The New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs do battle Sunday afternoon in a week 1 NFL preseason game from Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Kansas City enters this year on a high after posting a 14-3 regular-season record and ultimately a Super Bowl LVII championship run during 2022. Hopes are high for another title this season. As for New Orleans, they had a much tougher time last year, going just 7-10 for a third-place finish in the NFC South. Check back all season long for free NFL picks at Sports Chat Place. 

Kansas City Chiefs 

Kansas City matched their franchise record for wins last year (14) and won the AFC West for the seventh consecutive season. The Chiefs have now made the playoffs in eight straight years (also a franchise record) and hosted their fifth straight AFC Championship game. Kansas City eked out a victory over the Eagles 38-35 in the Super Bowl to secure the title. 

The Chiefs are yet again a trendy Super Bowl pick coming into the 2023 season, which isn’t surprising. Kansas City dealt with a few losses in the offseason but overall the roster has more than enough talent for another championship. Offensive tackles Orlando Brown and Andrew Wylie leave a big hole in the line, which is perhaps the most significant change to the squad. How that unit performs in front of QB Patrick Mahomes will be crucial to the Chiefs’ success in 2023. 

New Orleans Saints 

Over on the Saints’ side, they’re in a much different boat; fighting to return to relevance and playoff activity. New Orleans carded their first losing season since 2016 with a 7-10 overall record, leaving the team in third place in the division. That makes consecutive years that the Saints have missed out on the postseason. 

The good news for New Orleans in 2023 is that the NFC South is widely regarded as fairly weak. If the Saints can perform well against division opponents, a trip to the playoffs may not be so far away. Derek Carr is in town now, and with three receivers gone (Jarvis Landry, Deonte Harty and Mrquez Callaway) the offense is going to look much different. Rookie Kendre Miller will likely have to take a significant load in his first year, as will newly-arrived RB Jamaal Williams. 

The Chiefs are 0-5 ATS in their last five on turf and the over is 11-3 in their last 14 road games. The over is 6-2 in KC’s last eight on turf. 

Meanwhile, the under is 6-0 in New Orleans’ last six overall and 4-1 in their last five on turf. The under is 4-1 in New Orleans’ last five at home. 

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’m going to stay with the Chiefs. When you’ve had as much sustained success as Kansas City has had over the last several years, new players subscribe immediately to the system and seem to gel well with veterans. Andy Reid’s football philosophies are so ingrained in the Chiefs’ roster that we should see effective play even from second- and third-string players running vanilla schemes this preseason. Matt Nagy is back as offensive coordinator after Eric Bieniemy’s departure (Commanders) and Nagy probably won’t take too long to acclimate himself to life in KC again. As for the Saints, they’ve got a bit of turnover on the coaching staff and on the field, so it may take them a few games to get into the proverbial swing of things. KC should have the advantage in this one, but preseason games are anyone’s guess.