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The Kansas City Chiefs travel to the Oakland Alameda Coliseum for their first matchup of the season with the Raiders this Sunday. The fact that they are the road team hasn’t had much of an impact on the betting line.
The Chiefs opened up as 15-point favorites over the Raiders, according to Westgate Las Vegas’ NFL Superbook.
The Chiefs enter the game 9-2, having only lost to the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams, while the Raiders are 2-9, having only beaten the Cleveland Browns and more recently the Arizona Cardinals with a last-minute field goal. The Raiders lost to the Ravens 34-17 on Sunday.
#Raiders 15-point home underdogs to #Chiefs. Biggest spread for them at home going back 20 years, per @TwitVI. Were 14-point dogs In 2009 against Eagles, and Raiders won 13-9.
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) November 26, 2018
The Chiefs have beaten the Raiders in eight of the last 10 times they have played and are also 19-1 in their last 20 AFC West games. The only loss in that span was actually to the Raiders, who beat the Chiefs, 31-30, at the Oakland Coliseum on Thursday Night Football last year.
But the Raiders look like a much different team than the one that pulled off that victory entering Sunday.
Since that game, the Raiders hired Jon Gruden and shipped off star players on both sides of the football, first trading linebacker Khalil Mack to the Chicago Bears in early September and later sending wide receiver Amari Cooper to the Dallas Cowboys before this year’s trading deadline. Mack has had a fantastic season for Chicago and Cooper made the most of the Cowboys’ Thanksgiving surround with the whole nation watching.
Raiders starting quarterback Derek Carr has also always struggled mightily with the Chiefs. In 73 career games, Carr has a career 62.35 completion percentage, 116 touchdowns, 52 interceptions and an 88.2 passer rating. Carr is 2-6 in eight career games against the Chiefs, and he has a 55.59 completion percentage, 10 touchdowns, but seven interceptions for a 72.2 passer rating in those games.
And there is also the yearly conversation about Andy Reid after the bye week—Reid’s teams (Eagles, Chiefs) are 16-3 after the bye.
There are other factors, including the inability for most of the league to keep up with the Chiefs high-powered offense led by Patrick Mahomes and also a potential return game for Eric Berry, so in my opinion, the Chiefs as an early 15-point favorite makes plenty of sense.