Going by preseason results, Kansas City could be in for another rough season. The Chiefs lost three of four exhibition games and all three defeats weren’t even close.

Of course, the regular season is what really counts. Up first? Atlanta.

There’s been a ton of movement in the NFL odds for this Kansas City Chiefs matchup. The line opened as a pick’em and now the Falcons are favored by a field goal. A strong preseason from Atlanta, featuring a new high-tempo offense, may have something to do with that.

The Chiefs will be hoping they get excellent production out of Matt Cassel, Jamaal Charles and Dwayne Bowe among others. Those are the three big offensive pieces for Kansas City this season.

Cassel struggled majorly and also was hurt for a large chunk of the season. He’s looked pretty sharp during the preseason. Bowe didn’t have the best of seasons either due to the issues at quarterback throughout the year.

As for Charles, he blew out his knee early on and was lost for pretty much the entire season. As insurance, the Chiefs brought in Peyton Hillis to be the backup and main option on third downs. If healthy, that smash-and-dash duo of Hillis and Charles should be quite effective in 2012.

Kansas City is a difficult team to beat at Arrowhead as the stadium is known for its noise and crazy fanbase. The Chiefs will have every chance of winning as long as they can get their ground game up and running and start taking control of the clock.

That would result in keeping Ryan, Julio Jones and Roddy White off the field for as long as possible. And that should lead to good things.