Chiefs punter Matt Araiza named Arrowhead Pride's midseason special teams MVP

Punter Matt Araiza is the Kansas City Chiefs' most valuable special teams player at the halfway mark, according to a staff vote at Arrowhead Pride, SB Nation's Chiefs site. It wasn't close. Araiza got eight of the nine votes, and long snapper James Winchester got the other.

The numbers explain the margin. Through eight games Araiza has 25 punts for 1,270 yards, a 50.8-yard average that would be the best of his career. His longest went 69 yards, and 12 of his punts have been downed inside the 20. His standout game was the 30-27 win at Las Vegas, which earned him AFC Special Teams Player of the Week. All five of his punts that day pinned the Raiders inside their 20, including one downed at the 1 by Xavier Nwankpa and Emmett Johnson. On the opening drive he also ran a fake punt and converted a fourth-and-4 from the Kansas City 35, though the offense later turned the ball over on downs at midfield.

Arrowhead Pride's Matt Stagner made the case partly by elimination, and that tells you something about the rest of Dave Toub's unit. Returner Nikko Remigio has been released. The coverage teams have been adequate without anyone standing out. Penalties have been a recurring problem, and Stagner described the kicking situation as a struggling starter, Harrison Butker, plus a controversial kicker on the practice squad. Johnson, who has only recently started to produce as a kick returner, was the other realistic candidate. Stagner also wrote that the former college "punt god" has improved his touch and directional kicking instead of relying on pure distance.

What it means for Atlanta

Kansas City is 6-2 and heads to Atlanta on Sunday, Nov. 15, on CBS. The Chiefs are 4-0 at home but only 2-2 on the road. They won at Miami and Las Vegas, then lost at Seattle (20-3) and Denver (28-24) in back-to-back weeks before bouncing back with a 35-12 win over the Jets. The question in Atlanta is whether the offense that put up 35 last week shows up away from Arrowhead. In the Seattle and Denver losses combined, it scored 27 points. If the game turns into a field-position fight, Araiza's ability to pin opponents deep matters more than usual. That's especially true with the field-goal unit's reliability under question.

The market makes Kansas City a modest road favorite. On this site's board for the game, which tracks 12 venues, Novig has the Chiefs at -163 on the moneyline and the Falcons at +160. On the spread, Novig lists Kansas City at -3.5 with a +115 price. The best number anywhere is Pinnacle's Chiefs -3 at -111, so the venues are split between 3 and 3.5. That's a meaningful half-point around a key number. Sportsbook hold on the spread runs from 3.1% to 4.8%. Novig's total sits at 47.5, while BetRivers has the best over price at 46.5 (-120).

Next week looks lopsided. Kansas City hosts Arizona on Nov. 22 as a heavy favorite: -14 on the spread at DraftKings and -1076 on Novig's moneyline, per the Cardinals-Chiefs board. More on the season is on our Chiefs team page.