The San Diego Chargers became ‘that’ team. You know, the one nobody wanted to become. They are the club that prevented the Browns from having a winless season. It shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise given how generous the Chargers have been at giving games away all season, and they did it once again on the eve of Christmas day. It couldn’t have been more fitting. They could prevent the Kansas City Chiefs from winning the AFC West by knocking off their division rival in Week 17.
Kickoff for this regular season Week 17 game is set for Sunday, January 1, 2017, at 4:25 p.m. ET at Qualcomm Stadium.
NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Kansas City Chiefs -4
San Diego Chargers +4
Over/Under 44.5
Odds Analysis
When these teams met in the opener, the Chargers stormed out to a 24-3 lead in the second half and the miseries that would define their season began. The Chiefs would score 17 fourth quarter points to send the game to overtime where they would win on an Alex Smith touchdown run. The Chiefs failed to cover the 6.5-point spread but the over cashed easily in the 33-26 win, K.C.’s fifth straight in the series. The public is jumping on the visitors with 88 percent of the early spread bets giving the 4-points. I wouldn’t be surprised to see movement in the line in favor of the Chiefs prior to kickoff.
Injury Report
Spencer Ware – The Chiefs’ lead back departed Sunday night’s game with sore ribs and the extent of his injury hasn’t been determined. They could use Ware to ignite the run game against the Chargers in what is expected to be a fierce battle. Ware is averaging 4.3 yards per carry this season, which is a yard more than his backup Charcandrick West.
Kenneth Farrow – The Chargers lost another player to injured reserve when Farrow was sent there with a shoulder injury. He had been filling in for Melvin Gordon and his loss leaves the Bolts with one healthy running back on the roster in Ronnie Hillman. There’s a slim chance Gordon returns this week and the team also has Andre Williams on its practice squad.
Matchup to Watch
Philip Rivers has done enough over the course of his career where it would be tough for Mike McCoy to take the ball out of his hands. But Rivers’ inability to take care of the football this season has led to far more headaches for Bolts’ fans. Rivers threw another pick in San Diego’s loss to Cleveland on Saturday, extending his streak of games with at least one interception to six. Over that stretch, Rivers has tossed 12 interceptions and leads all NFL quarterbacks with 19 interceptions, which is just one off his career high total. Toss in the five lost fumbles and Rivers has more turnovers than 22 teams.
It won’t help Rivers and the Chargers going against one of the better teams in turnover differential. The Chiefs have six takeaways in their last two games and their plus-15 turnover margin is second-best in the league. They also have 16 interceptions on the year, which is tied for the second most, two behind leader Baltimore.
Free ATS Pick
The Chargers have been in just about all their games this season, losing six times when taking a lead into the fourth quarter, but they will have another losing season to show for it. Perhaps the most troubling of the losses came last week in Cleveland and it was a typical meltdown by San Diego. Sometimes it’s the offense that gives a game away. The defense has its share of the blame as well, but against the Browns it was kicker Josh Lambo, who failed to connect on potential game-tying field goal twice in the last four minutes.
The Chiefs know what earning a No. 2 seed and first-round bye means and they would like nothing better than to put themselves in a position to get that. They need some help from the Broncos, but K.C. also needs to take care of its own business. The injury to Derek Carr leaves the division title up for grabs and a Chiefs win coupled with a Raiders loss gives K.C. the title. I don’t believe the Chiefs are going to pass up the chance to claim the division and they will do their part to make sure it gets done with big cover road win.
NFL Odds: Chiefs 31, Chargers 24
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