Back the Under in Chiefs vs. Raiders

Chiefs vs. Raiders, 4:30 ET

I don't look forward to too many games in the average season, but when I was doing my futures and researching, I thought this could be a game that would have a really big impact or a lot of meaning for the division. It is hard to be more wrong about something than I was but here we are. The Chiefs had their typical season and once again look like Super Bowl contenders. The Raiders... well...

The Raiders are 6-10 on the season. At best maybe they should be 8-8. At worst they could be 4-12 right now. They have everything you can possibly want on offense - a solid quarterback (you can have your opinion on Derek Carr, but he's average to above average), one of the better running backs in football, and a top-five wide receiver in Davante Adams. The team when to hell this year and never found their footing. It wasn't just the defense that was an issue, the offense was fine, but couldn't get the plays when they needed to. Nine of their 10 losses were by one score or less. Those nine losses came at a combined total of 33 points. Broken down, they had an average loss of margin in nine games of 3.67. They couldn't close the door, or hold opponents when it mattered most. Now they have decided to move on from Carr and are turning to Jarrett Stidham to try and win this game for them against a Kansas City team that still could use another victory.

Kansas City could make this very ugly if they want to. The Raiders have played the Chiefs really well in the past but that was with Carr under center. I can't believe that Stidham is going to be a winning quarterback against them. He did play fairly well against the 49ers last week with three touchdowns and 365 yards. I think that Kansas City, with another week of film on him, should be able to prevent some of the success he had this week. Not only that, but the Chiefs should want to win this because if the Bills lose one of their last two games then the Chiefs become the #1 seed in the AFC meaning home-field advantage. There is definitely motivation for the Chiefs to win this game. Patrick Mahomes also still has a chance to get the MVP and can use this game to pad his stats.

Kansas City's defense shouldn't really scare anyone, but I think they are better than the Raiders defense. I also think that with the added video on Stidham and knowing that's who they are preparing for, they could hold the Raiders down. I think the Chiefs are worried about getting healthy for the playoffs, but I also believe they want that #1 seed if there is a chance they can grab it. I don't expect the Chiefs to go full speed if they get a solid lead - I'm taking under 52.5 in this game.

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