big joe

One of the more interesting matchups during the opening week of the NFL regular season features the New York Jets traveling to Arrowhead to take on the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Jets were among the league's best defensive teams last season. Conversely, the Chiefs are always powerful offensively. They set an NFL record last year for most first downs in a single season. The Chiefs have one of the best home-field advantages in football. However, they are just 1-4 in their last five home openers. Let’s take a closer look at this year's teams.

Offense

With Trent Green, Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson, Tony Gonzalez and company all back in the fold for another year the Chiefs should feature a potent attack once again. Last year the Chiefs finished with 30.2 points per game overall and 33.1 points per game when playing home. No other team in football has scored as many points over the past three seasons.

The Jets averaged 20.6 points per game in 2004. That number fell to just 17 points per game on the road though. Injury-prone Chad Pennington successfully underwent surgery during the offseason. He'll hope to stay healthy for an entire season for the first time in his career. Curtis Martin comes off a huge year. Lavernanues Coles also returns in place of the departed Santana Moss. He had left the Jets as a free agent two seasons ago. Advantage: Chiefs

Defense

The defense was supposed to get better last year. It didn't. They gave up 27.2 points per game. Only Tennessee, San Francisco and Oakland were worse. The Chiefs have once again focused their entire offseason efforts on the defensive side of the ball. I expect the numerous moves to pay dividends and that we'll finally see some improvement from the previously porous unit. The Jets defense was among the best in the league last year, allowing only 16.6 points per game. They'll be stout once again. Advantage: Jets

Coaching

Jets Coach Herman Edwards loves Chiefs Coach Dick Vermeil and has previously called him his "hero". Back in the late 1970's and early 1980's, Vermeil used to coach Edwards, a defensive back, in Philadelphia. Since taking over the top position with the Jets, Edwards has made some poor clock-management decisions at important times. Although I do think Edwards has some positive qualities, I rate Vermeil as the better overall coach. Advantage: Chiefs

Venue

Arrowhead Stadium has always had a reputation as a difficult place to play. However, the Chiefs' home field advantage has diminished in recent years. In fact, KC is just 9-11 SU and 8-12 against the spread its last 20 home games.

The Jets are 8-12 SU but 10-8-2 ATS their last 20 road games. Advantage: Even

Recent Series History Both recent meetings have been played at New York. The Jets won 27-7 in 2001. However, the Chiefs returned the favor with a 29-25 victory in 2002. In both cases, the winner of the game also covered the spread. Advantage: Even

How they fared during Preseason

The Chiefs went 0-4 SU and ATS during the preseason. The Colts, who went 0-5 SU and ATS, were the only other winless team this year. Ironically, those were the two highest scoring teams in the league in 2004. In its four losses, KC averaged 18.3 points on offense and gave up 25.3 points on defense. It was the first time since 2000 that the Chiefs had gone winless in the preseason. They finished that season with a 7-9 SU and ATS record.

The Jets went 3-1 SU and ATS during their four preseason games. They outscored opponents by an average margin of 22.3 to 13.3. Advantage: Jets