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Maximize Your Odds of Winning with SportsLine Model and Our Top-Rated Picks!
Maximize Your Odds of Winning with SportsLine Model and Our Top-Rated Picks!
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Expert Picks
Kansas City got the type of performance it desperately needed, when for the most part in a blowout of Oakland it looked like the club that started the season 5-0. I played the Chiefs last week largely on the premise that they are the best team in the AFC West and will prove it down the stretch. The same applies Saturday against the surging Chargers. There is massive line value because K.C. would have been laying near a touchdown a month ago or so. The Chiefs dominated the first meeting, and they'll win the rematch as well.
The road team has covered five straight in this series, and I'll back the Chargers to stay hot. LA has gone 7-2 since an 0-4 start. Philip Rivers has tossed eight TDs and no INTs over his last four games. Look for the Chargers' pass rush to make Alex Smith uncomfortable.
Los Angeles has gone Under in all but one of its last eight games. Only three of the Chargers’ outings have eclipsed 46 points scored. Kansas City has slipped Under in four of its past five, with this total surpassed a single time. Geez, the Chargers have allowed fewer points than any team but Jacksonville. K.C. ranks in the upper half for points yielded. Yet the total sits in the mid-to-high 40s. An aggregation of factors shouts for an Under play. Decorated CB Darrelle Revis, a recent Chiefs acquisition, has completed the breaking-in phase and is starting to live up to his reputation. Similarly gifted fellow CB Marcus Peters returns from a one-game suspension imposed by the club. On offense, C Mitch Morse’s nagging foot injury might keep him in street clothes. Morse started all but one game in 2015 and ’16. K.C. is showing a semblance of its early-season offensive potency but remains a time zone or two away from being able to again break a big gain at any moment. Plus, the early weather forecast calls for high winds in Kansas City that could cause difficulties for the passers and, more worrisome, the placekickers.
This is basically a playoff game with the winner having an inside track to winning the AFC West. The Chiefs have lost six of their last eight after a 5-0 start while the Chargers appear to improve every week while winning their last four. Two teams going in opposite directions. The main reason for the Chargers' success has been their defense, which has kept seven of their last eight games Under the total. The Chiefs' offense has been shaky lately and has kept four of their last five Under. Look for defense to be the star here for both teams and keep the game Under.