The first match of Week 14 of the NFL season is arguably the biggest match of the campaign thus far as the Kansas City Chiefs host the Oakland Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium in a rival battle with a real kick.
The leadership of the AFC West is at stake in this match and with just three matches left after this one the winner will have a significant advantage. If the Chiefs win they go top on the tie-breaker. If the Raiders win they go two matches clear and will effectively wrap the division up.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs won a second successive match last week in quite extraordinary style. It looked like they were going to need to go the length of the field to get a late field goal to win but Eric Berry hadn’t read that script. He intercepted a 2pt conversion attempt to turn a potential three point deficit into a one point lead and they saw the game out from there.
Kansas City don’t have the powerful offense which a lot of sides have in the NFL these days but they are well balanced. They have a solid offense who find ways of getting the job done and a defence which goes hunting for big plays and when they make them they often have a real impact on the match as we saw last week.
Oakland Raiders
Oakland’s last defeat was back in Week 6. It came against the Kansas City Chiefs but since then they have won six matches in a row and in all but one of those matches they have put up 30pts or more. They have arguably the most powerful and certainly one of the most balanced offenses in the game, led by the MVP candidate Derek Carr.
If there is a concern for the Raiders it is in their defensive backfield but that has been alleviated recently by the form of Khalil Mack. Despite being a defensive player Mack is now being spoken about in MVP discussions which is huge. Carr has been nursing a finger injury recently but the Raiders will need their trigger man at full pelt if they are to win here.
Betting
It is a shame this match is a Thursday Night game. Regular readers will know I don’t like getting too heavily involved in Thursday games because of the short turnaround for the two sides who are in action.
The case for Oakland can be made and the fact they are significantly odds against would only heighten their appeal but it is so hard for road teams to recover and be at their best in these games so I’ll leave them alone. I’m tempted by the overs but the weather conditions may not help that.
In the end I’ve plumped for one bet which is the receiving yards for Travis Kelce. The line is 58.5 which when you think he has caught for more than 100 yards in each of his last three matches looks a fairly low line. Oakland are without their star safety here which boosts Kelce’s chances and the Raiders haven’t been able to look after tight ends for quite some time. Jeremy Maclin might be back for the Chiefs but I don’t think he’s going to see enough action to stop Kelce getting to 59 yards.
Tips
WON – Back T.Kelce – Over 58.5 receiving yards for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Skybet
Back him here:
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