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The Cleveland Browns will travel to Arrowhead Stadium in the Divisional round to face the AFC’s No. 1 seed, the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs enter the game as 9.5 point favorites as they prepare to host the Browns in their first Divisional Round game since 1994.
ATS Pick: Browns
Do the Cleveland Browns have it in them to give the defending world champions a run in the Divisional Round? It’s going to be tough, but there are plenty of reasons to believe they can keep it within 9.5 points.
First of all, the Chiefs haven’t been playing their best football of late. They are the first team in NFL history to win 6 straight games by one score and have gone 1-7 against the spread in their last eight games. They are winning, but not by as much as they usually do.
Now the Chiefs starters will have had three weeks without live snaps while the Browns are playing well and getting their full set of players back from the COVID-19 list. The Chiefs have been getting off to slow starts as it is, but three weeks off could get them behind the 8-ball even more than usual.
I expect Kansas City to do what they’ve done all season, as they have shown they can win close games, but the Browns aren’t going to give in and I expect them to keep it close enough to hit this week.
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