NFLX Betting: Kansas City Chiefs vs Packers

Even though they are at home at Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday night to wrap up the preseason, the Chiefs can't feel great about their position going up against one of the top teams from this year's exhibition slate, the Green Bay Packers.

Powerless Preseasons for Chiefs

You have to go all the way back to August 7 to find the last time that the Chiefs won an NFL preseason wagering war... and we don't mean 2009. Kansas City is currently on a ten game losing streak both SU and ATS in the preseason dating back to the first game of the '08 preseason. That's easily the worst such string in the NFL, which is saying something considering the fact that the Indianapolis Colts haven't cared about a preseason game in over a decade.

That one win in the Windy City over the Chicago Bears in 2008 marked the only win either SU or ATS that Kansas City has had since the start of the '06 preseason. Needless to say, a trend of 1-14 isn't one that NFL betting aficionados are willingly going to throw themselves in front of. Neither is the 0-7 SU and ATS record the team has at Arrowhead in the preseason. The losing streak in front of the home crowd dates back to the final game of the 2006 preseason.

KC has also only gone 1-8 SU and 2-7 ATS in its last nine games overall dating back to Thanksgiving week last year, so reversing the losing mentality is going to be very important for head coach Todd Haley.

Going Green on Offense 

Sometimes, it's all about being efficient. The Packers most certainly fit that billing last week in a whopping 59-24 win over the Colts in the Lambeau Field preseason finale. Green Bay's 59 points scored marked the most the team has put on the board in an exhibition since 1938.

It didn't seem to matter whether it was Aaron Rodgers, Matt Flynn, or Graham Harrell taking snaps. All three were guiding the offense up and down the field with ease. The three have combined to make up the second best passing game in the preseason at 272.7 yards per game. Needless to say, Green Bay ranks well both in terms of total offense (397.0 YPG) and scoring (36.7 PPG).

We don't expect to see much, if any of Rodgers under center on Thursday night, though head coach Mike McCarthy has been relatively quiet about giving out his game plan. However, Flynn (27/48, 279 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs) and Harrell (8/13, 98 yards) have proven to be competent backups and should be trusted to guide this offense in Rodgers' absence.

King of the Cassel

It's high time that QB Matt Cassel steps up and really takes control of this team. Everyone clad in red and gold knows that this is a meaningless game in terms of the standings, but Cassel knows that he is going to be called upon for at least a bit of work and might be used a lot more than the average starting quarterback for a preseason finale.

So far in the preseason, Cassel has been fantastic, throwing for 235 yards on 68.0 percent completions with two scores and a pick.

The real reason that the former New England Patriot might be getting more time is that the backup situation in Kansas City has been woeful... at best. Tyler Palko has only completed 57.1 percent of his passes for 215 yards and has been picked off three times. Brodie Croyle has only thrown for 65 yards and has been intercepted in limited action, as an arm injury has kept him out of the majority of the preseason. His status is still questionable for Thursday.

The only good news for the No. 29 ranked passing attack in the league is that the Packers rank 26th in the NFL against opposing air raids so far in three exhibitions.

Oddsmakers Show Faith in KC vs GB MatchUp

The NFL linesmakers have set the Chiefs as hefty six point favorites at 5Dimes, making them the highest favorite on the board and the third highest favorite in the entire preseason. The 'total' has been set at a lofty 40.5 but check the major books at Donbest Odds.