The 6-5 Kansas City Chiefs look to strengthen their hold on the fifth spot in the NFL playoff picture on Sunday against the 5-6 Oakland Raiders. The Chiefs moved into the top AFC Wild Card spot last week and seek to add another key tiebreaker to their AFC playoff hopes by beating the Raiders.
The Chiefs, who have won five straight, are three-point favorites in the game. The Chiefs are the better team with the better roster but the Raiders beat the Chiefs last year in pretty much this same situation -- in Oakland coming off a five-game win streak by Kansas City. Anything can happen.
The Chiefs are really banged up with LB Justin Houston, C Mitch Morse, S Husain Abdullah and WR De'Anthony Thomas already ruled out of the game with injuries. G Jeff Allen and DE Allen Bailey are both listed as questionable for the game.
The Chiefs have one of the league's easiest schedules down the stretch, which includes two games against the Raiders. A season sweep of the Raiders would be significant for a Chiefs team trying to get back to the playoffs after missing out last year (when they started 7-3 but missed the playoffs).
I am picking the Chiefs to win and so is the rest of the Arrowhead Pride staff. I don't feel that confident about it because the Raiders really are a better team this year. Offensively the Chiefs need to stop Derek Carr from stretching the field with Amari Cooper. Defensively the Chiefs need to stop Khalil Mack from wrecking the game.
Kansas City has one of the best defenses in the league. The Raiders' Derek Carr and Amari Cooper will need to come to play to score on the Chiefs. Meanwhile, KC's offense is scoring 30-plus points a game all of a sudden so they're just as hot as the defense. The Chiefs are a tough out right now.
The nuts and bolts in the game...
Nuts and bolts
Location: O.co Coliseum, Oakland, California
Game time: Sunday, December 6, 3:05 p.m. (Arrowhead Time)
TV channel: CBS / KCTV-5 (Do I get the game?)
Online streaming: NFL Game Pass (Live audio, replay after it's over)
Radio: 101.1 The Fox (Mitch Holthus and Len Dawson) | Full listings
Odds: Chiefs are 3-point favorites
Matchup history: 56-51-2 (Chiefs lead)
Announcers: Greg Gumbel, Trent Green
Enemy blog: Silver and Black Pride
Twitter: @ArrowheadPride
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Chiefs regular season schedule
Week 1: @ Houston Texans (W: 27-20)
Week 2: Denver Broncos (L: 31-24)
Week 3: @ Green Bay Packers (L: 38-28)
Week 4: @ Cincinnati Bengals (L: 36-21)
Week 5: Chicago Bears (L: 18-17)
Week 6: @ Minnesota Vikings (L: 16-10)
Week 7: Pittsburgh Steelers (W: 23-13)
Week 8: Detroit Lions (W: 45-10)
Week 9: BYE
Week 10: @ Denver Broncos (W: 29-13)
Week 11: @ San Diego Chargers (W: 33-3)
Week 12: Buffalo Bills (W: 30-22)
Week 13: @ Oakland Raiders (Dec. 6, 3:05 p.m., CBS)
Week 14: San Diego Chargers (Dec. 13, 12 p.m, CBS)
Week 15: @ Baltimore Ravens (Dec. 20, 12 p.m., CBS)
Week 16: Cleveland Browns (Dec. 27, 12 p.m., CBS)
Week 17: Oakland Raiders (Jan. 3, 12 p.m., CBS)