The AFC West might be the toughest division in football making games within the division even more important. The Week 2 Thursday Night Football matchup has a doozy between the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs, who both won and covered in their opener. The Bolts got a little revenge against the Las Vegas Raiders, who denied them a playoff berth in last season’s finale. Now the Chargers have a chance to make a statement against the division’s top team. If you want to be the best you have to beat the best, as the saying goes. After throttling Arizona the Chiefs hit the board as a 3.5-point favorite on the NFL betting line.
Chargers vs Kansas City Chiefs
The Week 2 Thursday Night Football contest between the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs will take place at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO at 8:15 p.m. ET on September 15, 2022 and will be shown on Prime Video.
Chargers vs Kansas City Chiefs
Los Angeles Chargers +3.5
Kansas City Chiefs -3.5
Over/Under 54
Odds Analysis
You can expect some close spreads for matchups within the AFC West since every team is a playoff contender. Things could change as the season progresses, but right now we’re seeing the effect of home field advantage with the Chiefs positioned as a 3.5-point favorite on the opening line. This is an intriguing number since some shops have the line at Chiefs -3 with that extra half point being a carrot at the end of the stick. Both teams covered in Week 1 with the Bolts holding off the Raiders 24-19 as a 3.5-point favorite and the Chiefs smacking the Cards 44-21 laying 6-points. KC has dominated at home winning 11 of its last 14 regular season games with covers in four straight. However, two of the three losses in that span were against the Chargers, who covered the closing spread both times.
Los Angeles Chargers
With Justin Herbert at the helm you know the Chargers will be a threat to score a lot of points. They had the second best passing attack last season with Herbert throwing for over 5,000 yards and 38 touchdowns. The Chargers averaged nearly four converted touchdowns. Not much changed in that area on Sunday with Herbert completing 26 of 34 for 279 yards and three TDs. More impressive was that the unit didn’t suffer when Keenan Allen exited with a hamstring injury and with Mike Williams having just two receptions.
The biggest difference, at least for one week, was the defense. The Bolts acquired Khalil Mack to help a group that ranked near the bottom against the run and in preventing points. Mack had three of the team’s six sacks of Derek Carr and the secondary picked off three passes to help cash the UNDER in the 24-19 win. LA’s last three wins in the series have all come on the road where they scored at least 29 points with the OVER hitting in three of the last four games between the clubs at Arrowhead.
Kansas City Chiefs
They may have some different names in the lineup but the Chiefs looked a lot like the Chiefs in their dismantling of Arizona on Sunday. Some had questions about the passing game without Tyreek Hill and his ability to stretch the field and create big plays. Well, don’t worry. With Patrick Mahomes throwing for 360 yards and five touchdowns, the Chiefs easily discarded the Cards, 44-21. “Everybody asked us the questions of what this offense, what this team’s going to look like. We’ve always believed that we were going to go out there and put on a show,” Mahomes said.
The Chiefs have ranked among the top-six in points and total yards every season since Mahomes became the starter many times masking some deficiencies on the defensive side. And it’s a new season for Steve Spagnuolo’s group without Tyrann Mathieu roaming the secondary. And like the Chargers, the unit came up with a solid game against the explosive Cardinals. They held Kyler Murray to less than 200 yards passing and surrendered just 282 total yards and 4.5 yards per play.
Chargers vs Kansas City Chiefs Predictions
They’ve been around for a few years now but I think it’s still safe to say Herbert and Mahomes are two of the best young QBs in the game. They both had huge games in Week 1 and we saw defense play a major role for both clubs. The addition of Mack and a healthy Derwin James has LA looking stronger than it has in some time on that side of the football. But this game is about the gunslingers after they put on a show last year. Herbert and Mahomes each tossed six TD passes and the teams combined to average 58 points with each getting a win. I’m leaning toward the OVER with less confidence backing the home team Chiefs minus the points.
Prediction: Kansas City Chiefs -3.5 / OVER 54
