Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs Spread

Written by Steve Janus

The Kansas City Chiefs are set to host the Baltimore Ravens this Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. Kick-off is set for 1:00 ET and will be televised on CBS. The Chiefs earned the No. 4 seed and a first-round home game by winning the AFC West with a 10-6 record. The Ravens nearly missed out on a first-round bye, as they tied the Pittsburgh Steelers atop the AFC North with a 12-4 record, but due to a tiebreaker, the Steelers got the No. 2 seed and the Ravens got the No. 5 seed. Taking a look at the NFL odds for this game, oddsmakers have the Ravens favored by 3-points over the Chiefs on the road.

Baltimore (12-4): The Ravens come into the playoffs very well tested, as they faced three of the other five teams in the AFC playoffs already this season. Baltimore split their season series with the Steelers, won 10-9 at New York in week 1, and barely lost to New England in week 6, falling 23-20 in overtime.

Look for the Ravens to really try and get Ray Rice going this weekend. Rice was a major weapon for Joe Flacco and the Baltimore offense this season. Rice carried it 307 times for 1,220 yards and caught 63 passes for 556 yards. Kansas City has had its struggles against the run, including the final week of the season, when they allowed the Raiders to run for 209 yards, and if Rice has a big day the Ravens should be able to pull off the win on the road.

Kansas City ranked just 14th against the pass this season, allowing 220 yards a game, but their secondary is young and talented and if the Ravens try and test it too much, it could lead to some big turnovers.

Lastly the Ravens have to be prepared for what its going to be like playing in Arrowhead. It is going to be very loud, and the longer they let the Chiefs stick around, the greater chance they have of losing the game.

Kansas City (10-6): No one is really giving the Chiefs much of a chance this weekend, and its hard to get a real good feel for this team, as they played a very easy schedule, and only played two teams that made the postseason. Kansas City lost a close one at Indianapolis 19-9, but did crush the Seahawks 42-24 at Seattle.

The Chiefs bring the NFL’s best rushing attack to the table, as they averaged 164.2 yards a game, behind Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones. Charles averaged a ridiculous 6.4 yards per carry, and is a threat to take it all the way any time he touches the ball. If Kansas City can get the running game going, they are going to have a great shot at pulling of the upset.

While getting the running game going is huge, the Chiefs need a big game out of quarterback Matt Cassel. Sure Cassel had a bad game to end the season, but when you look at what he did for entire season, he is very capable of leading this team to win this week.

I think the most important thing for the Chiefs is to start strong and keep the crowd in the game. Because the Chiefs rely so much on their running game, they aren’t a good bet if they fall behind early and are forced to just throw the football.

Looking at the Odds: I think the Chiefs are a lot better than they are getting credit for, but when it is all said and done, they are likely a couple years from really making a run at the Super Bowl. With that I think you have to lay the points and take the Ravens to win this game. My final score prediction is Baltimore 24, Kansas City 17.

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