Rams-Chiefs opening odds: Kansas City favored by 2 touchdowns

Four years ago, the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams played one of the NFL’s all-time greatest regular season games, with Sean McVay’s side winning 54-51. Both teams were 9-1 going into the contest, so fans knew it could be a great showdown between two dominant offenses.

Oh how times have changed.

Now having dropped to 3-7 on the season with a loss to the New Orleans Saints, the Rams are 14-point underdogs to the Chiefs in Week 12, according to DraftKings Sportsbook.

Two touchdowns!

The Chiefs are sitting comfortably in first place in the AFC with a 8-2 record and coming of yet another magical come-from-behind performance from Patrick Mahomes in a nailbiter against the Los Angeles Chargers. Two very different teams will take the field on Sunday.o

On one side an organization that is tumbling into irrelevance after being on top just nine months ago, and on the other side a team that does not have any plans of slowing down as they chase yet another Super Bowl run. My bet is on the latter.

The Rams are on track to be the worst defending champions in NFL history after suffering yet another embarrassing loss to a subpar team. Head coach Sean McVay has not been able to overcome a wave of injuries on the offensive line since the beginning of the season, but even then there is just something not right about the offense. LA ranks nearly last in yards per game (288) with just the Carolina Panthers (286.1) and the Houston Texans (285.9) behind them, They also rank near the bottom in points per game with 16.8 on average, just above Houston at 15.9. Against New Orleans, Matthew Stafford looked like himself after sustaining a concussion two weeks prior, hitting Tutu Atwell on a 62-yard bomb and finding Allen Robinson in the end zone to take the lead, but had to exit the game early due to another concussion.

Stafford will likely be out for the game against the Chiefs.

Many believed the Chiefs would take a few steps back after trading away Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins in the offseason, but through 11 weeks they have gotten back right on track from a season prior. Mahomes is surrounded with a cast of weapons but none are harder to defend than tight end Travis Kelce who had three touchdowns including the game-winner against the Chargers.

Kansas City continues to be one of the best offenses in the league with a league best of 30 points per game and they also rank first in yards per game (429.3). They will likely be able to pick apart a Rams defense that has recently been carved up by Colt McCoy and Andy Dalton in back-to-back weekends. Mahomes should have plenty of time in the pockets with a top-5 offensive lines pairing up against one of the worst pass rushing defenses in the league.

There is no sugar coating this one. If you are putting any amount of money on Sunday’s matchup featuring the Rams and Chiefs, I would go all in on Kansas City, even having to win by 14 points. Los Angeles will have a question mark at the quarterback position with Stafford out and backup John Wolford recovering from a neck injury, meaning they will likely start their third string quarterback Bryce Perkins behind one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL.

The Chiefs could score 51 again like they did in 2018. The Rams probably won’t score 54.