We’ve had a few indifferent primetime matches on paper recently but that isn’t the case in the Sunday Night Football this week as two AFC West rivals meet when the Las Vegas Raiders host the Kansas City Chiefs.
These two teams are both not without their issues this season but they can put those to one side for an old school dust up which looks like it could be very significant in the race for the AFC West title, and also the AFC conference overall.
Las Vegas Raiders
The first half of this season has been a tale of two stories for the Las Vegas Raiders. The on field stuff in the main has been pretty good and they begin this match with a 5-3 record and only trail the Los Angeles Chargers by half a game in the AFC West. That might have been better but for an indifferent display against the New York Giants last week where they slipped to a surprise defeat. That was the positive tale overall. The negative is the off field issues which have seen the demise of Jon Gruden as head coach and Henry Ruggs who is on his way to prison.
When you consider those off field problems the Raiders deserve enormous credit to be delivering a winning season. Derek Carr has led an offense which is nicely balanced but one which might just start to struggle without Ruggs stretching the field. The Raiders have done enough on defence too and are certainly worthy of their 5-3 record but are at a critical stage of their season. You sense this could be a defining match for the silver and black.
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Kansas City Chiefs
There haven’t been any off field issues for the Kansas City Chiefs but there is no denying the fact that they haven’t looked anything like the side they have been for the last couple of seasons on it. Despite that they have a 5-4 record and something to build on if and when they can figure it out this term. After a 1-2 beginning to the season, Kansas City have won four of their last six outings and while you couldn’t really argue they have looked convincing, perhaps they are beginning to build some confidence.
The problems they are having are on offense. Teams are taking away the deep power play to Tyreeq Hill and testing the patience of Patrick Mahomes and so far he hasn’t shown he has any. If and when he can get into the routine of taking what defences give him and then potentially set up the big plays you would think the Chiefs have more than enough to get the job done here. One area where they are making improvements is defensively. They were woeful at the start of the season but in the last two weeks they have played much better, although it is questionable what they faced.
Betting
This is such an interesting match because of what it means for the two sides and in terms of the season as a whole in this division. You can make a case for both teams winning here but equally you can make a pretty simple case against them too. I have to admit the defeat to the New York Giants last week gives me a big concern for the Las Vegas Raiders here and as a result I’m going to side with the Kansas City Chiefs, who despite their struggles this term are the better team of the two and that shouldn’t be forgotten.
Kansas City aren’t as potent or as powerful on offense at the minute but you would imagine that eventually Patrick Mahomes is going to figure things out and get his unit back on track. It might be that facing a familiar foe is what is going to do that. The good thing for Mahomes and the Chiefs is that the defence is starting to come to the party and with Carr’s confidence maybe dented by the three turnovers in the loss to the Giants last week that could be significant. We might not see the sort of high scoring contest these two have treated us to in recent seasons but I do think we’ll see a Chiefs win.
Tips
Back Kansas City Chiefs (-2.5) to beat Las Vegas Raiders for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
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