Another week in the NFL begins as ever with the Thursday Night Football and we have a divisional clash to enjoy to get the action underway. It comes from California where the Oakland Raiders play host to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West.
After a bright start has fizzled out we are approaching must not lose territory for the Raiders but they have it tough against the Chiefs who had won their first five matches before a maiden defeat last week.
Oakland Raiders
It looked like being another campaign like the one the Raiders enjoyed last season when they began with two successive wins but four defeats on the bounce has tempered their expectations somewhat and with Kansas City already three wins ahead of them they really can’t afford to lose this game if they have ambitions of winning the division.
The biggest issue for the Oakland side is not that they don’t have the players to deliver a winning run it is about when those players are going to stand up and be counted and actually produce what they are capable of. We can kind of exclude Marshawn Lynch from criticism as he has only just come out of retirement but even his honeymoon period can only last so long.
Kansas City Chiefs
Without a doubt the surprise story of the season has been the Kansas City Chiefs. That might not be in terms of their results but the way they have played has certainly been a surprise. What was once a conservative, protect the ball at all times, offense is suddenly a powerful, expansive and exciting attacking unit and they are good to watch.
They don’t need to be that good on offense because even without the likes of Eric Berry their defence stands up to the scrutiny of most. The fact they are so good offensively makes for a dangerous combination. Whether it is the emergence of exciting young talents around him or the fear of losing his job, Alex Smith is playing the best football of his career right now.
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Betting
On the face of it Kansas City look good things but we saw last week that special players can cause them problems and if the likes of Lynch, Cooper and Crabtree turn up this Chiefs defence could yet have another hard night. The trouble is we’ve been waiting for the Oakland offense to fire up for a while. It will fire at some point but guessing when is not easy. With that in mind I’ll go to the player markets where I’m putting faith in a trusted man for us.
Travis Kelce has caught more passes for the Kansas City Chiefs than any other player this season and I’m expecting him to get plenty of ball here too. Oakland have a real issue against tight ends. Hunter Henry burned them for 90 yards last week while a couple of weeks before that A.J Derby nailed them for 75 yards. Delanie Walker bagged 76 yards against them and Vernon Davis took them for 58 yards from just five catches. With the output Kelce produces you’ve got to think he will whizz beyond 59.5 yards here.
Tips
Back T.Kelce – Over 59.5 receiving yards for a 5/10 stake at 1.85 with BetVictor
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