The new NFL season is finally upon us and we have been given a real humdinger to start the fireworks with the defending champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, hosting the reigning MVP, Lamar Jackson, and the Baltimore Ravens at Arrowhead on Thursday Night Football.
These two squared off in last season's AFC Championship game with the Chiefs edging a tight battle 17-10 at the M&T Stadium before going on to make it successive victories in the NFL Championship game with a 25-22 victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
No team has ever won three on the bounce but the Chiefs are expected to at least go close, while facing a similar challenge in the process, as these three teams top the outright betting.
The Chiefs and Ravens get the earliest possible chance to put their credentials to the test in what is the toughest game of their regular season, on paper at least, and both will be desperate to lay down a marker.
Kansas City Chiefs -3.0 - 1/1
The Kansas City Chiefs are going for the "three-peat" this season, having won their second last term despite firing far from all cylinders with the receiving corps struggling to catch a cold at times.
The Chiefs lost their season opener at home, albeit by a point in a 21-20 defeat to the Detroit Lions, before suffering a run of five defeats in eight games as the threat of missing the play-offs became a possibility.
However, they rallied by winning their final two games of the regular season before doing what they do best, winning play-off football games - restricting the number two-ranked offense in points per game, the Miami Dolphins, to just seven points and overcoming the Buffalo Bills on the road.
That set up an AFC Championship game in Baltimore, with the Ravens having gone 13-4 in the regular season to earn top seeding, but the Chiefs again overcame the odds on their way to glory - and surely they will have learned from last season's relative struggles.
Although offseason arrival Marquise "Hollywood" Brown has been ruled out of the season opener, rookie Xavier Worthy broke the 40-yard dash record in the NFL Combine before being drafted 28th overall by the Chiefs, and he could be just the sort of target that phenom Mahomes can utilise to devastating effect.
There were arguably excuses for Kansas City for that opening loss to Detroit in 2023 as they were without Travis Kelce and Chris Jones, and it is worth noting that they had won their opener in the previous eight seasons.
They also have the upper hand in their head to head meetings with Baltimore, not least in the AFC Championship game last season with the hosts seemingly being in better form, as they have won five of the last six games between the two. Even in their defeat in that run in 2021, they were 35-24 up after the third quarter and perhaps should have seen the game out, failing to score in the fourth quarter to succumb to a 36-35 loss.
The last five wins for the Chiefs have been 34-14, 27-24 (OT), 33-28, 34-20 and 17-10 and they can win once again by more than three points.
Lamar Jackson over 49.5 rushing yards - 10/11
That is not to say that the Chiefs will have everything their own way on Thursday night, particularly with Derrick Henry having been signed by Baltimore in a statement-making move by the Ravens.
How quickly Henry settles into the Ravens system remains open to question but there is no doubt that he will court plenty of attention from the Chiefs in the opener, and that may just allow Lamar Jackson a little more freedom.
Jackson is arguably the best dual-threat quarterback in the game and rushed for 821 yards from 148 carries in the regular season at an average of 5.5 yards per carry. The 2023 MVP added another 154 yards from 19 carries in the postseason, which included 54 from eight against the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game.
He may look to ease the burden on Henry or exploit Kansas City's potential focus on the former Tennessee Titan and pass Thursday's line set at 49.5.
Travis Kelce to score a touchdown - 21/20
Travis Kelce perhaps endured something of a down season in 2023, registering just five touchdowns in the regular season, having hit totals of 11, 9 and 12 in the previous three.
However, he remains a key target for Mahomes, proving that with three touchdowns in the play-offs, including one against the Ravens in the AFC Championship game. His price of 21/20 to register another on opening day, now armed with home advantage, look mighty tempting.
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.