Kansas City Chiefs (5-0 SU, 5-0 ATS) vs. New England Patriots (3-2 SU, 3-2 ATS)
Week 6 NFL
Date/Time: Sunday Night Football, October 14, 2018 at 8:20PM EDT
Where: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts
TV: NBC
By Loot, NFL Football Handicapper, Lootmeister.com
Point Spread: KC +3.5/NE +3.5
Over/Under Total: 59
On Sunday Night Football, the Kansas City Chiefs come to Foxborough for a key AFC matchup with the New England Patriots. Both teams are coming off a good week with the Chiefs moving their mark to 5-0 with a nice 30-14 win over the Jaguars. They now set their sights on another conference force in the Patriots, who are coming off the long week after beating the Colts on Thursday, 38-24. Who can get the upper hand in Foxborough?
The Patriots haven't gotten off to a great start, but the same can be said for some great Patriots teams of the past. This game serves a few purposes at this point in the season for the Pats. A win gets them to 4-2 and also lets them know they're still in good shape against the best of the conference, with the Chiefs looking spectacular through five games. After starting the season 1-2, the Pats have won two in a row and this is their third straight game at home. A win here would be big and put the rough start more in the rearview.
The Chiefs are also looking for a verification stamp. And this would be a weird time for them to let off the gas, despite whatever lack of urgency accompanies a 5-0 start. Against the Jaguars, they got good performances from both sides of the ball. The maligned defense actually played well. Patrick Mahomes threw two picks and no TDs, but was still over 300 yards and a key part of the win.
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It's taken some people by surprise how well the Chiefs are doing. And as they've ascended, people have naturally played the role of naysayer, pointing out how their "D" is lousy or how teams will start better honing in on Mahomes, or that the hot start will just fade for some reason. And this isn't to say that the Chiefs won't cool down, but betting that sentiment could be a costly game to play. The Chiefs have covered all their spreads this season.
As a not-so-vocal minority suspected, Mahomes is in fact more-adept at unleashing his various playmakers than his predecessor was. With defending rushing champ Kareem Hunt, receiver Tyreek Hill, tight end Travis Kelce, this offense is loaded and Mahomes is adept at extracting the most out of it. Sammy Watkins at WR adds another dimension and he's warming to the task, as well.
Naturally, the KC defense stands out as a major sticking point—overall for their season and in games like this. Sunday showed what this defense could do at their best, as they picked off Blake Bortles four times and had five sacks, while also being clutch in the right spots. So yeah, they're not gonna be the 1985 Bears, but it's amazing how some timely playmaking and clutch play here and there can take a sad song on defense and make it better.
The Patriots should be looking at this encounter with some juice, their biggest game since last season's Super Bowl. The offense is getting well again and with 7 catches last week, Julian Edelman returned and makes the offense better, giving Tom Brady more outlets. Also making it better is the emergence of rookie back Sony Michel. Rob Gronkowski should get more-open with Edelman in there. James White is one of the top receiving backs in the league and the addition of Josh Gordon gives them different options at wide receiver. Look for Brady to start making better use of all his weapons moving forward.
With so many people worrying about the Chiefs' defense, we also need to worry about the "D" of New England in this spot. They will be facing an offense that has been dominating this season. And while the New England defense hasn't been bad by any means, they are decidedly-average and the type of group the Chiefs could exploit. This is a time for coaching to surface, with Belichick getting on the case. And he's not who he is for no reason. He is who he is because he finds the right answers and one should expect the plan to at least be on-point for this matchup.
There are different storylines at play for this game. You have the perennial conference contender in the Pats trying to hold onto their spot against the up-and-coming challengers. Granted, one game in this league alone doesn't write the story, especially a week 6 matchup. But one can sense the battle-lines have been drawn. In this spotlight Sunday Night Football pairing, one should expect that to resonate to some degree.
Calling this game for the purposes of covering the spread isn't easy. It's a volatile game with innumerable variables. At the same time, there is a toss-up appeal to the game, where any number of different outcomes can be substantiated. In this case, having the points seems like the more-bankable route. I'm taking the Chiefs plus the points.
Loot's Prediction to Cover the Point Spread: I'm betting on the Kansas City Chiefs plus 3.5 points. Bet the Chiefs vs. Patriots Sunday Night Football game for FREE by taking advantage of a massive 100% sign-up bonus on your first deposit of $100 to $500 at GTBets!
