Chiefs, Panthers Ready To Put Up Some Points

The Kansas City Chiefs have responded to their only loss of the season the way you would expect the defending NFL champions to answer: with three straight impressive victories. The Chiefs (7-1 SU, 6-2 ATS) find themselves in prime position to extend that impressive run, installed as double-digit favorites for Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers (3-5 SU, 4-4 ATS).

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

The spread hasn’t budged since Sportsbook at Chiefs -10.5 but the total has moved sharply, rising from an Sportsbook of 49 all the way up to 52.5 in most spots.

Carolina News & Notes

The Panthers might finally have their best player back in the lineup this week. Running back Christian McCaffrey has been out of action since suffering a high-ankle sprain in Week 2 but is expected to return against Kansas City. McCaffrey saw a whopping 50 touches in Carolina’s first two games, turning them into 223 yards and four touchdowns.

McCaffrey’s price has come down at some (but not all) daily fantasy sites. Regardless of what his salary is, he’ll be a high-owned, high-upside play this weekend. We wouldn’t recommend any other Carolina players as standout DFS options, however, with the vaunted Chiefs defense having limited opponents to 10 or fewer points in four of their previous five games.

Kansas City News & Notes

A 40-32 loss to the Raiders as a 10.5-point favorite left a bitter taste in the mouths of the Chiefs, their fans and bettors – but things have been much better since then, with Kansas City rolling to wins over Buffalo, Denver and the New York Jets while outscoring those opponents by a 104-52 margin. The Chiefs boast a +101 point differential for the season, tops in the NFL.

Daily fantasy players and prop bettors have no shortage of options in this offense – but while Carolina’s run defense has struggled for most of the season, the Chiefs’ newly created backfield committee complicates things. Clyde Edwards-Helaire played just half the team’s offensive snaps (his lowest share of the season) against the Jets while Le’Veon Bell was on the field for just a third of the plays.

Betting Pick: OVER 52.5 (-110)

This total could climb even higher, which would take the OVER out of play – but we’ll take it at this number. Carolina’s offense is a lot more dangerous with CMC in the fold, while the Chiefs look close to unstoppable at this point.