just 36-57 ATS when scoring 15-to-21 points since 1992. RB C.J. Anderson (questionable) was unable to find running room against the Ravens, racking up just 48 total yards before spraining his toe. The Denver offense was only able to amass 219 total yards, which was by far the lowest in the Manning era (295 vs. SD in 2013 was only other game under 300). Manning has history on his side in this matchup though, posting an 11-1 career mark against the Chiefs while completing 62% of his passes with 25 TD and just eight picks.
Peyton Manning is 6-0 versus the Chiefs as a member of the Broncos, posting 16 TD passes to just three interceptions. In the past five years, Manning is 25-14 ATS on the road, and Denver is 3-1 ATS versus KC since 2013. Last year’s meeting at Arrowhead was dominated by the Broncos defense, which held the Chiefs to just 151 total yards while forcing three turnovers and sacking Alex Smith six times. Smith has never beaten Manning head-to-head, dropping both games as quarterback of the 49ers and the four meetings over the past two seasons. Denver is 9-2 ATS in the past three seasons when allowing 150-to-200 passing yards, but over the same stretch the club is just 1-6 ATS when throwing for 250-to-300 yards.
The Broncos defense was able to get off the field all afternoon, holding the Ravens to 2-of-13 on 3rd Downs while limiting their offense to 173 yards, their lowest since 2011. Former Ravens FS Darian Stewart iced the game with his third career interception in the end zone to halt a 14-play, 64-yard drive in the final minutes.
CB Aqib Talib came up with a pick-six of Ravens’ QB Joe Flacco who finished the day just 18-of-32. Talib rumbled 51 yards to glory to pull ahead 16-13. In a game with zero offensive touchdowns, Denver K Brandon McManus was the star of the game, booting three field goals including a pair from 50+ in the first quarter.
RB Jamaal Charles will be a huge factor in the outcome on Thursday, as Kansas City is 7-1 ATS over the past three seasons when gaining 4-to-4.5 yards per carry. The Chiefs stormed out of the blocks at NRG Stadium in Houston in Week 1, taking a quick 14-0 lead thanks to a pair of touchdown passes from QB Alex Smith to TE Travis Kelce. Kansas City went into the half leading 27-6 after Smith connected with Charles from seven yards out with five minutes to go in the second. Smith finished a crisp 22-of-33 for 243 yards and 3 TD while his offense didn’t turn the ball over once to the much-hyped Texans defense.
DE Justin Houston and the Chiefs front seven dominated the line of scrimmage to the tune of five sacks, one of which saw Houston strip Texans QB Brian Hoyer inside the 10-yard line. DL Allen Bailey (career-high two sacks) recovered the ball on the seven-yard line, which led to the Charles TD reception on the very next play.
First round pick CB Marcus Peters intercepted Hoyer on the first offensive play for the Texans in 2015, making them one of only two teams to open the season with an interception on their first play of the year (Tampa Bay).
Kansas City will likely need to improve on a dismal 3-of-13 on 3rd Downs to win Thursday, but its defense held Houston to just 3-of-14 conversions and 0-for-1 on 4th down. The Texans ended up outgaining the Chiefs 396-330, but K.C. held its opponent 98 yards on the ground, and much of the total yards occurred in the second half. In the past three years the Chiefs are 8-1 ATS when allowing 4.5-5.0 yards per carry, with the average margin of victory at 11.6 points per game in this scenario.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
