The NFL is back, baby!
And so is all the joy and heartache that comes with it.
That was never more apparent than in Thursday’s wild season-opener which was decided when Isaiah Likely’s touchdown with zeros on the clock was overturned as his toe was barely out of the back of the end zone.
The un-“likely” – pardon the pun – ending provided a wild swing for bettors as it clinched a Chiefs cover instead of a last-second one for the Ravens. It was also bad news for the public as they largely backed Baltimore getting 2.5 or 3 points with 59% of all bets and 54% of the money.
Several important trends heading into the game pointed towards a Chiefs cover, and sure enough that (barely) came to pass. Super Bowl Champions were 14-9-1 to kick off their title defense in Week 1 dating back to 2020. Home teams in the Thursday Night Opener were also 12-8-3 over that span. Then there’s Patrick Mahomes’ domination over the Ravens, seeing as he was 4-1 over his first five games against them. He also entered the game 5-1 SU and 4-2 ATS in season openers.
It appeared the Chiefs were on their way to an easy cover, leading by 10 with just over 10 minutes to go and their offense clicking. However, Baltimore gave them a scare. Justin Tucker drilled a 32-yard field goal, and after forcing a punt with 1:50 left in the game, got the ball back needing to go the length of the field to tie the game or potentially go for two and the win.
They managed to go the length of the field.
Unfortunately, they lost by the length of a toenail.
