Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots Betting Odds - Point Spread Pick

<p>The Chiefs are the hottest team in the league winning 11 straight games and have been getting it done with their defense allowing over 20 points just once in their last 13 games. They'll meet a Patriots team that is getting healthier at the receiver spot, but is still really banged up on the offensive line.
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<p>That said, I believe that New England offense is a poor match for Kansas City. The Chiefs' pass defense numbers are skewed by the lack of an opponent with a quality passing attack in the last half of the season. You could argue that they faced a top 10 pass offense three times over their last 8 games, but the seasonal numbers of their opponent don't reflect the team that they were playing on that day. The Chargers whom they played twice in the last half of the season were a shell of San Diego's first half team that averaged 304 yards per a game through the air averaging just 237 in their last 8 games with their depleted line up. Baltimore is another team that finished with a top 10 aerial attack, but like SD their second half team that they sent out to face the Chiefs (no Flacco or Smith) was not the one that landed them in 8th place in the league in passing offense.
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<p>New England's offense sputtered down the stretch due to multiple injuries to the running backs, receiving core and the offensive line and while the OL still has some key injury concerns the other areas have been solidified. QB Tom Brady's top target WR Julien Edelman returns for this match and with TE Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola he has the best group of receivers at his disposal since the middle of November. At running back new signee Steven Jackson has two games under his belt to give the Pats some veteran presence in the back field to go with Brandon Bolden and James White.
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<p>Defensively it should be all hands on deck for the Patriots if Chandler Jones doesn't receive a disciplinary suspension or a seat on the bench for his synthetic marijuana incident on the weekend. This is an under-rated unit that allowed 19.7 points per game overall and 17.75 at home. They'll be facing a Chiefs team that scored a 9th ranked 25.3 points per game in the regular season. Keep in mind that the KC defense attributed 6 TD's and had 29 takaways which included a 2nd ranked 22 INT's in the regular season to give the offense shorter fields. Turnovers isn't something that Brady and company do very frequently with 14 (7 INT and 7 FUM) on the season, so I don't expect the Kansas City defense to be a big factor on that aspect this week.
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<p>Kansas City may also have to go without their top receiver Jeremy Maclin who is expected to be a game time decision. Even if Maclin goes he has a high ankle sprain and it would be a reach to think that he would be able to make his cuts at the same level. The Chiefs are also dealing with some OL injuries with their LG Laurent Duvernay-Tardif out and their C Mitch Morse who they were hoping to get back a no go. </p>