Kansas City Chiefs: nfl FUTURES & BETTING ODDS

The Kansas City Chiefs won their second Super Bowl title in 2019, and after inking star QB Patrick Mahomes to a long-term contract, a bet on the Kansas City Chiefs figures to be popular for years to come. But their second title was actually a long time coming for Missouri’s football franchise.

The Chiefs were actually born into the AFL in 1960 as the Dallas Texans by legendary owner Lamar Hunt. Hunt moved the team to Kansas City in 1963 after fan enthusiasm in Dallas was tepid (imagine that!). The Texans’ logo featured a cowboy wearing mustard-colored pants and hat on a red background of the Lonestar state. Upon relocation, the team used the same theme, depicting a Native American chief over the outline of Missouri. For the helmet, the team chose an arrowhead with an interlocking KC, which from 1972 and on would become their primary logo.

Future HOF coach Hank Stram was tabbed as the franchise’s first head coach. During his tenure, a bet on the Kansas City Chiefs was a great idea, and the Kansas City Chiefs odds to advance far into the playoffs were high. The Texans won the AFL title in 1962, then won the AFL again in 1966, punching a ticket to the first ever AFL-NFL title game (it would be dubbed the “Super Bowl” in ’68). Alas, they made history as the first team to lose such a game, falling to Vince Lombardi’s Packers 35-10 in what would be known as Super Bowl I.

Stram would build on the defeat and keep the Chiefs vying for a title. HOF QB Len Dawson led the league in completion percentage from 1964-69. The defense was dominant, led by an incredible six Hall-of-Famers: LBs Bobby Bell & Willie Lanier, S Johnny Robinson, DTs Curley Culp and Buck Buchanan, and CB Emmitt Thomas. It was a great time to bet on the Kansas City Chiefs.

Finally, in 1969, a futures bet on the Kansas City Chiefs paid, as the Chiefs won their first Super Bowl championship. Despite the Kansas City Chiefs odds being 12-point underdogs to the Purple People Eater defense and the Minnesota Vikings, the Chiefs used their own incredible defense to force five turnovers and win the game, 23-7.

Stram would make the playoffs only one more time, in 1971, when the team won the AFC West and but were knocked off in overtime by Don Shula’s Miami Dolphins, a game in which the Kansas City Chiefs odds were promising – the team was three-point favorites. That would be the team’s lone playoff appearance of the ‘70s. The Chiefs would also make only one playoff appearance in the ‘80s, a 35-15 defeat to the New York Jets in 1986. Then, after two wasted decades, things turned around. 

The Chiefs hired former Cleveland Browns head coach Marty Schottenheimer in 1989, and the Kansas City Chiefs odds to succeed increased immediately. In 10 seasons, Schottenheimer would make seven playoff appearances, albeit only one AFC title game, a 30-13 defeat to the Buffalo Bills in 1993. Schottenheimer’s teams had plenty of veteran leadership - HOF LB Derrick Thomas was a mainstay, and HOF QB Joe Montana and HOF RB Marcus Allen made appearances on his teams – but they could never get over the hump.

Schottenheimer resigned in 1999, and the team made a handful of playoff appearances throughout the 2000s. Dick Vermeil led an explosive offense, highlighted by HOF TE Tony Gonzalez and RB Priest Holmes, to a 13-3 record in 2003, but the team lost a shootout to Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. Herm Edwards made the playoffs in his first year as head coach, but the Chiefs lost another playoff game to Manning and the Colts. In 2010, the team won the AFC West, but failed to secure a bye and lost to the Baltimore Ravens in the wildcard round. In fairness, the Kansas City Chiefs odds to win weren’t good – they were underdogs in two out of the three games.

Then, in 2013, the team hired former Eagles head coach Andy Reid. Reid had had tremendous success with Philadelphia, reaching the Super Bowl once and coaching them to a .583 winning percentage. The team also traded for former #1 overall pick Alex Smith. Since Reid’s hiring, a bet on the Kansas City Chiefs was always a good idea – to this day, Reid has never posted a losing season in Kansas City.

But playoff success was hard to come by, and some wondered if Reid was the right man to lead Kansas City to its first title in fifty years. The Chiefs lost to the Patriots, Steelers, and Titans in consecutive years, the last loss coming after Kansas City blew a 21-3 lead.

Then, in 2017, Reid selected QB Patrick Mahomes with the 10th overall pick. Mahomes appeared in only one game in 2017, but then was handed the keys to the engine in 2018, and the results were explosive. Mahomes threw an astonishing fifty touchdown passes, leading the league, and the Chiefs posted the #1-ranked offense. But they also had the 31st-ranked defense. A bet on the Kansas City Chiefs to advance to the Super Bowl would not have paid, as the team lost an overtime thriller to eventual champion New England.

In 2019, Mahomes’ numbers were not as gaudy, but Reid had improved the defense enough to get them to the promised land. Kansas City beat the Tennessee Titans in the AFC title game, and then, with the Kansas City Chiefs odds at winning another Super Bowl hanging in the balance, Mahomes led three fourth-quarter touchdown drives to beat the San Francisco 49ers, 31-20.

The team blew through the AFC in 2020, going 14-1 through the first 15 games of the year before sitting the starters in the final game--a loss to the Chargers. After defeating Cleveland and Buffalo in the playoffs, the Chiefs returned to the Super Bowl for the second-straight season, but they were unable to get anything going offensively due to injuries on the line. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers blew out the Chiefs, 31-9, in Super Bowl LV, so Kansas City will be looking for one more win in 2021.