The NFL is back for week 16 of the regular season as the Las Vegas Raiders travel to take on the Kansas City Chiefs in a huge clash at the Arrowhead Stadium on Christmas Day.
The Chiefs have had a mixed season so far with a 8-5 record at the time of writing, while the Raiders have been poor with a 5-8 record for the season so far at the time of this article being written.
We’ll take a look at the match-up and provide you with our best free NFL betting picks to see if we can earn you some extra cash while you take in the action on the field.
The reigning Super Bowl champions the Kansas City Chiefs stepped into the 2023 season with a trip to face off with the Detroit Lions, with many expecting a rout, but eventually suffering a shock come-from-behind defeat despite having led 14-7 at half-time.
Kansas bounced back in week 2 though against the Jacksonville Jaguars, putting in a solid display of defensive strength and efficient offense to claim a 17-9 win and get back on track of their championship defense.
Then in week 3 they showed their true selves as Mahomes threw three passing touchdowns to help the Chiefs romp to a 41-10 victory, before they followed that with a 23-20 win over the New York Jets in week 4, and then claimed a dominant win over the Minnesota Vikings immediately after that in week 5.
Then came a 19-8 win over Denver Broncos in a poor quality game, before a strong 31-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers to stretch their win streak to six. But then in a second meeting with the Broncos they found themselves on the end of another shocking defeat, this time losing 24-9. They recovered last time out in Germany with a 21-14 win over the Miami Dolphins before a bye in week 10.
Since then though they have gone 1-3. They were well beaten by the Philadelphia Eagles 21-17 in week 11, before beating the Raiders 31-17 in week 12. Since then they have lost their last two at the time of writing, being handily beaten by the Green Bay Packers and Buffalo Bills.
The Chiefs will face off against the New England Patriots in week 15, before heading into this game in week 16.
The Raiders on the other hand have had a tough time of things themselves, failing to get any sort of momentum going throughout the season.
A 17-16 win over the Broncos opened the season before they lose their next three on the spin. The Buffalo Bills thumped them 38-10 in week 2, before the Pittsburgh Steelers earned a 23-18 win and then the Chargers beat them in week 3.
They responded to that with back-to-back wins over the Green Bay Packers 17-13 and then the New England Patriots 21-17, only to then lose two on the spin again against the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions in their next two games. They found a way to win in their next two games at home though, comfortably beating the New York Giants 30-6 and New York Jets 16-12, but since then it’s all gone downhill.
The Miami Dolphins earned a 20-13 win in week 11, before Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs dominated them and earned a 31-17 win in week 12. Week 13 saw them have a chance to recharge and reset with a bye, but they returned to action against the Minnesota Vikings in week 14 and were beaten in arguably the worst NFL game in history via a 3-0 scoreline.
The Raiders will face off against the Los Angeles Chargers in week 15, before a second meeting of the season with the Chiefs in week 16.
The Chiefs have no doubt underperformed this season, but when you have Patrick Mahomes leading the team from quarterback you cannot be ruled out of winning any game or championship.
The game between these two sides back in week 12 saw Mahomes complete 27/34 pass attempts for 298 yards with two touchdowns, and if he is able to replicate or better those numbers here then the win will be all but wrapped up.
WIth Travis Kelce shining this season too plus Isaiah Pacheco and Rashee Rice dominating for the most part, the Raiders don’t really have an answer and will have to be hoping for another off-night for Kansas for this ticket not to cash out.
Check out our review for BetOnline sports betting here.
At the time of writing this, the over up to 42 points looks like a dead cert.
Their first meeting saw 48 points scored and so far this season at the time of writing the Chiefs are averaging 22.4 points scored per game, while they’re only allowing an average of 17.53 points per game.
The Raiders however are averaging 31.07 points scored per game this season across their 13 games, while defensively they have allowed an average of 19.92 points per game at the time of writing.
Combined we should see way over 42 points scored based on these averages, and the fact the last game between the sides a few weeks ago surpassed it with no problem suggests it’s a solid bet.
Check out our review for BetUS sports betting here.
About the Author
Daniel is a football writer who has a great thirst for the Premier League and other major European leagues. A lover of the beautiful game and a firm believer that the eye test is better than statistics. Also an avid MMA fan.
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