Chiefs vs. Patriots Point Spread: NFL Week 15 Odds, Prediction
with the defending Super Bowl champions as 10-point favourites on the NFL odds.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
Boy, does time fly. Not that long ago, this is maybe the game of the regular season between Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs and Tom Brady of the Patriots, but New England is so far from those Brady Salad days that this was punted off of Monday Night Football to a middling Sunday 1 p.m. ET kick in favour of Eagles-Seahawks. I don’t even think Taylor Swift could have kept this in primetime.
New England was eliminated from playoff contention in Week 14 and it 100 per cent would behoove the Patriots to lose out and get a quarterback at the top of the 2024 NFL Draft, but you can’t just tell players to quit. The front office/ownership, though, could rest any slightly injured starters the rest of the way. It’s probably the penultimate home game as Patriots coach for Bill Belichick.
Kansas City will win the AFC West again and it’s simply a matter of whether the Chiefs are seeded 1, 2, 3 or 4 in the AFC. Remember, all those conference title games that Mahomes has played in all have been in KC.
Including playoffs, the Chiefs lead the all-time series 20-16-3. They haven’t played since Week 4 of the 2020 season at Arrowhead Stadium with KC winning 26-10. Mahomes threw for 236 yards and two scores. That game showed us what the Patriots were post-Brady as both Brian Hoyer and Jarrett Stidham played at QB and both were predictably bad. Cam Newton actually was the Pats’ starter at that point but out with COVID. That’s when it was raging and delayed the game from Sunday to Monday because of some positive tests.
Kansas City Chiefs
Patrick Mahomes still has never played a postseason game on the road and it looks as if that will change this season, at least if the Chiefs are to repeat as AFC champions as their 20-17 home loss to Buffalo on Sunday, the team’s third defeat in four games, was devastating for the conference’s top seed. At 8-5, Kansas City is now two games behind both Baltimore and Miami (assuming Miami wins Monday vs. Tennessee) for that spot. That said, Kansas City could win out as it finishes home vs. the Raiders and Bengals and closes at the Chargers, who will be long eliminated. The Chiefs had a spectacular late touchdown Sunday against the Bills for the apparent lead called back due to receiver Kadarius Toney lining up off offside – he was the guy who ended up scoring the TD on a lateral from Travis Kelce. Instead, the Chiefs wound up turning the ball over on downs after the penalty. Toney has cost the Chiefs a few wins this season with his boneheaded mistakes. Remember the opening night Kickoff Game vs. Detroit? Top running back Isiah Pacheco missed Sunday with a shoulder injury.
New England Patriots
Sometimes the worst thing a franchise can do is win a game and frankly that’s what the Patriots did last Thursday in a 21-18 upset victory in Pittsburgh as the NFL’s lowest-scoring offence reached the end zone three times for the first time since October. Bailey Zappe threw three TD passes and clearly will be the starter going forward. Tight end Hunter Henry had two touchdown catches and Ezekiel Elliott had 140 yards from scrimmage — 72 receiving, 68 rushing — and caught a TD. He was busy with No. 1 running back Rhamondre Stevenson out, and he’s expected to sit this week as well. The good news is that victory didn’t cost the Patriots yet in terms of the 2024 draft as New England still would pick second as things stand – but it probably means they will not pick first. It also didn’t change anything about New England’s overall need for a QB or Bill Belichick’s future with the team. Belichick’s defence continues to shine as opponents are averaging 3.2 rushing yards per carry against the Patriots, the lowest mark in the NFL.
KC
NE