Raiders vs. Chiefs Total Prediction
The Chiefs have had multiple opportunities in the past two weeks to wrap up the AFC West crown, but they’ll need to beat the Raiders Sunday in order to finally accomplish the feat. Will the game be high-scoring between the AFC West rivals?
Game Snapshot
303 Oakland Raiders at 304 Kansas City Chiefs
4:25 p.m. ET, Sunday, December 30
Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Chiefs are 13.5-point favorites to beat the Raiders. The total, meanwhile, sits at 52.5 points. As of this writing, 51% of the public betting tickets are on the Raiders to cover the point spread.
Oakland Raiders
Jared Cook (ribs) was limited at Wednesday’s practice. The injury sidelined Cook briefly in Monday night’s win over Denver. His presence at practice, albeit on a limited basis, suggests he’ll be fine for Sunday’s finale at Kansas City. Cook leads the Raiders with 868 receiving yards this year, which ranks fourth among tight ends.
Kansas City Chiefs
Chiefs signed RB Damien Williams to a two-year extension through 2020. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports the extension has a “max value” of $8.1 million. It is surely heavily incentive laden. The 26-year-old ex-Dolphin has cleared 100 yards from scrimmage in back-to-back games and is averaging a robust 5.3 yards per carry on the year. Williams is also a capable pass catcher. Although the Chiefs clearly envision Williams as part of their post-Kareem Hunt backfield, all Williams’ extension really guarantees is that he will be a part of next year’s 53-man roster.
NFL Betting Trends
Oakland
The over is 5-1 in the Raiders’ last six games after allowing less than 15 points in their previous game.
Kansas City
The over is 5-0 in the Chiefs’ last five games after accumulating more than 350 total yards in their previous contest.
Prediction
The under is 16-5 in the last 21 meetings between these two teams at Arrowhead Stadium and is 19-8 in the last 27 meetings overall. The under is also 7-1-1 in the Raiders’ last nine games played in the month of December, is 16-5 in their last 21 divisional games and is 15-6-1 in their last 22 games overall. Despite all of Kansas City’s explosiveness on offense, the under is just 48-22-1 in the Chiefs’ last 71 home games.
NFL Week 17 Prediction: Raiders/Chiefs under 52.5