Houston at Kansas City in NFL opener Thursday: Can Texans find revenge vs. Chiefs? | Opinion
Football is back! Well, as back as you can be in the middle of a pandemic. In an Arrowhead Stadium that as a result will be limited to 22 percent capacity or 16,000 fans Thursday night. In a season that saw dozens of players opt out over coronavirus concerns. In a year that saw the entire preseason wiped out. Nevertheless, nothing — literally including a deadly global plague — stops King Sport, and so we set sail on the NFL’s 101st season, the 55th for the Miami Dolphins, the 30th (!) for our NFL picks in the Miami Herald, and the 19th for prime-time Thursday kickoffs. I’m coming off a solid 2019 for my picks: a .663 winning percentage straight-up and .518 against the point spread. That followed a record-setting 2018: .705 overall and .582 vs. the betting line. To those who’ve followed our picks for years, welcome back. To newbies out there, welcome aboard. ! and to newbies alike, welcome aboard! We take our picks seriously but have fun doing it. Ready? Go!
NFL WEEK 1
GREG COTE’S THURSDAY PICK
TEXANS (0-0) at CHIEFS (0-0)
Line: KC by 9.
Cote’s pick: KC 34-27.
TV: 8:20 p.m. Thursday, NBC.
Returning to Arrowhead is going to conjure nightmares for Houston — that, or stoke the Texans with the motivation to exact revenge. Houston led Kansas City 24-0 in last year’s playoffs only to royally choke and lose 51-31. That’s the kind of collapse coaches think of on their death beds. The Chiefs sailed on to win the Super Bowl. Now Patrick Mahomes is back in full flight, and a great offense could be even better if rookie RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire out of LSU is all that. Mahomes’ counterpart Deshaun Watson lost his favorite target in DeAndre Hopkins, and I won’t stop thinking that trade was monumentally dumb until I see sustained health and fantasy-stud production from RB David Johnson. KC has won 11 straight September games and I like ‘em at home here. Also like the ‘over’ even at 54.5, partly because I see the lack of a preseason initially hurting defenses more than the guys with the ball. Don’t write off Houston as playoff-caliber, though, and last year’s humiliating playoff cave-in should bring some fire. Lean Texans getting near-double digit points.
[Note: Picks for remainder of Week 1 games will appear online Thursday afternoon and in print Friday] .
