Ricky Dimon
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Sunday Night Football in Week 3 of the NFL season should be a fun one featuring the 2-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and a revamped Atlanta Falcons squad that is coming off a big win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Kansas City is 2-0, while Atlanta returns home from its Monday Night Football heroics with a 1-1 record.
Here is my Same Game Parlay for the festivities, which get underway at 8:20 pm ET on NBC. Also be sure to check out our full Chiefs vs Falcons predictions.
Falcons ML (+148)
Kyle Pitts to score a touchdown (+220)
Samaje Perine Over 17.5 rushing yards (-113)
Parlay odds: +1139
Part of the value in a Same Game Parlay, of course, is that all of its components can be correlated if you so choose. That is some of the plan here, as Atlanta tight end Kyle Pitts finding the endzone would obviously work well with a win by the Falcons. At the same time, plays that aren’t correlated drive up the overall payout of the parlay. That is the case with backing Kansas City running back Samaje Perine to rack up a decent number of yards on the ground. But even if he does, there is no reason why the home team can’t take care of business.
Falcons ML (+148)
The Chiefs may be undefeated, but they have been far from dominant. Head coach Andy Reid’s crew just barely beat the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday Night Football in Week 1 and then needed a late pass-interference call to get past the Cincinnati Bengals last Sunday. The latter result came at a cost, too. Isiah Pacheco suffered a fibula injury and is out 6-8 weeks. Now Kansas City faces a daunting Falcons defense that played winning football in each of its first 2 games. The Falcons lost their opener because the offense did nothing against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but Kirk Cousins and company bounced back in a big way against Philly. With Cousins getting more comfortable with his new team, Atlanta playing at home and Kansas City looking vulnerable, an upset on Sunday night is well within reason.
Kyle Pitts to score a touchdown (+220)
Pitts has not been much of a touchdown scorer so far in his career, but he has also never been able to play with a reliable quarterback…until now, that is. Cousins is now showing signs of his former self, and Pitts should be among the beneficiaries of that development. The veteran signal-caller has talked at length about the importance of spreading the ball around, which would also behoove Pitts. It’s not going to be an entire Drake London (or Darnell Mooney) show through the air for Atlanta. Moreover, Kansas City has allowed the most fantasy point fantasy points to tight ends in the entire NFL through 2 weeks. This is a good opportunity for Pitts to score his first touchdown of the 2024 campaign.
Samaje Perine Over 17.5 rushing yards (-113)
Perine exceeding such a modest 17.5 numbers doesn’t really conflict that much with a Falcons win, so I have no qualms about adding it into the parlay. Carson Steele is listed as RB1 on the Chiefs’ depth chart now that Pacheco is sidelined, but Steele is really a fullback. It’s not like he is going to get 25 carries. Perine should get plenty of touches and he is more than capable of turning those into at least 18 yards. It’s also worth noting that Atlanta has allowed the sixth-most rushing yards and the eighth-fewest passing yards through 2 weeks.
