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Kansas City Chiefs NFL Gambling Odds & 2015 Handicapping Preview

2015 Kansas City Predictions

The Chiefs had what could have been considered a championship caliber defense a season ago, but their offensive shortcomings were their ultimate undoing as they had a tendency to not show up at times. The 2014 Chiefs were 9-7, which is respectable considering they had an 0-2 start to their season.

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Kansas City Chiefs 
2014 record: 9-7
Chiefs Odds to win 2015 AFC Conference: 18/1
Chiefs Odds to win 2015 Super Bowl: 35/1

That 0-2 start didn’t hamper them terribly as they went on to put an absolute beating on the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football. That however was one of the few times where the Chiefs were able to put big numbers up on the scoreboard.

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On the flip side of the coin, this team also took a loss to the Oakland Raiders by a score of 24-20 in week 12, and were only able to put up more than 20 points once for the remainder of the season, which was against that same Raiders team.

I know they say defense wins championships, but this is a league now where your offense has to be able to score points if you’re going to be competitive. Teams just don’t win a lot of 13-10 games in the NFL anymore.

This offense will be improved this year, with the addition of Jeremy Maclin at wideout, who reunites with former Eagles teammate Jason Avant and coach Andy Reid. Jamaal Charles is one of the best running backs in the league (when he’s actually healthy) and will provide stability in the run game for Reid and Co (if he’s actually healthy).

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Travis Kelce had a very solid showing last year in limited work and he will assume the starter’s role at tight end this year, which will add some depth to the passing game for QB Alex Smith as well as open up some more opportunities to work in the deep ball. Smith does a nice job of taking care of the football and stays away from interceptions, but that can be credited to the fact that he rarely goes deep down the field, as is evidenced by the fact that the Chiefs ranked dead last in the NFL last year in plays over 20 yards.

Maclin will change that certainly as he was a very capable number one last year in Philadelphia after DeSean Jackson left town.

This defense is still built to cause havoc for opposing QBs with Justin Houston and Tamba Hali at the OLB positions. Dontari Poe is a stud at Nose Tackle and the secondary is anchored by a solid group that will make it tough for any rookies to crack the lineup. Husain Abdullah and Ron Parker will be patrolling the middle of the secondary and are both great open field tacklers who can step up in the run defense.

Chiefs Betting Outlook:

At 18/1 to win the AFC that’s pretty friendly odds and aside from the Dolphins who are 15/1, the Chiefs are getting the best odds of any non-playoff team from last year.

There’s good reason for those odds as the addition of Maclin to the offense adds a new wrinkle and if Charles is eating up defenses in the run game it’s going to open up a lot of big strikes to Maclin off play action, which is what this team really lacked last year. A big play here and there can be the difference between 9-7 and 10-6.

Kansas City 2015 Prediction

I think this team can get back to the playoffs this year and 10-6 is a reality so long as they survive a treacherous early schedule that will include the Broncos, Packers on the road, Bengals on the road, and Texans on the road in their first four weeks.

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Things start looking up after that as they’ll get the Bears(home), Vikings(road), Browns (home), and the Raiders twice, mixed in with winnable games against the Bills, Lions, and Steelers, all of which are at home for the Chiefs.

Take care of business at home against those middling teams, plus the road dates with the Vikings and Raiders and that’s eight wins in the books right there.

The Chiefs had the Chargers’ number last year as well so at worst they should be looking at a split with them and as is expected, things will come down to how they manage against the Broncos.

10 wins is a good pick, and this team could make some noise in the playoffs, especially if they’re playing at home where they’ve been very good for the last few seasons.

The 2015 NFL futures betting season is right around the corner! If you like to bet on the NFL, you are in the best possible place for online betting.

CappersPicks.com has NFL odds up on a ton of futures, and you will also find NFL lines up for early games as well.

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By Matt Durnan

A (self-proclaimed) fantasy sports guru since 2004 and a journalist since 2007. He has been offering unsolicited sports gambling advice to his circle of friends for years and has now put himself at the mercy of online readers everywhere. "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how much fun you have"... His hockey coach told him that when he was 7. His team lost every game that year.