The Denver Broncos are 32nd in the NFL in points allowed, 32nd in yards allowed and giving up a ridiculous seven yards per play.
And now the Broncos face Patrick Mahomes, on the road and on a short week.
The Kansas City Chiefs offense has to be excited to kick Thursday night’s game off. They face the NFL’s worst defense this year and maybe in many years. The Chiefs are a 10.5-point favorite at BetMGM.
The Broncos are off to a miserable start under Sean Payton. Fans are starting to tune them out. A win over the Chiefs would lift their spirits but that would be perhaps the biggest shock of the NFL season to date. The Broncos have lost 15 in a row to Kansas City. The last win for the Broncos over the Chiefs was Week 2 of the 2015 NFL season with Peyton Manning at quarterback. Weird results happen in the NFL all the time, but the Broncos breaking this streak with this defense, traveling on short rest would be as weird as it gets. Plenty of survival pools will be interested in what happens on Thursday night.
This game will test those who like taking big NFL underdogs. Plenty of winning bets in the NFL come from taking the ugliest teams on the board. And the Chiefs have long been a bad bet against the spread, with oddsmakers inflating spreads due to them being a high-profile team casual bettors love since Mahomes become quarterback. Officially the pick is Broncos +10.5, but it’s also possible the Chiefs could put up 50 points and everyone can find something else to do with their Thursday night.
Here’s the rest of the sports betting slate for Thursday:
MLB playoffs continue
The Atlanta Braves won 104 games during the regular season but could have their postseason end early. The Braves are on the brink of elimination after the Philadelphia Phillies rode a big third inning to a win in Game 3 of the NLDS. If the Braves want their season to continue, they’ll have to win two straight against Philadelphia to advance. The Braves again are a -150 favorite. The winner moves on to face the Arizona Diamondbacks, who swept the Los Angeles Dodgers and ruined plenty of Dodgers future bets.
College football has 2 games
Since the NFL game might get out of hand, keep in mind that West Virginia plays at Houston and SMU is at East Carolina. West Virginia is a 3-point road favorite. SMU is a big 11.5-point road favorite.
More early-season hockey
The NHL has seven games on Thursday. The best game is probably the Florida Panthers at the Minnesota Wild. Both teams are playing their first regular-season game on Thursday night. The Wild is a -125 favorite.
What’s the best bet?
Since I don’t have a great feel for Broncos-Chiefs, let’s go to the best game of the day. As we saw with the Dodgers, sometimes teams can’t dig out of a hole. And you’ll lose a lot of money betting on them to do it. The Phillies are confident, hot, and have a great home-field advantage. I get why the Braves are a -150 favorite, but I don’t think they should be at this point of the series. I’ll take the Phillies +125.