Chiefs open as favorites over Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV
Just as oddsmakers expected all year long, the Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl - and they're favored once again to win it all in a potential classic against the Buccaneers.
Kansas City opened as 3.5-point favorites at theScore Bet after comfortably beating the Bills 38-24 in the AFC championship - only their second win against the spread in their last 10 games. The Buccaneers - who are set to become the first team in NFL history to play the Super Bowl at their home stadium - are 6-2 ATS in their last eight after Sunday's 31-26 win at Lambeau Field, with Tom Brady securing a record 10th Super Bowl appearance.
The Chiefs have already been bet down to a field goal, with bettors quick to jump on the Buccaneers across the key number of three, although each of the last seven Super Bowls were decided by at least four points. In the regular season, the Chiefs were just three-point winners in a Week 12 meeting against Tampa Bay.
Only three teams this century have earned a Super Bowl rematch against a team that beat them in the regular season - all involved Brady. He led the 2001 Patriots to a revenge win over the Rams before losing in the opposite spot to the 2007 Giants, which ended the Patriots' bid for an undefeated season. He also lost twice in the same season to the 2011 Giants.
Including those three games, Brady is 6-3 straight up in the Super Bowl but just 4-5 ATS in that spot. He's also 2-2 ATS in his career against Patrick Mahomes, who is now 5-2 ATS in his playoff career with a 1-0 record in the Super Bowl.
Mahomes won as a favorite in last year's game after Brady won as a favorite the year prior. Will this game follow a similar script? Before those two wins, underdogs had covered in 13 of the last 17 years dating back to Brady's stunning win in 2002.
The contest opened at 57 points, currently the second-highest total in Super Bowl history after Super Bowl LI (Patriots vs. Falcons, 58).