Shootout In the AFC West

The Kansas City Cheifs host the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday, September 15th at 8:15 pm. This will be the second game both of these teams play and will be the second week in a row that the Chargers play a division rival. These teams will be playing this game on a short week of rest as they had their games on Sunday. Both of these teams are regarded as playoff teams and can be expected to be Super Bowl Contenders. This will be the first of two games they play against each other in the season. Last year, the Chargers won the first game on the road by a final score of 30-24 and the Chiefs won the second game on the road by a final score of 34-28. The odds for this game are currently set at -210 Chiefs, +175 Chargers, and the over/under is 54.5 according to Caesars Casino & Sportsbook. New users will receive a Risk-Free Bet of up to $1250 on their first wager. When you make your first bet, if it loses, it’s on the house as Caesars will refund any losing wagers in full (up to $1250 in the form of a single-use bonus credit Plus Caesar’s is adding 1,000 Reward Credits and 1,000 Tier Credits). You must make a deposit to get the bonus! Click the link to sign up or use Promo OSBETFULL. Claim your bonus here!

The Los Angeles Chargers won their first game of the season at home last week against the Las Vegas Raiders by a final score of 24-19. In that game, they lost their primary receiving option, Keenan Allen, in the first half of the game due to a hamstring injury. Now with this game being played on a short rest week, Allen is doubtful to play for the Chargers against the Cheifs. Against the Raiders, quarterback Justin Herbert shined as he threw for 279 yards and 3 touchdowns. Herbert didn’t seem to be flustered after losing his #1 option as he scored all 3 of his touchdowns after Allen was taken out of the game. He was also great at spreading the ball as 7 different players had 4 targets. There was an expectation that after Allen went out of the game, wide receiver Mike Williams would have stepped up and demanded the missing targets Allen would have received. Unfortunately for Williams that wasn’t the case as he only had 2 receptions for 10 yards. Heading into this game, the Chargers will gameplan to have Williams be the primary receiver. In his last three games against the Chiefs, Williams has averaged 8.3 targets with an average of 5.3 receptions for 93 yards and 1 touchdown per game. The Chargers will also rely on running back Austin Ekeler to help them move the ball with Allen being out. Ekeler had an underwhelming game against the Raiders as he had 72 yards of total offense. In his last three games against the Chiefs, Ekeler has averaged 80 yards of total offense and 1 touchdown. The Chargers also have a strong defense as they were able to intercept the Raiders 3 times last week. Fortunately for them, there is a chance they have cornerback JC Jackson make his season debut against the Cheifs. Jackson is a great cornerback as he has recorded 25 interceptions since 2018, making him the interception leader during that time. 

The Kansas City Cheifs head into their home opener with a record of 1-0 after winning last week against the Arizona Cardinals by a final score of 44-21. There was a lot of attention surrounding that game as many believed the Chiefs would struggle to find the offensive success they’ve had after losing wide receiver Tyreek Hill in the offseason. Clearly, this wasn’t the case as they scored 6 total touchdowns and destroyed the Cardinals. It was known that game was going to be high scoring but it was surprising to see it was as one-sided as it was. The Chiefs came into that game with the intent of silencing their doubters and putting the league on notice that they are as good if not better without Hill. Patrick Mahomes threw for 5 touchdowns and had 3 in the first half. He also threw for 360 yards and had a quarterback rating of 94.1. Tight End Travis Kelce, playing as the primary option,  had 8 receptions for 121 yards and 1 touchdown. Kelce has had success against the Chargers in recent years as in his last three games, he has averaged 8.6 receptions for 128.3 receiving yards and 1 touchdown. In his last game against them, he had 10 receptions for 191 yards and 2 touchdowns. Mahomes seems to have figured out that the Chargers can’t contain Kelce so expect these two to connect many times in this game. The Cheifs defense also played a big role in their win against the Cardinals. Although they didn’t force a turnover, they were able to hold the Cardinals to 18 total first downs in the game and a 3rd down efficiency of 3/12, or 25%.

I think this game will be close as in both of their games last season, they were a 6-point game.  Although the Chargers will be without Allen, Herbert should be able to move the ball and give the Chargers multiple scoring opportunities. The Cheifs will also have multiple scoring opportunities as their offense seems to be unstoppable. The past two times these two teams have met, it has ended up in a shootout, and I don’t expect anything different. 

For our expert pick, take the Chiefs -4.0.