Cleveland(+10)(-115) over Kansas City (1*)
- - Simply put, I believe winning the turnover battle will be crucial to Cleveland?s fortunes in covering the 10 point spread in this game.
- - It?s pretty much a given that the defending Super Bowl champion gets the best shot from almost every opponent they face the following year. It seems that for the closing stretch of this season the Chiefs have been good but not great in beating back the challenge (and IMO, in tough late season road tests against Tampa and Miami and New Orleans, the final scores were deceiving, and KC was the better team in those games), but I can?t say I saw the Chiefs peaking down the stretch the way they would have liked or the way most would have expected. Maybe the Chiefs were a little bored on their march to the postseason, but arguably some undesired tendencies have creeped into their play. And conventional wisdom suggests that most teams are not able to just turn on a switch and elevate their game in January from their play down the stretch, and even when a team is turning it up a notch down the stretch, there are often concerns about whether a couple of weeks off can be too much. But these are the Chiefs, and now well rested, they could simply explode in all phases without any rust.
- - What do the Browns have going for them? Well, it would also defy conventional wisdom for a team that has a negative point differential on the season to hit the road and go on an extended playoff run, so there is that for starters. And they are coming off a Super Bowl effort of sorts in ending a massive playoff drought against a massive road nemesis. Of course Pittsburgh saw fit to gift Cleveland the game in the first quarter in historic fashion.
- - In two games this year, the Raiders showed a recipe against the Chiefs worth following: sustained ball control offense resulting in touchdowns (Cleveland in 2020 features a vastly improved red zone offense), with opportunities for the defense to win the game if you can steal a possession or two.
- - Cleveland has an elite offensive line, offensive weapons to deploy behind that strength, including returning RB Kareem Hunt, and a maturing QB with elite skills that has so far led the Brownies to new heights in very commendable fashion. Unfortunately, while the defense can be sieve-like, they have been playing as the most Covid decimated playoff team; but they are now getting back reinforcements, no where more importantly than at cornerback.
- - Arrowhead and Seattle at full capacity are probably the two toughest outdoor stadiums for a visiting team to operate in, from simple snap counts to stemming massive momentum, but not so much in 2020.
- - Carolina was a 10 point dog when they visited KC earlier this season, and now Cleveland is a 10 point dog. I found that fact interesting enough to be worth a mention.
- - Simply put, I'm really nervous about this choice, but I guess I'm believing Cleveland has a chance of somehow winning the turnover battle and gaining an extra possession or two and relying on their other strengths to make things interesting in this game.
GL