Monday Night Soccer Best Sports Betting Picks and Predictions for New Orleans Saints vs. Kansas City Chiefs

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

However, a cluster of injuries on both sides of the ball could significantly impact the Saints’ winning ability.

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

Surprisingly, the Chiefs become 5.5 point favorites after opening at -8. Is the market completely wrong with this line movement? Let’s take a look.

No need to panic for the chief

There was a time when the Chiefs only won games under head coach Andy Reid and didn’t cover the point spread.

That hasn’t been the case lately, as Kansas City has covered nine spreads while winning its final 10 games (regular season and playoffs).

Kansas City won the last two Super Bowls despite lacking great play at the wide receiver position. This offense is still high performing even with Laci Rice and Hollywood Brown in injured reserves.

Looking at the current depth chart, names like Xavier Worthy, Juju Smith-Schuster, and Justin Watson can still get the job done.

Worthy is still a rookie, but there’s a reason the Chiefs traded up to land the former Texas Longhorn in the 2024 NFL Draft.

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

Tight end Travis Kelce had season highs in receptions (7), targets (9) and receiving yards (89).

If you take away Mahomes’ weapon, he’s going to find a new one and spread the ball even further.

As for Watson, he has been with the Chiefs for the past three seasons, while Smith-Schuster was also part of the 2022 team that won the Super Bowl. So Mahomes already has a lot of familiarity with those receivers and won’t hesitate to throw the ball in their direction if the right situation presents itself.

Derek Carr spotlight as injuries pile up

Saints fans had plenty of reasons to be excited heading into Week 3, watching the team score 40 points in back-to-back games to start the season.

However, he felt completely different after two straight losses, dropping his record to .500.

In reality, these two wins came against perfect opponents for New Orleans. A Panthers team with an inept offense that couldn’t move the ball and a Cowboys defense that couldn’t run.

New Orleans quarterback Derek Carr averaged 19.5 pass attempts in those wins, and Week 4 marked the first time he threw 30 passes this season.

If the Saints can avoid Carr playing too big of a role, it’s like taking it. Unfortunately, he may be called into action early and often on Monday nights.

new orleans Missing two starting linebackersPete Werner and Willie Gay, against the Chiefs. On offense, they start center Shane Lemieux and right guard Cesar Ruiz.

The impact of a linebacker going outside could create a nightmare scenario of trying to contain Kelce in the middle of the field.

Losing two linemen hurts the Saints’ pass protection and ability to run the ball with Alvin Kamara.

It takes a special kind of quarterback who can overcome these injuries, and I think that’s too much of a task for Carr to handle.

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