The 2023 National Football League officially kicks off with its first game Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. Here’s how to watch the Detroit Lions vs. Kansas City Chiefs, betting odds and top storylines ahead of the highly anticipated game.
How to Watch: The first Thursday Night Football game will air on NBC and stream on Peacock, both units of Comcast Corporation CMCSA.
Coverage for the game starts at 7 p.m. ET with the kickoff slated for 8:20 p.m. ET.
Future Thursday Night Football games during the season will stream on Amazon Prime Video, a unit of Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN.
NBC and Peacock will be the home of Sunday Night Football games throughout the 2023 NFL season.
Related Link: Here's Why The Detroit Lions Always Play On Thanksgiving Day
Top Storylines: The opening game between the Chiefs and Lions has several storylines with the 2023 season overall having additional storylines for both teams.
• Travis Kelce Out? One of the biggest storylines for the game is an injury to star Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. The tight end hyperextended his knee during practice Tuesday and his status remains questionable with a decision to play. A report said Kelce would go through an early game-day workout to test the knee and that will determine if he plays.
Kelce not playing could be a big blow to the Chiefs. The tight end was the team’s leader for receptions, targets, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns last season. Kelce had 110 receptions for 1,338 yards with 12 touchdowns. Kelce was responsible for 25% of the passing yards and 25% of the completions from quarterback Patrick Mahomes as his favorite target.
• High Hopes for Detroit: The Lions enter the season as the ninth favorite to win the Super Bowl at odds of +2200, pretty good for a team that’s never been to the big game. The Lions are also favored at odds of +140 to win the NFC North division. With a 9-8 record, the Lions narrowly missed out on making the NFL Playoffs last season. The team has not been to the postseason since 2016, the longest active drought among NFC teams.
• Running Back Questions: The Lions enter the 2023 season without their two leading running backs from last season with Jamaal Williams and D’Andre Swift both gone. The duo were responsible for 22 of the team’s 23 rushing touchdowns last season. Justin Jackson retired, leaving the Lions with no one on the roster that scored a rushing touchdown last season. The team now turns to newly acquired David Montgomery, formerly of the Chicago Bears, who had 801 yards rushing and five touchdowns last season, and rookie Jahmyr Gibbs, who they drafted 12th overall.
Top 10 Matchup: The game between the Chiefs and Lions has two of the top 10 teams favored to win this year’s Super Bowl facing off. The Chiefs are the favorite to win Super Bowl LVIII with odds of +600. One item that could factor in is the Chiefs home field advantage, with the team going 7-1 last year at Arrowhead Stadium.
Award Winners: Several players and a coach who take part in Thursday’s game are favorites to win awards this season.
Mahomes is listed as the favorite to win the MVP award at odds of +600. The Chiefs quarterback has won the award twice, including last season.
Jaymyr Gibbs is ranked fifth for odds of Offensive Rookie of the Year at odds of +1,000. Lions rookie linebacker Jack Campbell is the sixth favorite for Defensive Rookie of the Year at odds of +1,400.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell is the favorite to win Coach of the Year at odds of +850.
Betting Odds: The home team Chiefs enter the opening Thursday Night Football matchup as the favorite with odds of -218 and are favored by 4.5 points. The Chiefs were favored by 6.5 points prior to news of an injury to star tight end Travis Kelce. The Lions winning pays out +180.
The over/under for the game is set at 53 points with odds from DraftKings Inc DKNG.
Along with betting on items like the winner and over/under, many prop bets are offered with some highlights below.
One of the top players being eyed in the matchup is Gibbs, the Lions' first-round draft pick and former running back from the University of Alabama. The running back could be a big factor in the team’s passing game. The over/under on Gibbs rushing yards is set at 38.5. Gibbs receiving total is set at 31.5. While both of these bets could cash if Gibbs is used heavily by the Lions, a good bet could be his rush/rec total of 74.5, which covers both receiving and rushing yards combined.
The Lions and Chiefs game could be a shootout with lots of points and high-powered passing attacks. This could be good news for receiver yards totals. While Amon-Ra St. Brown is listed at over 70 yards, the Lions number two and three receivers Josh Reynolds and Marvin Jones Jr. are listed at 26.5 and 27.5, respectively.
On the Chiefs side, Skyy Moore is listed at 47.5 yards and could see heavy targets with Kelce out. Backup tight end Noah Fant is also a player to watch for player props if Kelce is ruled out.
If the game is looking like a potential shootout, another potential bet is the Lions team's total points set at 23.5. This total could be hit with a number of combinations including three touchdowns and a field goal, four touchdowns or two touchdowns and four field goals.
With Mahomes losing his favorite target and potential safety receiver, he may choose to run more often when pressured or out of options. The over/under for Mahomes rushing yards is set at 18.5.
A growing favorite bet among bettors is the anytime touchdown bet that cashes if a certain player scores at any point in the game. Kelce is listed as the favorite at -130, which could change depending on his playing decision.
These are some of the top anytime touchdown bets to consider:
Isiah Pacheco: +125
Amon-Ra St. Brown: +115
David Montgomery: +115
Jahmyr Gibbs: +140
Skyy Moore: +200
Sam LaPorta: +245
Marvin Jones Jr.: +300
Josh Reynolds: +380
Favorite Bets: Lions Over 23.5 points, Gibbs Anytime Touchdown, Gibbs over 74.5 Rush/Rec Yards
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