The seasons for both the Kansas City Chiefs and Arizona Cardinals are
clearly coming towards a grinding halt. Both teams need a win to get their
seasons back on track.
The Redbirds just lost their biggest game of the season in bad fashion,
a 36-18 defeat at home against the Seattle Seahawks. The Chiefs were just
dropped 49-29 to the Denver Broncos and have the look of a squad that is ready
to just totally fall from grace after starting off the year on fire.
NFL betting odds currently have the Chiefs at -9 and the total is set
at 42. Keep an eye on the in-article odds below and head to SBROdds.com for all
NFL lines.
No 'O' Anymore in Arizona
Remember way back in the day when QB Kurt Warner was throwing lasers
all over the field to WR Larry Fitzgerald and WR Anquan Boldin? The Cards were
scoring points left and right, and there were games in which no one could stop
them.
Oh wait... That was only last year...
Needless to say, neither QB Derek Anderson nor QB Max Hall is the
second coming of the Arena Football League superstar, and the numbers are
certainly there to prove it. Sure, one glance at the fact that the Cards are
averaging 19.4 PPG doesn't seem all that bad, but we need to dig a little
deeper.
We hope that you're not looking for too many games this year in which
the Arizona offense has scored more than two TDs. It's only happened twice in
nine tries. There are only two men on this team, RB Tim Hightower and
Fitzgerald that have more TDs this year than DB Kerry Rhodes, who has a pair of
pick sixes to his credit.
Two weeks ago, opposing quarterbacks had thrown more touchdown passes
to Arizona Cardinals defensive backs (5) than the Cards had from their own quarterbacks
to their own receivers (4). If you take away the five defensive scores this
year and the two kick returns for TDs by RB LaRod Stephens-Howling, you're left
with an offense that is legitimate scoring exactly 14.0 PPG.
No wonder why these guys rank No. 31 in the league in overall offense
at just 263.9 YPG...
Ground Game Key For Chiefs
Last week, the running game was taken away from Kansas City right from
the get go, as the Broncos jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.
Forget about the numbers that only fantasy football players cared about last
week that WR Dwayne Bowe and QB Matt Cassel put up in garbage time. Head Coach
Todd Haley knows if his team is winning anything for the rest of the year, it
is going to be up to RBs Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones.
These two will look to take advantage of the No. 28 rushing defense in
the league, as Arizona is allowing 132.4 YPG. Charles has 760 yards on the
campaign and is averaging right at 6.0 YPC, while Jones, in spite of the fact
that he has 14 more carries, only has 573 yards. The two have only combined for
five TDs this year.
However, the key is getting Thomas and Charles to 130 combined yards on
the ground. When KC's top backs get there, it is 5-1 SU and 5-1 ATS on the
season. When it doesn't? 0-3 SU and 0-3 ATS.
Stacking Up the NFL Odds
Arizona is just 2-6 ATS in its last eight played on the road, and if
that keeps up, it is going to be an ugly day at Arrowhead Stadium for the
visitors. KC is 7-3 ATS in its last ten played on grass.
In respect to this series, these teams don't meet all that often. In
fact, they have only met six times since 1986. Kansas City holds a 4-2 SU edge,
but the two teams are level at 3-3 ATS. The Cards haven't won here at Arrowhead
since they were playing in St. Louis, and were blasted 49-0 in their last visit
back in December 2002.
The Final Verdict
If the Chiefs think that they have any chance of winning the AFC West
and making the playoffs this year, they had better win this game. They have the
better squad for certain, and as long as the offense doesn't put up a total dud
like what happened in their last home game when the Buffalo Bills forced them
to overtime, they should have no problem beating this NFL line.