Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs Odds

The Baltimore Ravens are in the postseason for a franchise-record third straight year. The Kansas City Chiefs, meanwhile, are making their first playoff appearance since the 2006 season. The two teams are all set to do battle Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium in an AFC Wild Card showdown.

NFL odds makers have given Baltimore the edge, listing the Ravens as a 3-point favorite with the total set at 40.5.

Prior to the season, the Ravens were an attractive pick to win the Super Bowl. They’ll have to win on the road, however, in order to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

Baltimore has played its last five playoff games away from home, going 3-2. The Ravens won at New England in last season’s playoffs before losing at Indianapolis. They’ll be taking on a Chiefs team that finished with a 7-1 record at home this season.

Baltimore does enter the postseason with momentum on its side. It won its last four games, which included an impressive victory over defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans on Dec. 19.

Led by linebacker Ray Lewis, the Baltimore defense remains one of the most feared units in the league. The Ravens ranked 10th in total defense and third in scoring defense with 318.9 yards and 16.9 points allowed per game. The Ravens were especially stingy against the run. They ranked fifth in the NFL with 93.9 rushing yards allowed per game.

The run defense does figure to get a major test Sunday against the league’s top ranked rushing offense.

A strong game by Lewis, who finished fifth in the league with 139 stops, will go a long way toward slowing down Kansas City’s strong rushing attack.

In addition to Lewis, the Chiefs will also have to worry about safety Ed Reed, who led the NFL with eight interceptions despite missing six games following offseason hip surgery.

It is worth noting that the Ravens are 7-3 against the spread in their last 10 playoff games on the road.

The Chiefs have lost their last six playoff games, but they are confident they have the personnel to bring that skid to an end Sunday. They certainly look to have the more explosive offense in this matchup. The Chiefs racked up more than 400 yards of offense in seven games, which is something Baltimore only did twice.

Led by running back Jamaal Charles, Kansas City led the league with 164.2 yards per game on the ground. Charles finished second in the league with 1,467 rushing yards and averaged a ridiculous 6.4 yards per tote.

Few teams have had success slowing down Kansas City’s running attack, but the Ravens will do their best to make sure it’s Matt Cassel who has to beat them.

The Chiefs ranked just 30th in the league in passing offense with 185.5 yards per game. Still, Cassel quietly had a very good season, throwing 27 touchdown strikes and only seven picks.

When forced to go to the air, Cassel will be looking for wide receiver Dwayne Bowe. He led the Chiefs with 1,162 receiving yards and led the entire NFL with 15 receiving touchdowns. He has been dealing with an illness this week but is expected to play Sunday.

The Chiefs are 7-2 against the spread in their last nine games as an underdog.