Chiefs vs Raiders Predictions: Vegas to keep it close

We have NFL on Christmas Day this year, so whilst you are recovering from an excess amount of turkey, why not tune in to Sky Sports for the Raiders visiting the Chiefs?

@NFLGirlUK previews the matchup and we've picked out two bets for you to consider for this big rivalry game...

A division rivalry will take place on Monday between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders. The Chiefs are overwhelming favourites, though they have yet to play their best football.

Meanwhile, you can argue that the Raiders did just that last week when they scored 63 points against the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chiefs can’t afford another loss here given the competition in the AFC, and the Raiders are hoping to deliver that to them.

The biggest thing for Kansas City this year has been the pass catchers. Travis Kelce is a tremendous playmaker that draws a ton of attention. Now, most of the time, the attention that he’d draw would get strained due to other weapons across the offense.

This season, opposing defenses haven’t even bothered putting a gameplan around their other weapons, forcing Kelce into constant double or even triple teams. If the Chiefs are hoping to win games down the stretch of the year, then they’ll need players like Kadarius Toney, Skyy Moore, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling to show up.

Moore is expected to miss a game or two as well, putting even more pressure on the receivers that are left. Luckily, their defense is incredibly talented. This group unfortunately can’t always keep them ahead in games. Eventually, the offense will need to match their performance.

On the Raiders side, they’re very confusing. They dominated a Chargers team without Justin Herbert last week, and they scored 63 without Josh Jacobs available. Jacobs should be coming back into the line-up this week barring any changes, and the remainder of the offense should have as much confidence as possible.

After all, scoring 63 points on a division rival should get guys like Davante Adams fired up for more. The defense is a concern though now that Marcus Peters isn’t out there helping the secondary.

We saw them fly around and make plays against Easton Stick and the Chargers, but can they do the same against Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. The last few matchups between these teams have seen Kelce consistently break open.

In a new defensive scheme now, the Raiders would like to prove to the world that it won’t happen anymore. A few weeks ago, when these teams met up, the Raiders jumped out to a strong 14-0 lead. Unfortunately, they quickly got turned around and lost 31-17. Quick starts are nice, but Las Vegas has to know that they need to sustain that against the Chiefs if they want to win this critical game in their season.

When picking this game, I’d love to choose the Raiders as an upset victory. Simply put though, I don’t see them being able to sustain a lead against Mahomes and company for long enough.

They have the players and the confidence to get ahead, but similar to their last loss against them, it won’t be sustainable, and they’ll end up falling short. This would be a huge game for the rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell if he can somehow muster a win against his rivals.

Match Odds:

No surprise considering the two sides that we see Kansas City installed as a 10.5pt favourite on the spread. This may be a divisional matchup but one team is still very much looking forward to the Super Bowl, whilst the other is already looking forward to picking relatively igh in the draft.

The Chiefs are as short as 1/5 on the Money Line with the visiting Raiders team available to back at 19/5 straight-up for the win.

The Over/Under has been set at 40.5 with Travis Kelce the shortest-price to score anytime at 4/5

Bet 1 - Las Vegas Raiders+10.5pts on the Handicap @ 20/23

Our first selection comes from the spread where I like the Raiders to stay within 10.5pts of their bitter rivals. If the visiting team do get off to a fast start, the pressure will build and even though I like KC to eventually get the job done, this feels like a 4Q game where the result isn't decided until the dying minutes. So I'll take Las Vegas getting the ten-and-a-half.

Bet 2 - Aidan O'Connell & Patrick Mahomes both to throw over 274.5 Passing Yards @ 13/2

Playing a bit of a longshot with my second selection but after seeing the Vegas offense absolutely lighting it up last time out, it is clear that the staff are getting more confidence in Aidan O'Connell. The former Purdue Boilermaker showed in college that he's certainly a more than solid quarterback and whilst he's yet to throw for over 274 in the pros, a big game passing wise feels just around the corner.

We all know what Patrick Mahomes brings to the table and with this being a big game on Christmas Day, I like both offense to impress and that 13/2 price feels just a bit too long and provides some betting value as we look for a small stakes big winner.

Remember to check out our NFL Betting Tips index page where we preview games live on Sky Sports...