NFL odds for Week 1: Kansas City Chiefs are favored at home over Tennessee Titans

The opening line on the Kansas City Chiefs and Tennessee Titans game had the Chiefs as a 5.5-point favorite. I checked again on Tuesday and the Chiefs were a 4-point favorite. Looking back again today, the Chiefs are down to a 3.5-point favorite in Sunday's season opener against the Titans.

This line feels slightly low to me but the Chiefs are missing two key starters -- WR Dwayne Bowe and RT Donald Stephenson. Replacing Bowe with Frankie Hammond and Stephenson with Jeff Allen is enough to bump those odds down a little bit.

Does this line say more about the Chiefs falling back to Earth this year or more about the Titans struggling? Jimmy Morris over at SB Nation's Titans blog, Music City Miracles, says it's probably more about the Chiefs yet he doesn't understand why.

"I get that people don't love Alex Smith, but Andy Reid is a very good quarterbacks coach," Morris wrote. "Reid got a high level of play out of Smith last year. There is no reason to believe he cannot do it again ... plus they still have Jamaal Charles."

Indeed.

These are games the Chiefs absolutely must win. They're probably not going to get as many fortunate bounces their way against teams like the Broncos, Patriots, 49ers and Seahawks. That's why beating teams like the Titans (and the Raiders, Bills and Dolphins) is so crucial.

Ideally, the Chiefs start their 2014 season like they did in 2013 when they beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 28-2, in the season opener.