Kansas City Chiefs vs Seattle Seahawks Point Spread Picks

Kansas City is once again without Patrick Mahomes for most of this one. Andy Reid has not ruled out a series or two to shake the rust off the surgically repaired knee, but the bulk of the night belongs to Justin Fields, who has taken the lion’s share of Chiefs snaps all preseason. Seattle’s answer at quarterback has been Drew Lock and Jalen Milroe all summer, with Sam Darnold not having thrown a preseason pass yet, and neither backup has been especially sharp, Milroe in particular. Neither team is putting its best foot forward here, but Seattle is the deeper, more talented roster on the whole, and it is priced at plus money as if Kansas City’s backup quarterback settles this on its own. Fields is a legitimate NFL arm, not a camp body, but that alone does not close the gap against Seattle’s defense and skill talent. Take Seattle on the moneyline tonight. 

Kansas City won't play Patrick Mahomes, but backup QBs Gardner Minshew and Bailey Zappe are loaded with NFL playing experience. The Chiefs have very good depth everywhere, running for 92 yards in Week 1, a 20-17 loss at Arizona. Seattle is going to play the starters for one or two drives in this one. After Sam Darnold, the QB rotation is Jalen Milroe and Drew Lock. They come off a 23-23 tie at home against rebuilding Las Vegas. The thin defense was shredded for 392 yards (104 rushing). The Chiefs have the better defense, and their ground attack will control the ball and the clock. Play Kansas City + UNDER the total.

Another cool one, forecasting 18 degrees and windy in Kansas City on Saturday. Seattle averages 4.7 yards per rush, which is 10th in the NFL. They will look to control the ball and the clock to keep QB Patrick Maholmes on the sideline. Kansas City's defense has been playing very well allowing an average of 21.4 points over the last seven games. The Chiefs are on a 53-36 run UNDER the total at home, including 51-30 UNDER as home chalk. For the season, Kansas City is allowing 20.1 points per game at home. The Chiefs are also 40-20 UNDER the total as a home favorite of 7.5 to 14 points, plus 43-23 UNDER at home versus teams that allow 24 or more points per contest. Take Seattle/Kansas City UNDER the total.

There are few things one can take for granted in sports betting, but expecting Pete Carroll to go all out to win no matter what the situation is one of them. Carroll now is 30-16 straight-up, in his preseason career, including 2-0 this year. The Seahawks have won five of their last six preseason battles and last week beat the Minnesota Vikings, who had lost only one previous preseason game since Mike Zimmer became coach in 2014. Russell Wilson was 13-of-18 for 206 yards against the Vikings and Trevone Boykin was five of eight for 55 yards and Austin Davis went two of five for 21 yards. The Seahawks piled up 406 total offense yards, including 153 on the ground versus Minnesota and were in control nearly the entire game. Kansas City comes off a win over Cincinnati with Alex Smith throwing for 83 yards on eight of nine passing and Patrick Mahomes was 10-of-14 for 88 yards while Tyler Bray finished up two of five for 23 yards. Andy Reid is also 35-39 in preseason. Seattle's defense was beefed up during the offseason with free agent signings and the draft and it has showed the first two weeks in August. Look for a similar performance to last week's Vikings contest and play the Seahawks on the moneyline and the UNDER.