Kansas City Chiefs Rank First Among Decade's Most Successful Underdogs

A new Sports Illustrated analysis has ranked the Kansas City Chiefs as the most successful underdog in American sports over the last decade. Published July 14, the analysis compared betting performance across the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA football and NCAA basketball from 2016 through 2026, highlighting how often the Chiefs have exceeded expectations as underdogs for fans following Kansas sports betting.

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Chiefs Led All Teams as Betting Underdogs

The Chiefs finished with a record of 20 wins, nine losses and one push when listed as underdogs, giving them a win percentage of 66.67%, the highest mark in the study. The Chiefs were listed as underdogs in 30 games during the study period. The analysis calculated each team's win rate by dividing underdog wins by total underdog games over the past 10 seasons.

Patrick Mahomes Era Built the Chiefs' Success

Much of the Chiefs' underdog success came during the Patrick Mahomes era. Mahomes became Kansas City's full-time starting quarterback in 2018, and the Chiefs won Super Bowl LIV following the 2019 season, their first NFL championship in 50 years. Kansas City later added two more Super Bowl titles in 2022 and 2023, giving the franchise three championships during the Mahomes era. The Chiefs won the AFC West in nine consecutive seasons from 2016 through 2024. Entering the 2026-27 season, the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl odds are the fifth-shortest.

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Ravens Finished Second in the Rankings

The Baltimore Ravens finished second in the study with a win percentage of 61.9% as underdogs. Baltimore played more underdog games than Kansas City over the decade, winning 26, losing 13 and recording three pushes, but still finished behind the Chiefs in overall success. 

Baltimore's success during the decade was led in part by quarterback Lamar Jackson, who was drafted in 2018 and won NFL MVP honors in 2019 and 2023. Fans using Kansas betting apps to follow weekly NFL odds can see how closely the Ravens and Chiefs have performed against expectations over the past decade.