Betting Picks

Week 7: Chiefs at Raiders TNF NFL Betting Preview and Pick

Do some members of the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins team still get together and pop some champagne when the last unbeaten team in the NFL falls every year? Those Fins no longer need to worry about a team finishing with a zero in the loss column for 2017 as the Kansas City Chiefs were the last to lose in Week 6.

Now the Chiefs are on a short week and visit AFC West rival Oakland on Thursday. The Chiefs are 3-point favorites on the NFL betting lines at the sportsbooks. Early action is heavy on Kansas City so that number could get above a field goal.

The Chiefs didn’t just lose their first game this past Sunday, they failed to cover for the first time in 2017 as they were 3.5-point home favorites and got upset by Pittsburgh 19-13. Perhaps everyone should have seen that coming because Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is unbeaten in his regular-season career against Kansas City and beat the Chiefs twice last year, including in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.

Big Ben wasn’t really the main story of this upset as he was 17-for-25 for 252 yards with a touchdown and a pick. The offensive star was Le’Veon Bell, who rushed 32 times for 179 yards and a TD. The Pittsburgh defense held the Chiefs to easily their lowest point total of the season and just 251 yards. Kansas City only possessed the ball for 23:21 as Bell kept getting first downs. Chiefs rookie running back Kareem Hunt carried nine times for a season-low 21 yards.

Two Chiefs players left that game with potential concussions: Leading receiver and star return man Tyreek Hill and backup running back Charcandrick West, although Hill apparently is ok. Pro Bowl tight end Travis Kelce was in question for the game with a concussion but played.

Oakland finished 12-4 last season but has now matched that loss total with a four-game losing streak in which the Raiders haven’t topped 17 points in any of them. They were held to 16 points on Sunday, losing by one when the Chargers’ Nick Novak made a 32-yard field goal on the game’s final play. Oakland QB Derek Carr returned after missing Week 5 with a back injury but didn’t look 100 percent. Carr threw for 171 yards and was picked off twice. The Raiders were held to 274 yards.

The Raiders are now tied for last in the AFC West and 0-2 in the division, so at this point it’s almost wild card or bust. The schedule is very tough from here on out, too, with trips to Buffalo and Miami the following two weeks and still having to play New England, in Kansas City, Denver, Dallas and at Philadelphia.

The Chiefs lost the first time they ever faced Carr but have won the past five in the series. They prevailed by 16 in Oakland last year (26-10) and by eight at home (21-13).

However, the Raiders are going to play with total desperation here because a 2-5 record all but ends any playoff chances. They also have covered five of their past seven at home against teams with a winning road record. Take the Raiders at +3, or better yet perhaps wait to see if it rises to +3.5 and then pounce.