In this post, I share my Chiefs vs Ravens tips with you plus best bets and a score prediction as we break down the betting odds, team news and matchups ahead of the opening game of the 2024 NFL season.
Chiefs vs Ravens Odds
Team | Handicap | Moneyline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
Chiefs | -2.5 @ 4/5 | 4/6 | Over 46.5 20/21 |
Ravens | +2.5 @ 21/20 | 5/4 | Under 46.5 20/23 |
Moneyline Betting Odds
The Chiefs are 4/6 favourites in the moneyline betting market to win this game. The Ravens on the other hand are the underdogs in this one at 5/4.
Handicap Betting Odds
The Kansas City Chiefs are -2.5 points favourites for this NFL Kickoff Game. In other words, the Chiefs need to win by 3 points to cover the handicap and make Kansas City handicap bettors happy.
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Chiefs vs Ravens Overview
Kansas City Chiefs
Despite winning the Super Bowl, the Chiefs' offence struggled for large parts of last season. They leaned on their defence and Mahomes magic to lead them to a repeat Super Bowl victory.
This year they have added wide receivers Xavier Worthy, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Marquise Brown although the latter is doubtful to appear in this opening game. Those reinforcements should add more of a vertical threat back to this Kansas City offence which in turn will open up space for guys like Travis Kelce to exploit underneath.
On the defensive side of the ball, we can expect some regression from last season after losing star cornerback L’Jarius Sneed in the offseason. Kansas City were dominant on defence last season, holding opponents to just 17 points a game which made them the 2nd best scoring defence in the league.
This defence also had success in the AFC Championship Game against Baltimore when they held the Ravens to 10 points. Key to that was limiting the Baltimore running backs to just 27 yards on 8 attempts. Jackson had more success on the ground with 54 yards on 8 rushes but it was the 3 turnovers forced by the Chiefs which ultimately booked them a spot in the Super Bowl.
Trends
Kansas City lost to the Detroit Lions in last season’s opening game.
The Chiefs are 2-1 in Kickoff games under Andy Reid and 1-1 with Pat Mahomes at Quarterback.
2017: Chiefs 42-27 Patriots (before Mahomes was a starter)
2020: Texans 20-34 Chiefs
2023: Lions 21-20 Chiefs
Baltimore Ravens
This is a rematch of last season’s AFC Championship Game. Baltimore will be looking for revenge after losing that game 17-10 at home which denied them a trip to the Super Bowl after being the #1 seed.
Trends
The Ravens are 5-1 in Week 1 since drafting Lamar Jackson in 2018. That one loss came in overtime against the Raiders in 2021. This suggests that Head Coach John Harbaugh typically has his team in a good place going into their opening game of the season.
Chiefs vs Ravens Head-To-Head
All-Time Head-To-Head Record
Chiefs: 8 wins
Ravens: 5 wins
Recent Matchups
Since Andy Reid was hired by Kansas City in 2013 they have had the better of John Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens. In that time, the Chiefs lead the series 5-1.
The last time that these teams played was in last season’s AFC Championship game. Baltimore were the host (and favourites) courtesy of securing the #1 seed in the regular season but the Chiefs would end up victorious en route to another Super Bowl title for the duo of Pat Mahomes and Andy Reid. The final score was 17-10 in favour of Kansas City with Baltimore’s 3 turnovers proving costly alongside their inability to slow down the connection between Travis Kelce and Mahomes as the star tight end went for 116 yards plus 1 TD on 11 receptions.
The last time the Ravens beat the Chiefs was in 2021 when Lamar Jackson went for 346 total yards and 3 TDs to lead his team to a 36-35 victory.
How To Watch Chiefs vs Ravens
When is the Chiefs vs Ravens game on?
The first game of the 2024 NFL season is scheduled to kick off at 1.20 am Thursday night/Friday morning in the UK and Ireland. Given that it is the first competitive NFL game since the Super Bowl in February there will be plenty of NFL fanatics on this side of the Atlantic willing to stay up for this game.
TV Channel
The Chiefs v Ravens will be televised on Sky Sports NFL with pre-game coverage from midnight.
Live Stream
International audiences can stream the game on DAZN which was introduced last season as the new platform for NFL Game Pass International.
Where is the Chiefs vs Ravens Game Being Played?
Arrowhead Stadium will play host to this game as the Chiefs are the home team for this NFL Kickoff Game thanks to winning last season’s Super Bowl.
Chiefs vs Ravens Betting Trends
The Under was 14-7 in Chiefs games last season.
The Under was 10-8-1 in Ravens games last season.
The Chiefs were 13-7-1 against the handicap last season.
The 2nd Half Under was 18-3 in Chiefs games last season.
The Chiefs are 5-1 against the Ravens since 2015.
Chiefs vs Ravens Prediction
Prediction: Chiefs 24 Ravens 20
I’m predicting that the Chiefs will beat the Ravens by 24 to 20 to kick off the 2024 NFL regular season.
Kansas City are the back-to-back Super Bowl Champions who will be looking to become the first-ever team to ‘three-peat’. After losing the NFL Kickoff game last year to the Detroit Lions I think we see a big performance from them in this one against a fellow AFC contender.
Home advantage could also prove crucial here with the notoriously noisy Arrowhead Stadium sure to cause difficulties for the Ravens on offence.
I expect to see both teams get off to slowish starts on offence as they shake off the rust before finding their groove later in the game.
Chiefs vs Ravens Tips & Best Bet
Under 46.5 Total Points @ 20/21 – Best Bet
Both of these teams were prone to going under the total points mark last season and I expect to see a continuation of that trend in this game. Another trend pointing to the under is that of the last 6 NFL Kickoff games, 4 of them have gone under this total of 46.5 points
In last season’s opening game against the Lions, the Chiefs had struggles on offence as they were only able to put up 20 points on the scoreboard. With plenty of new additions to the offence, we can expect them to take some time to get into a rhythm.
If the Ravens are to have success on the ground, which I expect that they will, then it will shorten the game, lead to fewer drives and ultimately fewer total points. Considering all of these factors I think that the Under 46.5 Total Points is the best bet for this game although admittedly it is not the most fun bet.
Travis Kelce to Have 75+ Receiving Yards @ 9/4
While soon-to-be 35-year-old Travis Kelce is not as good as he once was, he can be good once like he always was. In other words, Kelce can get up for the big games and put in a game-winning performance.
That was the case in last season’s AFC Championship Game between these two teams when the veteran tight end went off for 11 receptions from 11 targets for 116 yards and 1 TD. That was a continuation of previous performances against the Ravens as Kelce has averaged 91.8 yards per game against Baltimore and only once went under 75 receiving yards. Even on that occasion, he had 73 yards.
Kelce is sure to be fresh coming into this game after a long offseason and at 9/4 to break the 75-yard mark I think we are getting great value here.
Patrick Mahomes to Have 300+ Passing Yards @ 2/1
At just 28 years of age, Mahomes already has 3 Super Bowls, 3 Super Bowl MVPs and 2 regular season MVPs to his name. The Chiefs quarterback is well on track to become the greatest player to ever play the position.
More relevant to this game, he has been dominant against the Ravens with an average of 344 passing yards and 2.6 TDs in 5 career games. Only once has he gone under a total of 300 passing yards, which came in last season’s AFC Championship when he had 241 passing yards. This Chiefs offence is an improvement from that version so I expect us to see more from Mahomes here and at 2/1 I think it is good value to bet on him breaking the 300+ passing yards mark.
Derrick Henry to Have 100+ Yards @ 9/2
Derrick Henry’s signing for the Ravens was one of the most noteworthy moves in the offseason. Despite being the #1 seed the Ravens were unable to get over the AFC Championship hump and book a spot in the Super Bowl. If all goes to plan Henry can be the player to bring this team to the promised land.
Henry and Lamar Jackson set up on paper to be a video game-like duo in the Baltimore backfield. And Henry has had plenty of success against the Chiefs and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnulo with an average of 112 rushing yards per game in 6 outings against Kansas City.
Expect to see Baltimore feature their big name signing plenty in this opening game after handing him a $20M contract. The odds of 9/2 here to break the 100-yard mark are too good to pass up.
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