Buffalo Bills v. Kansas City Chiefs Odds

The Buffalo Bills enter the 2011 season hoping to return to respectability.

The Kansas City Chiefs are looking to win consecutive division titles for the first ever.

These two teams will set out to accomplish their goals Sunday when they meet at Arrowhead Stadium.

NFL odds makers have listed the Chiefs as a 5.5-point favorite with the total set at 39.5.

From 1998 to 1999, the Bills were the class of the AFC. They produced 10 winning seasons and made 10 postseason trips during that span. Unfortunately, those days are long gone.

The Bills, who went 4-12 in 2010, only have one winning season (in 2004) in the last 11 years.

The Chiefs surprisingly rose to the top of the AFC West last season with a 10-6 record after winning a total of only 10 games from 2007-2009.

They’re looking to prove they’re no one-hit wonder.

Buffalo was one of the worst defensive teams in the NFL last season, ranking 24th in total defense with 361.6 yards allowed per game. It ranked 28th in scoring defense with 26.6 points allowed per contest.

The Bills were especially poor against the run last season, finishing dead last in the league with 169.6 yards allowed per game.

The Buffalo run defense will get a major test right away as Kansas City led the league with in rushing with 164.2 yards per game last year.

The Bills made a major move to improve their run defense by selecting Marcell Dareus with their top pick.  They’re hoping he can have the kind of impact Ndamukong Suh had for Detroit last year.

Kansas City boasts a pair of tough runners in Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones. The duo combined for 2,363 yards and 11 touchdowns last season.

Defeating the Chiefs at Arrowhead will be no easy task. The Bills were 2-6 away from home last season and the Chiefs finished the regular season with a 7-1 home mark.

The Bills did, however, give the Chiefs all they wanted at Arrowhead in 2010 before losing 13-10 in overtime.

The odds may be against the Bills winning this game, but they shouldn’t be ignored in terms of the point spread. They lost five games by five points or less last year with three of those defeats coming in overtime.

The Bills are 4-0 against the number in their last four games against the Chiefs and 5-1 against the spread in their last six meetings in Kansas City.

The Bills are also 5-2 against the spread in their last seven games as a road underdog while the Chiefs are 3-9-1 against the number in their last 13 games as a home favorite.

As for the total, the under has been the play. The Bills and Chiefs have combined to finish under the total in eight of the last nine meetings.

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