Monday Night Football Best Sports Betting Picks & Predictions for New Orleans Saints vs Kansas City Chiefs

New Orleans will try to snap a two-game losing streak when they hit the road on Saturday night to take on the Kansas City Chiefs.

However, a cluster of injuries on both sides of the ball could hurt the Saints’ ability to win.

The Chiefs’ injuries are primarily at the wide receiver position, but the team should have enough depth to address those issues.

Surprisingly, the Chiefs dropped to 5.5 point favorites after opening at -8. Is the market completely wrong with this line move? Let’s have a look.

No need to panic for the Chief

There was a time when the Chiefs only won games under head coach, Andy Reid, but did not cover the point spread.

That hasn’t been the case lately, as Kansas City has won its last 10 games (regular season and playoffs) while covering the spread in nine.

Kansas City has won the last two Super Bowls despite lacking stellar play at the wide receiver position. The offense is still high-functioning even with Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown on injured reserve.

Even if you look at the current depth chart, names like Xavier Worthy, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Justin Watson can still get the job done.

While Worthy was still a rookie, there was a reason the Chiefs traded up to land the former Texas Longhorn in the 2024 NFL Draft.

One of the strengths of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is his ability to build rapport with receivers quickly. Last week, when Rice went down with a knee injury, Worthy stepped up and had the best game of his rookie campaign with 73 yards and a touchdown on three catches.

Travis Kelce also had season highs in receptions (seven), targets (nine) and receiving yards (89).

If you take away Mahomes’ weapons, he’ll find new ones and distribute the ball more.

As for Watson, he has been a Chief for the last three seasons, while Smith-Schuster was also on the 2022 Super Bowl-winning team. That way, Mahomes is familiar with those receivers and won’t hesitate to drive the ball in that direction if the situation is right.

The spotlight on Derek Carr as injuries piled up

Saints fans have plenty of reason to be excited heading into Week 3 after watching their team put up 40 points in back-to-back games to start the season.

However, the mood is completely different after two straight losses, dropping the record to .500.

The reality is that both wins came against perfect opponents for New Orleans: a Panthers team with an offense that couldn’t move the ball and a Cowboys defense that couldn’t be stopped.

New Orleans quarterback Derek Carr only 19.5 pass attempts in the victory, and Week 4 is the first time he has thrown more than 30 passes this season.

It’s almost like if the Saints can avoid Carr playing too big a role, he’ll take it. Unfortunately, he may be called into action early and often on Monday nights.

New Orleans will be without two starting linebackers, Pete Werner and Willie Gay, against the Chiefs. Offensively, starting center Shane Lemieux and right guard Cesar Ruiz are also out.

The impact of the linebackers coming out can create a nightmare scenario trying to contain Kelce in the middle of the field.

Losing both linemen will also hurt the Saints’ pass protection and ability to run the ball with Alvin Kamara.

You need a special kind of quarterback who can overcome these injuries, and I expect the task will be too much for Carr to handle.

Best bet: Heads -5 (-110 at Bet ESPN)