Believe it or not, there is a game matching first-place teams that is taking part outside of Indianapolis on Sunday.
Yes, the NFC North-leading Green Bay Packers travel to Kansas City to face the surprising AFC West co-leading Chiefs on Sunday, with the host team -2.5 on WagerWeb.com.
Only New England and Indianapolis, competing in that OTHER game, have better records in the NFL than Brett Favre's Packers. In addition, the Packers have won five straight on the road.
These guys, nobody's intimidated (by playing on the road). It's real, real hard to win in Kansas City, but we're not intimidated at all," said Green Bay cornerback Al Harris.
However, no team owns a better home record since 1990 than the Chiefs, who are 104-35 since then.
Favre has beaten every NFL team but one in his career, with that one being Kansas City. Favre is 0-3 against Kansas City, including a 27-20 loss in 1996 - the team's last visit to Arrowhead Stadium.
Favre is averaging 292.3 yards per game, second in the NFL, and is on pace for his best quarterback rating since 2001. His 82-yard touchdown pass to Greg Jennings on the first play of overtime Monday gave Green Bay 10 wins in its last 11 games.
"You are not going to stop Brett Favre. He's going to complete his passes," said Chiefs coach Herman Edwards.Favre will have to do it without starting running back DeShawn Wynn, who was hurt in Green Bay's overtime victory over Denver on Monday night, suffering a significant shoulder injury that will end his season. Ryan Grant, who rushed for 104 yards in Wynn's place, has been named the starter.
"I'm very happy with the way Ryan took advantage of his opportunity, and he will be in the No. 1 slot when we go to Kansas City," Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said.
Green Bay needs a spark from someone, entering this game last in the NFL in rushing at 71.3 yards per game.
The Chiefs, meanwhile, come off a well-earned bye that was preceded by four wins in five contests. K.C., picked by many to be among the worst teams in the league this season, has already ripped off upsets of the Chargers and Bengals to help it get to 4-3 despite averaging just 14.6 points per game on the year.
Kansas City's offense still rotates around Pro Bowl running back Larry Johnson, who has recorded back-to-back 100-yard games. Receiver Dwayne Bowe leads all rookies with 29 catches and 499 yards.
Kansas City's defense, meanwhile, ranks sixth in the NFL with 21 sacks and has forced 15 turnovers.
The lowdown: Green Bay has an 8-3 road record under second-year coach Mike McCarthy. Only the Patriots (11-1), Chicago Bears (9-3) and Cowboys (8-3) have equal or better road records since the beginning of last season than the Packers, whose last road loss was a 34-24 defeat at Seattle on Nov. 27. The Packers have won five straight on the road, and in three road games this season, Favre is 82-for-110 (74.5 percent) for 961 yards, seven TDs, only one INT and a 118.0 rating. Kansas City is 21-4 at home against the NFC since 1995, best in the league. I look for the Chiefs to cover the spread in this low-scoring game.
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