Kansas City Chiefs at Indianapolis Colts (-2), Total 38.5 |
Kansas City picked up its first win of the season last week, handing the Minnesota Vikings a 22-17 defeat as three-point home underdogs. The Chiefs will now be heading out on the road for the third time this year.
Running the football has to be a focus for the team when taking on a defensive unit that ranks 28th in the league versus the run. Kansas City suffered a big injury in losing starting running back Jamaal Charles early in the year, but nobody is concerned about that now.
“We got a tough, resilient bunch of guys that care, and that’s really important,” commented Chiefs head coach Todd Haley about turning around the season. “They fight and they’re going to fight to win, and to be a good team, and I believe that we will be that.”
The Chiefs are averaging 53.4 yards per game less than it did on the ground a year ago, as the team led the NFL with 164.2 yards per game.
Quarterback Matt Cassel and Haley got into a heated argument on the sidelines last week, but that may have been the turning point of the season.
Chiefs betting fans will find that the Chiefs are 18-19 ATS over the last two-plus seasons and the ‘over’ is 18-17 over that span.
Indianapolis is 0-4 on the season and hasn’t scored over 20 points this season. The Colts have been out-gained in all four contests and star quarterback Peyton Manning is still up in the press box with a neck injury.
Curtis Painter made his first career start last week in a 24-17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as 10-point road underdogs, but there’s a chance he may be on the bench if veteran Kerry Collins fully recovers from a concussion.
“At this point, Kerry is not cleared as of yet,” commented Colts head coach Jim Caldwell. “Curtis is our starter until the doctors tell us otherwise.”
This will be the 18th regular-season meeting between the two teams, with the Colts holding a 10-7 advantage. Indianapolis picked up a 19-9 win in last year’s meeting as 7.5-point home favorites.
NFL bettors will find that the Colts are 0-4 ATS as a home favorite of three points or less over the last two-plus seasons.
