Arrowhead Stadium – Kansas City, MO
Kickoff: Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET
Line: Kansas City -6.5, Total: 50.5

The Saints will be looking to get back to .500 with a win over the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday.

New Orleans did not start the season off the way it hoped, but the team has bounced back and won two straight games. The Saints are as explosive as ever offensively, as the team is averaging 31.0 PPG (2nd in NFL) and 335.4 YPG through the air (1st in NFL). New Orleans is going to take shots down the field in this one and it’ll be up to Kansas City’s secondary to contain this Saints offense on Sunday. Fortunately for the Chiefs, their secondary has held up well this season. Kansas City has allowed just 236.6 YPG through the air (12th in NFL) and that was a huge reason the team was able to beat the Raiders last week. The Chiefs won that game 26-10 against an Oakland team that is ranked eighth in the league in total offense (373.8 YPG) and 10th in the league in passing offense (263.8 YPG). They’ll be hoping for some of that same success on Sunday. Dating back to 1992, Kansas City is 3-2 both SU and ATS in this series. The teams last met in 2012 and the Chiefs won that game 27-24 as an eight-point road underdog. One trend worth pointing out is the fact that Sean Payton is 12-3 ATS against teams with a turnover margin of +1 per game or better as coach of New Orleans. He is also 17-7 ATS as an underdog of 3.5 to 9.5 points with the Saints as well.

The Saints are once again outstanding offensively and that has everything to do with the continued excellence of QB Drew Brees (1,734 yards, 14 TD, 4 INT). Brees’ age does not appear to be getting the best of him, as he is currently leading the top passing offense in the entire league. He went up against the defending NFC champion Panthers last week and shredded that Carolina secondary, throwing for 465 yards with four touchdowns and only one pick. The Chiefs have a much better defense, but Brees should still be able to find his receivers in this one. WR Brandin Cooks (25 rec, 428 yards, 3 TD) is the guy to really watch out for, as he has blazing speed and can get by his defender on any given play. It would, however, help Brees and the passing game if New Orleans can get RB Mark Ingram (272 yards, 1 TD) going on Sunday. Ingram has rushed for less than 3.5 YPC in three of the past four contests and needs to do more with his touches moving forward. He is capable of being much better and needs to be against Kansas City. Defensively, New Orleans is a laughable unit, but the team just needs to key in on the run in this one. The Chiefs are not going to beat them with the arm of Alex Smith and the Saints have to take Ware and Charles out of this game.

The Chiefs got RB Jamaal Charles involved in the running game last week, and he looked fully healthy in his return from last season’s torn ACL. Charles rushed for 33 yards and a touchdown on nine carries in that game, and he also caught two passes for 14 yards. He should continue to see more and more touches moving forward, but RB Spencer Ware (415 yards, 2 TD) is an absolute stud and has earned a big role this season. Ware had 131 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries against Oakland last week and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him do something similar against a miserable Saints defense on Sunday. Having a ground attack that is as good as this one is going to make life on QB Alex Smith (1,297 yards, 5 TD, 2 INT) very easy. As long as he does not turn the ball over then the Chiefs should be able to win this game fairly easily. Defensively, CB Marcus Peters (5 INT) is somebody to keep an eye on. The Saints are going to throw the ball a ton in this game and that means that Peters will need to play like his usual self by getting under his opponents’ skin and jumping on any poorly thrown balls. It might be easier for him to pick Brees off if the d-line is getting after the quarterback and making him uncomfortable.