Chiefs at Texans: Odds, trends and more

The Kansas City Chiefs are visiting the Houston Texans on Sunday afternoon, in a season-opening contest that has the pundits split. Some believe that the Texans will be able to put enough pressure on Alex Smith that Houston will take the win, while other seeing Brian Hoyer and the Houston offense getting completely shut down.

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Over at BOVADA, the Vegas sportsbook is also conflicted, putting this line as a Pick ‘EM. The over/under is set at 41, with the under seeing most of the action. Traditionally, the home teams automatically is a three-point favorite, so BOVADA is basically saying that the Chiefs are a field goal better, but since they are on the road, this is too close to call. If this game was in Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City would be a six-point favorite.

Kansas City and Houston both went 9-7 last year but missed out on the postseason. This season, the Chiefs have added a couple of high-impact players in left guard Ben Grubbs and wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, who was given a five-year, $55 million contract. Houston also altered its lineup with Brian Hoyer replacing Ryan Fitzpatrick as the starting quarterback. The Texans cut Andre Johnson but signed Nate Washington and Cecil Shorts to accompany DeAndre Hopkins. That trio will need to produce with All-Pro running back Arian Foster out with a groin injury.

Over at Oddsshark, recent trends are showing that the Chiefs are 10-5 against the spread over the past 15 games. Meanwhile, the Texans are 5-11 ATS at NRG Stadium in their last 16 home contests. Houston is also 5-10 straight up in its last 15 home games, although it did have a 5-3 record at home in 2014.

If recent contests from both the Chiefs and Texans are a good barometer, look for the under. Over the last seven Houston games, the score has been under five of seven times, while Kansas City’s previous five games have seen four under results.