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Kansas City Chiefs vs. Baltimore Ravens betting odds mostly featured a line of Baltimore -13. The best line we here at Gambling911.com could find was available from Sportsbetting.com, which during the overnight hours had the Ravens as -12 ½ point favorites.
Will Kansas City really be that bad this year? Or is it that Baltimore is expected to be real good?
Peter Schrager of Fox Sports says Joe Flacco will be armed and dangerous in 2009:
Sophomore slump?
Not with this guy. If the 2009 preseason has been any sort of indication, the Ravens' offense - and no, I'm not being facetious here - is going to be both balanced and high-powered this year. From the looks of it, Cam Cameron's taken the leash off of Joe Flacco, and the kid is ready to show that it is, in fact, possible to have a passing game in Baltimore Ravens purple.
You know all about the Ravens' running game. The trio of Ray Rice, Willis McGahee and Le'Ron McClain is arguably the best in the league, and between the three of them, you may see 2,750 rushing yards out of the Baltimore backfield this season. This is the year the passing game follows suit. Flacco has one of the NFL's best arms, and based on the early returns from the preseason, he'll be using it in '09.
In a conference with arms like Brady, Manning, Roethlisberger, Rivers, Cassel, Pennington, Collins, Palmer and Schaub, using the words "Pro Bowl" and "Joe Flacco" in the same sentence seems pretty absurd.
Believe it.
We tend to agree with Schrager. Baltimore should be quite good and they can compete with another tough division rival, the reigning Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.
Personally we think the Tennessee Titans may give Pittsburgh fits Thursday night whereas Baltimore should have smooth sailing during Sunday's game against KC.
Really, it's all about the Ravens being able to cover that -12 ½ point and higher line.
87 percent of the betting public believes they can.
The oddsmakers are in panic mode having originally opened this line at -7. Some Vegas books still had Baltimore at -10 ½ (i.e. The Mirage).
Baltimore beat Kansas City by 10 points three years ago while the previous three games were all won outright by KC.
Kansas City was one of those teams that really needed to prove themselves during the pre-season, instead they ended up firing their offensive coordinator. That doesn't say much for the Chiefs.
Don't count the Chiefs out in terms of covering. They are 8-0 ATS in their last 8 games as a road underdog of 10.5 or greater though the Ravens are 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games as a favorite.
We won't be offering a pick on this game but you can certainly bet it at Sportsbetting.com here and ask about their 25 percent cash bonus when opening an online wagering account.
Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
