Chiefs host Jets in Week 9 needing to stop a two-game road skid

The Kansas City Chiefs are one of 13 teams playing on the Week 9 Sunday slate that ESPN is following, with the day starting in Madrid and ending in Chicago. Kansas City's part of it comes at 1 p.m. ET at Arrowhead Stadium against the New York Jets, broadcast on CBS. It is the first home game for Andy Reid's team after two straight road losses.

Both teams are missing a key player. Arrowhead Pride reported that Mansoor Delane was ruled out on the Chiefs' final injury report. On the other side, the Jets' Friday injury report lists receiver Garrett Wilson as out with a concussion. It also says running back Breece Hall is set to return from a quad injury, and ESPN's inactives coverage expects Hall to play. Without Wilson, the Jets lose their top target in the passing game, and the Chiefs' secondary has one less threat to account for even with Delane out.

The trade deadline is Tuesday, which adds another layer to Sunday. ESPN noted that teams across the league may limit some players' workloads to keep them healthy before then.

What it means for Sunday against the Jets

Kansas City is 5-2 on ESPN's season line, but the order of the results tells a different story than the record. The Chiefs opened with five straight wins: 31-10 over Denver, 33-30 over Indianapolis, 24-10 at Miami, 30-27 at Las Vegas and 22-6 over the Chargers. Then came a 20-3 loss at Seattle and a 28-24 loss in the rematch at Denver. The offense scored 27 points across those two games after averaging 28 a game during the winning streak. Overall, Kansas City has scored 167 points and allowed 131.

Home has been the steadier setting. The Chiefs are 3-0 at Arrowhead and have allowed an average of about 15 points a game there. All of their losses have come on the road. Pro Football Reference lists New York at 2-5 coming in under coach Aaron Glenn.

The board reflects that gap. Kansas City is favored at -441 on the moneyline at Novig, which works out to a $22.68 profit per $100. The best price anywhere is Polymarket's -439, a difference of only a few cents across the 12 venues on this site's board. The Chiefs are favored by 9.5 points on the spread at Novig at +102. The shortest number available is theScore Bet's -8.5 at -115, so the venues disagree by about a point. Novig lists the total at 47.5, and BetRivers has the highest number at 48. Sportsbook hold runs from 2.9% to 5.5% depending on the market. The full board is on the game page.

The line asks Kansas City to win by double digits, something it has done three times this season, all at home or against division opponents. A clean result would end the skid before the deadline and the second half of the schedule. Another close game against a 2-5 opponent would make the two-week slump harder to wave off.