St. Louis @ Kansas City preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 18, 2012 ) Kansas City 17, St. Louis 31

The Kansas City Chiefs attempt to defeat St. Louis for the sixth consecutive time when they host the Rams on Sunday. Kansas City has won the five meetings by an average of 19 points and enters this contest on a high note after recording an impressive 23-20 road win over the San Diego Chargers last week. The Rams also enter the game with confidence after producing a 28-26 victory over the defending champion Seattle Seahawks.

St. Louis used some special teams’ hijinks last week, namely a disguised punt return that went for a touchdown and a fake punt to all but end the game. “When you play against a Jeff Fisher team, you know he’s going to be ready on special teams for those type of things,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said in reference to the Rams’ coach. “He’s done that over his history as a head coach and so, we’ll make sure we do as much as we possibly can to work on those things.” Kansas City has won three of its past four games and has committed just one turnover over the last three contests.

TV: 1 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: Chiefs –7. O/U: 44.

ABOUT THE RAMS (2-4): Quarterback Austin Davis threw two touchdowns against Seattle and has tossed nine over his last four games while entrenching himself as the starter. Rookie Tre Mason had 85 yards and a touchdown in his NFL debut and gave St. Louis some much-needed, hard-charging running. The Rams had three sacks against Seattle after having just one entering the contest and star defensive end Robert Quinn finally recorded his first of the season after tallying 19 last season.

ABOUT THE CHIEFS (3-3): Jamaal Charles (6,113) passed the franchise’s career rushing-yardage mark held by Priest Holmes (6,070) in the win over San Diego, but remarks he made on Tuesday about a hit he absorbed on a touchdown run prompted Kansas City to begin testing him for a possible concussion. According to Chiefs trainer Rick Burkholder, Charles passed all the concussion tests and will be monitored closely the rest of the week leading up to the game. Outside linebacker Justin Houston is having a superb season with seven sacks – tied for second in the NFL – and outside linebacker Tamba Hali has four sacks and three forced fumbles.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Chiefs QB Alex Smith has eight touchdown passes against one interception over the past four games.

2. Two starters in the St. Louis secondary – CB Janoris Jenkins (knee) and SS T.J. McDonald (concussion) – are in danger of missing the contest.

3. Kansas City WR Dwayne Bowe is nine receptions away from joining TE Tony Gonzalez as the only Chiefs with 500 career receptions.

PREDICTION: Chiefs 30, Rams 24