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The NFL is back with the Chiefs and Lions on Thursday night. Kansas City will look to continue their dominance and march toward another Super Bowl.
The Lions are trying to build off a great 2022 season and establish themselves as one of the contenders in the NFC.
This should be a great game, and may even be more competitive with the latest news out of Kansas City. Travis Kelce hyperextended his knee, and will likely miss Thursday’s contest.
This caused the spread to move toward Detroit, and our same game parlay to be crafted with a big night from the Lions in mind. Let’s break down the ticket!
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The Detroit Lions match up well against the Chiefs because of their offense. To compete with Kansas City, a team must perform offensively.
Detroit had one of the best offenses in the NFL last season, and this was widely thanks to quarterback Jared Goff.
Goff was fantastic and had one of the best seasons of his career. If he can build off this success, the Lions will win a lot of games in 2023.
The scary part about taking the points with Detroit is their defense against Patrick Mahomes. However, the Chiefs don’t have the best weapons, especially if Travis Kelce doesn’t play in this game.
Kansas City is the better team, but we don’t believe there's a touchdown better than the hungry Lions in the season opener.
Jahmyr Gibbs had a fantastic season at Alabama in 2022. Despite this, the Lions were degraded for how badly they drafted, because they probably could have waited until the second round to get Gibbs.
The running back carried the ball 136 times for 850 yards with seven touchdowns. He was also multi-faceted with 42 receptions and 378 yards. His skills are expected to translate well to the next level.
The early pick from Detroit shows the franchise has big plans for the rookie this season. The Chiefs were a top-ten rushing defense a year ago, but we’ve taken Gibbs total down to an alternate line of 34.5.
He can hit this number with two explosive carries, and he is more than capable of this in his debut.
We discussed Goff earlier in the parlay as a catalyst for the Lions success. For Detroit to march into Arrowhead and upset the Chiefs, it will take a strong performance from the quarterback.
Goff’s passing numbers can fluctuate, but he has a higher boom rate than bust. The best chance Detroit has of moving the football is through a strong aerial attack.
Kansas City ranked 27th in Defensive Passer Rating and 24th in Defensive Real Quarterback Rating one year ago according to Cold Hard Football Facts.
Goff is set up to have a huge night throwing the ball if he can handle the environment at Arrowhead. There is no reason to believe he won’t be successful after seeing how he played in his first season with the Lions.
Amon-Ra St. Brown’s regular receiving yards prop is listed at 76.5. He is the primary receiver for Goff, and he plays with a chip on his shoulder. St. Brown had just under ten targets per game, and caught 106 passes last season.
He totaled 1161 receiving yards with six touchdowns last season. His long catch on the season was 49 yards. We teased down his receiving yards to 64.5, which should be manageable for the playmaker.
Goff has plenty of weapons to work with, but St. Brown is the feature player who we expect to see all over the field and go over 64.5 yards.
The total odds for the parlay is +370 with the spread and the three props. Let’s start the season off strong!
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Tanner Kern has been working in the betting industry since 2020. He currently is a social media content creator at DraftKings and contributes to multiple sites in addition to WSN, including Forbes and VSiN. He is also the cohost of the podcast Ride the Line at WSN.
More info on Tanner Kern
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