Kansas City Chiefs Tight End Travis Kelce’s Injury Impacts Betting Market

Posted on: September 5, 2023, 03:11h. 

Last updated on: September 6, 2023, 09:34h.

Pauly McGuire Read More

Expertise: Sports Betting, Sports.

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce sustained a knee injury during Tuesday’s practice, which quickly impacted NFL betting markets.

The defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs kick off the new NFL season on Thursday evening in Kansas City against the Detroit Lions.

Kelce is currently listed as questionable versus the Lions in Week 1 becaue of his knee injury.

The up-and-coming Lions enter this season on a mission to secure their first playoff win since 1991. The Lions are a slight favorite to win the NFC North, and they seek their first division title in more than 30 years.

The Chiefs are also one of three elite teams from the AFC, along with the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals, that the public backed to win their conference championship.

The Chiefs begin the new season as the consensus favorite to win the Super Bowl in consecutive seasons, which is a rare feat that has not happened in almost 20 years. The 2004 New England Patriots were the last team to win the Super Bowl in back-to-back seasons.

The Chiefs are the betting favorite to win the AFC West division title for an eighth season in a row.

Kelce Hyperextends Knee

Kelce, 33, is the top tight end in the NFL, and considered the Chiefs’ best pass catcher. Over the last few seasons, Kelce has become a favorite target of quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The durable Kelce missed just four games since 2017, and two of those were meaningless games in the final week of the season.

Kelce posted his best statistical season in 2022. He caught a career-best 110 receptions and 12 touchdowns in 17 games. He added 1,338 receiving yards and passed the 1,000-yard mark for a seventh-straight season.

Kelce hyperextended his knee during a practice session, and walked off the field under his own power.

Head coach Andy Reid did not elaborate much on Kelce or the severity of injury during a brief chat with beat reporters.

“We’ll just see how he does going forward,” said Reid.

If Kelce misses Thursday’s season opener against the Lions, he’ll get an additional ten days of rest before the Chiefs’ next game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 2.

“The next guy steps in and we roll,” added Reid. “That’s what you do, if that’s the case.”

The Chiefs have tight ends Noah Gray and Blake Bell on their roster. Matt Bushman or Gerrit Price are a pair of tight ends on the practice squad.

Gray, a fifth-round pick out of Duke from 2021, enters his third season with the Chiefs. He added 28 receptions for 299 yards and one touchdown last season.

Bell is a journeyman tight end from Oklahoma who is spending a second stint with the Chiefs. He’s more of a blocker than pass catcher, and added 19 receptions and one touchdown in his three seasons with the Chiefs.

Vegas Oddsmakers Move Chiefs Line to -5

The Chiefs opened as a seven-point favorite (-7) against the visiting Lions. The point spread moved to -6.5 over the last week at major sportsbooks in Las Vegas and offshore.

When the news broke about Kelce and his knee injury, oddsmakers moved the line as much as 1.5 points.

The Westgate SuperBook and Crica Casino in Las Vegas both moved the line in the Chiefs/Lions game from -6.5 to -5.

Chris Andrews, the head bookmaker at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas, moved the line in the Chiefs/Lions to -5.5.

DraftKings currently has a -5.5 line in the NFL season opener on Thursday night.

The points total in the Chiefs/Lions opened at 53.5 over/under. The current total is 53 o/u at most shops in Las Vegas, with the exception of Circa, who moved the total to 52.5 o/u.

The Chiefs will start the season without one of their top defensive players. Defensive tackle Chris Jones is holding out because of a contract dispute.