Kansas City Chiefs might be most intriguing NFL future bet of 2018

The Kansas City Chiefs have won the AFC West each of the last two years, but Vegas isn’t impressed, as shown in their odds.

Every team has a narrative coming into the 2018 FNL season. For some, it’s about the Super Bowl. For others, it’s about gaining respect. Somehow, for the Kansas CIty Chiefs, it’s a mixture of both.

In the five seasons head coach Andy Reid has been in Kansas City, the Chiefs have reached the playoffs four times but only come away with one postseason win. The franchise is also coming off consecutive AFC West titles, during which it went 11-1 within the division.

Still, Vegas saw the massive overhaul to the roster this winter and came away unimpressed. The Chiefs are listed as +320 to win the AFC West, which puts them behind the Los Angeles Chargers (+180), Oakland Raiders (+275) and Denver Broncos (+300). For the conference title, Kansas City is listed as 12/1, is actually better than Denver and Oakland, but even with Los Angeles at 10/1. Go figure.

So why the uncertainty from Vegas? For starters, the Chiefs traded away their safety net in Alex Smith to continue their big bet on former first-round pick, Patrick Mahomes.

Mahomes will be surrounded by elite offensive talent in Kareem Hunt, Travis Kelce, Sammy Watkins and Tyreek Hill, but the defense is a mystery. After trading for corner Kendall Fuller, general manager Brett Veach jettisoned Marcus Peters in a stunning move. The defense also said goodbye to Tamba Hali, Ron Parker and Derrick Johnson.

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Ultimately, Kansas City might be the most intriuing pick on the board to win the AFC Championship. History says it won’t happen, because the Chiefs have only two playoff wins since Jan. 1994. However, with a strong-armed quarterback and a weak conference to play in, there is money to be made if things break right, finally, in Kansas City.