If the Kansas City Chiefs are really as good as they looked on Monday night against the Denver Broncos they should be favored by double-digits tonight.
If the Indianapolis Colts are as bad as they looked last Sunday while getting blown out on their home field by the Baltimore Ravens, they deserve to be double-digit underdogs this week at Arrowhead Stadium.
Thing is, the Chiefs just may not be as good as they looked in beating the Denver Broncos, 31-10. Perhaps their winning effort was spiked by motivational factors that were brewing the entire offseason. The Chiefs went from advancing to their fifth Super Bowl in six seasons to only winning six games last season. The disappointing campaign was punctuated by a late season injury to their dynamic quarterback, Patrick Mahomes.
The talk in the football world during the offseason was whether the Chiefs spectacular run under Andy Reid and triggered by Mahomes was over. Future Hall of Fame member Travis Kelce showed signs of slowing down while his age reached a number that routinely signals the end for an athlete. How would Mahomes come back from his injury and would he ever play at his high standards again following the reconstructing of his knee?
Conversely, their opponent in their Monday night opener was their AFC West Division rival that pinned Kansas CIty with two losses last year and was high on nearly all projections as a serious Super Bowl candidate this season … the Denver Broncos.
Then they played the game.
The Chiefs, inspired to prove they were still serious contenders for Super Bowl LXI took their doubters to the woodshed and shredded the Broncos like they were also-rans. The Chiefs new offensive threat, runningback Kenneth Walker III, who is the reigning Super Bowl MVP earned with the Seattle Seahawks last year, ran through the Broncos highly regarded defense like he was going up against a Pop Warner team.
In all, Walker rushed for 173 yards and two touchdowns and after Mahomes had a slow start, one completion in his first eight passes, he then found his rhythm and appeared to be his old self in leading the three touchdown margin victory.
Last season, the Indianapolis Colts became the first team in NFL history to open a campaign with seven wins in their first eight games and go on to have a losing record. They had their reasons, paramount among the factors that led to their season collapse was the loss of starting quarterback Daniel Jones.
In his first season with the Colts, he played his first six professional seasons with the team that drafted him with the 6th overall pick in the 2019 draft, the New York Giants. Jones burst on the Indianapolis sports scene with a flurry of outings that had Colts fans talking Super Bowl. He was also a prime MVP candidate at the time he suffered his first injury last season, a left fibula strain in the twelfth week in a narrow loss to the Chiefs in Kansas City. Two weeks later, while Jones tried to play through that injury, he suffered a season ending torn right Achilles on December 7.
His injuries were critical in the Colts 2025 collapse and his return this season came with renewed hopes he would find the stride he enjoyed the first half of last year.
So far, the returns have not been good.
High hopes for the Colts this season were put in the cooler last Sunday in front of their home fans as the visiting Baltimore Ravens ran through the Indianapolis’ defense for a 41-23 triumph.
So, that is how these two teams come into tonight’s Arrowhead contest. The Chiefs riding high off an opening day win over the respected Broncos and the Colts put down by the talented Ravens. What does that mean for tonight?
By my charts, the more motivated team in Kansas City in this matchup are the visitors.
Qoxhi Picks: Indianapolis Colts (+6) over Kansas City Chiefs