Ravens-Chiefs Player Props: 3 Picks to Lock in for NFL opener

The NFL season is finally upon us, with a great opening night matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs. Of course, this is a rematch of last year’s AFC Championship game, where the Chiefs managed to take down the Ravens, in Baltimore, 17-10.

This game is scheduled to kickoff at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC/Peacock. This article will be diving into player props for this game, so for those interested in a game pick, please check out our Ravens vs. Chiefs betting preview here.

Xavier Worthy o20.5 Longest Reception (-115) DK

Despite being a rookie playing in his first NFL game, we are backing Worthy to take the top off the defense for the Chiefs. He was brought in to be a deep threat, and this is something that we think the Chiefs are going to be able to take advantage of in this Week 1 matchup.

It is hard to take much away from the preseason and training camp, but we saw multiple clips of Patrick Mahomes hitting Worthy deep. In the Chiefs’ preseason game against the Lions, Worthy had two separate receptions over this 20.5 total, including a 39-yard catch and a 22-yard touchdown reception.

While rookies traditionally do not have a huge role in Andy Reid’s offense to begin the year, it did appear as though the Chiefs made it a point to get Worthy as much action as possible in different roles in the preseason before sitting him in the final game.

In last year’s playoff game, the Chiefs had two pass-catchers go over this total with their longest reception, with Travis Kelce having a 21-yard reception, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling with a 32-yard grab.

The Ravens are missing some key pieces in their secondary from last year, so it would not be a surprise to see the Chiefs take advantage early in this game.

Zay Flowers o4.5 Receptions (-114) FanDuel

This is a mark that Flowers cashed in 10 of 18 games as a rookie last year, including the two playoff games, and he was huge in his team’s postseason loss to the Chiefs. Everybody is going to remember Flowers’ early fourth-quarter fumble at the Kansas City goal line, which was admittedly not great, but he also had five receptions on eight targets for 115 yards and a touchdown.

The second year is generally when receivers take a step forward, and Flowers is primed to do just that in 2024.

The Ravens were able to rely on their running game for most of 2023, but, with three new starters on the offensive line, the guess here is that the Ravens will not have as successful a rushing attack this year. For reference, PFF currently has the Ravens offensive line as the 25th-ranked unit heading into the season.

The Chiefs defense still boasts good CBs, but it is missing its No. 1 corner from last year, L’Jarius Sneed, so there is the possibility that Kansas City is going to struggle at this position more than last year.

According to PFF, the Chiefs still have the ninth-best secondary in the NFL, so it is definitely not as though they are bad, but still a step down from last year. The Ravens also use Flowers as a gadget receiver with a lot of short stuff near the line of scrimmage, which obviously helps his reception total.

Isiah Pacheco Anytime Touchdown (+110) Bet365

Pacheco was an anytime touchdown staple at the end of last season, which he ended on a hot streak in the touchdown department. So, plus-odds on him to score a touchdown on opening night is an awesome price.

For context, last year, including the playoffs, Pacheco scored a total of 10 touchdowns, which does not look incredible at first glance. But, with that said, he only scored three times in the Chiefs’ first 10 games of 2023.

After that, however, he scored seven touchdowns in his team’s final eight games, including at least one TD in six of eight contests. That includes the playoffs, when he scored in all but one of KC’s games, including the win over the Ravens, when he accounted for one of the Chiefs’ two offensive TDs.

As the Chiefs offense struggled at the end of the regular season, it became pretty run-heavy in the red zone, and Pacheco responded with a bunch of touchdowns.

Overall, Pacheco had the third-most red-zone rush attempts in the NFL last year, and he had 62 of Kansas City’s 79 total red-zone rush attempts on the season. The Ravens defense is also one that is likely to regress in 2024. They were awesome last year, but they lost some key pieces on the defensive end, including their defensive coordinator, Mike Macdonald, and their top two defensive position coaches, Anthony Weaver and Dennard Wilson.

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