When the Captain (9-4) heads to the Charger (8-5) to kick off NFL Week 15 on “Thursday Night Football” (8:20 p.m. ET, Fox, NFL Network, Amazon Prime Video), control Late control compared to first place in the AFC West will be brought into the line.
If the Captains win, they’ll be two games ahead with their third win in a row and come close to another title. If the Chargers win, the teams will have identical records but Los Angeles will keep the head-to-head title thanks to a win of the season.
The Broncos and Raiders fell with their big hits on the Chiefs, but those games were in Kansas City. The Chargers have their biggest game to date against rookie coach Brandon Staley and sophomore QB Justin Herbert.
Will that combination get better between Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes again?
Here’s everything there is to know about the Chiefs vs. Chargers for Week 15, including our updated odds, trends and predictions for “Thursday Night Football”.
Odds Chiefs vs. Chargers for Thursday Night Football
- Spread: Head of 3
- On lower: 52
- Moneyine: Chiefs -158, Charger +134
The straight line turned around one goal in the game as COVID-19 issues didn’t affect midfielders of equal interest on both sides. Chargers don’t really have any home school advantage so Ministers would be preferred near TD at home.
(betting odds per FanDuel Sportsbook)
Major Series vs All-Time Chargers
The captain led their longtime rivals by a score of 64-58-1. However, The Chargers have won two games in a row, including 30-24 in Kansas City earlier this season. They also won Week 17 of 2020 when the Captains were resting the players at Arrowhead. The Chargers haven’t been able to beat the Chiefs in Los Angeles since they moved there, losing 23-20 in extra time last season.
Three trends to know
—78 percent of the spread bettors are on the side of the Chargers to cool down the Captain with an electric Herbert at home and at least keep it closer to goal, if not win outright.
—60 percent of over/under bets are unaffected by the established high totals involving two strong and dominant offenses.
—The captains are 6-4 to the odds and 8-2 straight in their past 10 games. In total went more than four times. Chargers have only 5-5 ATS despite having won 6-4 SU in their past 10 matches. Six of those games are over.
Three things to see
Charger damage
The charger looks like they would have Austin Ekeler (ankle), wide receiver Mike Williams (heel), tight end Jared Cook (quad) and safe Derwin James Jr. (hamstring) play through their illness. Although the wide receiver Keenan Allen was activated off the COVID-19 roster, left-handling standout rookie Rashawn Slater landed on it and could have been a big loss to a hasty pass by the Chiefs.
Chiefs without Chris Jones
Jones has been the Chiefs’ best and most disruptive player with his dominance of the shots in the box. He has seven sacks and is rolling back to his natural position. The thing is, he’s shortlisted for COVID-19, and is a bigger blow than the Slater-Free Charger on the outside. The Chiefs need to find a way to infiltrate Herbert’s face through various players, led by Derrick Nnadi.
Mahomes and Herbert
The two young teams of AFC West have only met 3 times. There is no bigger match. They should be playing for the big things of the league for many more seasons to come. The QB that plays big enough but avoids the big mistake – which is sometimes a problem for both – wins. Sit back and enjoy the fun between two dynamic players in the ultimate possession game.
Important stats
140.7 and 4.7. That’s the average number of javelins per match the Charger spends plus the average number of yards per take. Only the Texans are worse in every game and only the Steel Man is worse in every game. The captains rolled well with Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Darrel Williams and Derrick Gore. That trio ran through the Raiders and made four TDs in the Week 14 roadmap.
Chiefs vs Chargers Predictions
The captains will win this game with a defensive and running game that puts a lot of pressure on Mahomes to try to win the shootout with Herbert. Captains will be more patient to maintain long shots, tackle Mahomes and keep the ball away from Herbert. They can preserve their victory with a big bag or take it out late.
Minister 30, Charger 27
