Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Chiefs garner staggering number of bets ahead of 'SNF' game vs. Jets

By Chelena Goldman | Last updated 9/27/23

The Kansas City Chiefs are not one of the NFL teams that sits at 3-0 on the season right now. But boy, are they garnering an insane amount of attention at sportsbooks right now.

The defending Super Bowl champs sit at 2-1 on the season after rebounding from an upset home loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 1, and that performance doesn't appear to be on bettors minds ahead of Week 4 when Patrick Mahomes and company visit MetLife Stadium to face the New York Jets on "Sunday Night Football."

According to DraftKings, an astounding 91% of bets and 95% of the betting handle is on the Chiefs, who are the favorites to win their third straight heading into Sunday's matchup.

91% of bets and 95% of the handle is on the Chiefs -10 for Sunday Night Football against the Jets #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/OwIjyDKM7W
— DraftKings Sportsbook (@DKSportsbook) September 27, 2023

You don't have to be a Chiefs fan to know the team is getting a lot of extra attention right now. In addition to being the defending champions and the fact that they are a really good team, there are extra spotlights now that star tight end Travis Kelce is reportedly dating pop sensation Taylor Swift.

Since Taylor Swift showed up to Sunday's Chiefs-Bears game:

• 400% spike in Travis Kelce jersey sales
• Kelce's podcast ranks #1 overall on Apple
• Kelce adds 383K Instagram followers
• 24.3M viewers watch, #1 game this week
• 63% jump in female viewers age 18-49
• 3x… pic.twitter.com/Wqtu1vgMCT
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) September 26, 2023

Kansas City has won three of their last four meetings against the Jets and is obviously off to a much better start to the 2023 season. New York's offense has been in turmoil since Aaron Rodgers sustained a season-ending Achilles injury just four plays into the Jets season-opener, and Zach Wilson's job under center isn't getting any easier.

One thing the Jets do have going for them is that their defense is one of the best in the league, which should make this matchup against Mahomes, Kelce and Isiah Pacheco very interesting. That, of course, means that the Chiefs could win on Sunday but that it will be a close enough game that they can't cover the 9.5-point spread currently set for them at sportsbooks.

Hopefully that 91% of wagers placed on the Chiefs to win are coming from bettors who understand how a spread bet works.

More must-reads: