Can the Chiefs defence hold on to the winning streak?

Not even a full month ago, the matchup in the NFL was Kansas City Chiefs vs Las Vegas Raiders for the last time. Now the two teams within their division meet again this coming Sunday at 7:00pm. Will Patrick Mahomes’ team be able to pull off another win?

In the Chiefs versus Raiders game, the betting odds clearly see the hosts in the favourite role. But can they live up to it? Having already won five games in a row, the odds are in favour of another Chiefs win at Arrowhead Stadium, a cauldron with a reputation for being the loudest stadium in the NFL.

Still, the race for the playoff spots in the AFC West, which features the Kansas City vs. Las Vegas clash, remains very exciting. The Chiefs (8-4) are at the top of the standings, closely followed by the Los Angeles Chargers (7-5) and the Raiders and Denver Broncos, who share third place with six wins and just as many losses.

This means that every team can still manage to get a place in the knockout round of the NFL in the remaining five match days. In the Chiefs vs. Raiders game, however, our prediction is that the team from Kansas City will be able to consolidate its first place and take another step towards the playoffs.

Kansas City Chiefs – Statistics & current form

The Chiefs have won their last five games, in four of which they have been the home team. In this winning streak, the game Kansas City Chiefs vs Las Vegas Raiders already occurred once. A tip on a win for the host team seems more likely in the coming week as well.

Can Mahomes get back to his old strength?

The last time the teams met in Week 10, Chiefs quarterback Mahomes turned in a dominant performance. In addition to gaining more than 400 yards of space, he completed five touchdown passes, securing a dominant win for the Chiefs.

However, this was one of the few games in which Mahomes was at his best, helping the Chiefs to a Super Bowl win in 2020 and himself to Super Bowl MVP. Last week, he failed to score a touchdown in the win over the Denver Broncos, but did throw an interception.

A big part of the recent wins has been the Chiefs’ defence, which has looked extremely dominant in defending passes. For the Chiefs against the Raiders, it is therefore also interesting to bet on a few passing yards by Derek Carr and his Raiders offence. In each of the last seven games, the Chiefs defence has recovered the ball at least once – in fact, they’ve always managed to do so at least twice in the last four matchups.

Key Players:
QB: Patrick Mahomes
WR: Tyreek Hill
TE: Travis Kelce
LB: Nick Bolton
S: Tyrann Mathieu

Las Vegas Raiders – stats & recent form

Unlike the Chiefs with their winning streak, the Raiders have already lost three games in a row. In the last five encounters, the only win was against the Cowboys in Week 12. This is one of the reasons why the odds tend to be higher for Derek Carr’s team in the Kansas City vs Las Vegas game.

However, the Raiders’ offense has a good chance to score in the running game. Jalen Richard is another running back missing for the upcoming matchup due to a positive COVID-19 test, but Kenyan Drake remains out due to an ankle injury.

Raiders fans can still hope for some rushing plays in the game against KC. Despite the personnel difficulties, there is still one option: Josh Jacobs. He didn’t turn in a stellar performance against the Washington football team last week, but he is a key player in the Raiders attack.

How much did the Raiders improve?

The Raiders should still be reeling from their last encounter with the Chiefs. The defence was particularly susceptible to Mahomes’ passing game in that game. Las Vegas QB Carr had two touchdown passes, but he also threw an interception. The Las Vegas passing defense was able to hold Washington’s Ted Heinicke to under 200 yards thrown last week and deflect any touchdown passes from him. So looks more settled than in the first leg.

Key Players:
QB: Derek Carr
RB: Josh Jacobs
WR: Hunter Renfrow
DE: Maxx Crosby
LB: Denzel Perryman

Kansas City Chiefs – Las Vegas Raiders Head-to-head comparison / H2H record

There is now a serious rivalry between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders, which is also always heated between the players. When the Raiders won at the Chiefs’ stadium in 2020 for the first time since 2012, they did laps of honour around the stadium with their team bus after the match – an open provocation.

After the Chiefs won the match in very dominant fashion 41-14 four weeks ago, KC safety Armani Watt posted the tweet “We don’t need no victory lap on to the next” which alluded to the bus tour.

Kansas City Chiefs – Las Vegas Raiders Tip

For the upcoming Kansas City Chiefs vs Las Vegas Raiders game, our prediction is a clear Chiefs win. Even though Mahomes is not at his 2020 peak form yet, his offense has enough options other than the passing game to win against the Raiders.

While the Raiders’ pass defence had performed very well in the last game, they are still generally mistake-prone.