Packers vs. Chiefs NFL Week 9 odds: Aaron Rodgers out Sunday due to COVID; spread rises 8 points with Jordan Love facing Patrick Mahomes

One of the major benefits of the NFL adding a 17th regular-season game this season was the addition of a Green Bay Packers at Kansas City Chiefs showdown this Sunday featuring MVPs and all-time great quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes facing off in a possible Super Bowl 56 preview. However, Rodgers has tested positive for COVID and will not play. The game had been a pick'em, but the Chiefs are now -8 with Jordan Love making his first NFL start for Green Bay.

Superstar receiver Davante Adams, fellow starting wideout Allen Lazard and defensive coordinator Joe Barry all missed last Thursday's Packers upset in Arizona due to COVID. Still not clear if they will return Sunday. 

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport is reporting Rodgers is unvaccinated, and that's why he has been ruled out so early. If that's true, Rodgers would not be paid for this week's game. Vaccinated players still get paid. (Rodgers had previously said he was "immunized.") Under NFL-NFLPA protocols, Rodgers is eligible to return to the Packers roster no sooner than Nov. 13, the day before their Week 10 game against the Seahawks.

This will mark the second straight Packers-Chiefs matchup that will NOT feature Rodgers vs. Mahomes. Two years ago, Green Bay visited Arrowhead Stadium in Week 8 and won 31-21 with Matt Moore as the Kansas City starting QB due to a Mahomes injury. Rodgers threw for 305 yards and three scores. Prior to that, the Packers and Chiefs hadn't played since 2015, so Mahomes and Rodgers have yet to face off in an NFL game that counted.

Green Bay traded up in the 2020 draft to select Love at No. 26 overall out of Utah State, and it infuriated Rodgers that he wasn't informed the team was doing that and took a QB instead of a needed receiver. That was a big reason why Rodgers threatened this entire offseason to not play for the Packers again.

At least the Pack can now see what Love has in a game that matters (if they are forced to trade Rodgers this offseason) as it will be his first regular-season start. Love did get some mop-up duty in Week 1 this year in a blowout loss to the Saints, completing 5-for-7 for 68 yards. In two preseason games, Love was 24-for-35 for 271 yards, a TD and a pick.

The Packers are 6-11-1 (.361) since 2008 when someone other than Rodgers starts at QB, averaging 20.7 points per game. They are 133-64-1 (.674) in the regular season with Rodgers, averaging 27.1 points. 

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