Green Bay Packers at Kansas City Chiefs
Sunday, 12/18/11, 1:00 PM EST, TV: FOX
Opening Point Spread: Green Bay -14
Current Betting Line: Green Bay -13.5
Opening Total: 46.5
Current Total: 46
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker
Green Bay travels to Kansas City this Sunday for the team’s final regular-season road game and can clinch home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs with a victory. “Obviously, there’s no other team that can say they’re 13-0 right now and on the precipice of doing something great,” commented Packers linebacker Clay Matthews. Including last year’s playoff run, the team has won 19 straight games, which serves as the longest such streak in franchise history. Green Bay is 9-4 ATS this season and the ‘over’ is also 9-4 through 13 games.
The Packers are the No. 1 scoring offense in the league through Week 14, averaging 35.8 points per game, which is almost four points more than the New Orleans Saints (31.9). Green Bay will be playing without star wide receiver Greg Jennings for a couple weeks, but the team’s depth should easily overcome the loss, as 19 players on the roster have reached the end zone. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers has essentially wrapped up the NFL MVP award, connecting on 69.6 percent of his passes for 4,125 yards and a career-high 39 touchdown passes.
Kansas City has lost five of its last six games and will be playing its first contest under the direction of Romeo Crennel, who has taken over the team after the firing of third-year head coach Todd Haley. “I’ve talked about change and distractions,” commented Crennel. “When there’s change, there’s some uncertainty.” He will certainly be up against it in this matchup, facing an undefeated team, while bringing in the 28th-ranked offense in the league. Kansas City is 7-3 ATS as an underdog this year and the ‘under’ is 7-3 in that situation.
The Chiefs are unsure who will be under center Sunday inside Arrowhead Stadium, as Kyle Orton is tentatively scheduled to start, while rookie Ricky Stanzi has moved up to the backup role. Kansas City has scored 173 total points this season, which is quite a disparity in facing a Green Bay squad that has tallied 248 points in the first-half of games this season. Since the start of November, the unit has scored 45 points overall, which is a point shy of the Packers putting up 46 against the Raiders last year.
Bettors will likely back the Packers due to their 4-1 ATS mark as a favorite of 10.5 or more points, while the Chiefs are 1-5 ATS when facing a team with a winning road record.
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