Recent history isn’t on their side, but that won’t stop the Los Angeles Chargers from showing up for their Week 15 Thursday Night Football battle with the Kansas City Chiefs. First place in the AFC and the West Division is on the line and for the Bolts to pull even they’ll need to break a nine-game losing streak in the series. The Chiefs maintained their lead by pulling out the third wildest win of the weekend by amassing 441 total yards against the NFL’s top-ranked defense and beating the Ravens in overtime. The way that game ended it makes us believe it might be the Chiefs year.
Watch this Week 15 regular season matchup live on Thursday, December 13, 2018, at 8:20 p.m. ET at Arrowhead Stadium.
Opening NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Los Angeles Chargers +3.5
Kansas City Chiefs -3.5
Over/Under 56
Winning the division is still a longshot for the Chargers, but the possibility remains. And it starts with a win over the Chiefs on Thursday night. The Bolts haven’t had much success against their AFC West rival dropping nine in a row, including a 38-28 decision back on opening day when Patrick Mahomes started his onslaught against opposing defenses.
And there’s a good chance that on a short week the Chargers will be shorthanded in the backfield, which could put a severe damper on their chances. With Melvin Gordon already sidelined with a knee injury that forced him out of the last two games, Austin Ekeler was the main threat. He did a marvelous job filling in and rushed for 66 yards and a touchdown while catching a pair of passes for 28 yards in a win over the Bengals on Sunday. However, he sustained an injury late in that game and his status is unclear moving forward.
That would leave more options available for Philip Rivers in the passing game, and he has the weapons. Rivers didn’t have his best game statistically against Cincy, completing 19 of 29 for 220 yards and touchdown, but he was able to extend drives as the Bolts grabbed an early lead and held on. Rivers threw for 424 yards and three touchdowns against the Chiefs in the earlier meeting while completing 34 of 51 attempts. It was his highest yardage total in 26 career games against the Chiefs.
The Chiefs are susceptible to the pass after getting lit up by the Rams and Raiders in two games prior to their meeting with Baltimore. KC limited Lamar Jackson to 147 passing yards, but the Ravens would much rather run the football, and they did for nearly 200 yards. Taking Rivers to go over his passing yard total on a prop bet against the NFL’s worst pass defense is a smart play. Rivers also has at least one touchdown pass in every game this season and 26 straight dating back to 2017, so there’s a strong likelihood that he’ll toss one on Thursday.
And speaking of touchdown passes, Mahomes has a lock on that category this season. Mahomes tossed a pair against the Ravens’ stingy defense to lead his team to a comeback victory on Sunday, increasing his league-leading total to 43. He opened the year by throwing four scoring passes against the Bolts in KC’s season-opening win.
With Kareem Hunt no longer on the team and Sammy Watkins nursing a sore foot, Tyreek Hill has moved into a more prominent role. Hill had eight catches for 139 yards last week to make up for his worst game of the season when he totaled only one catch the week before against the Raiders. With Hill being the deep threat, Travis Kelce is the underneath receiver and Mahomes’ favorite target. Over the last three games Kelce has 29 receptions for 372 yards and four touchdowns. Look for Mahomes to throw a touchdown pass at some point on Thursday night and in all likelihood Kelce will be on the receiving end since he is such a red zone threat. The Bolts have an underrated defense and with Joey Bosa on the line applying pressure, Mahomes may not reach his passing yardage total.
Chargers at Chiefs Live Betting
We will have plenty of balls in the air in this one with some of the top runners sidelined. And that means more chances for defensive props. Bosa has made a triumphant return with four sacks in the last three games and KC’s Chris Jones is throwing down opposing QB’s regularly. Jones has at least one sack in nine straight games and 11.5 on the year. He had 8.5 sacks in the past two seasons combined.
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