Our Kansas City Chiefs vs. Las Vegas Raiders prediction looks at the Week 18 matchup that features a strong AFC West rivalry.
Let’s dive into the current NFL betting odds, key storylines to watch, and make a prediction for the game. Note that all odds are from DraftKings Sportsbook as of Tuesday, Jan. 3.
Chiefs vs. Raiders Odds
- Spread
Chiefs -9 - Moneyline
Chiefs -460, Raiders +370 - Over/Under
53 points
Chiefs vs. Raiders Prediction
The Kansas City Chiefs continue to roll and position themselves for a deep playoff run in 2022. Despite Denver playing a tough and competitive game in Week 17, the Chiefs were able to pull out their 13th victory on the season and extend their win streak to four straight games.
The No. 1 seed for the AFC is still in the cards for a surging Chiefs team. While it’s unknown at the time of writing what the NFL will do about the Bills vs. Bengals game that was postponed due to the devastating incident involving Damar Hamlin on the field for the Bills, Kansas City still has the potential to lock up a first-round bye with a win this week.
MORE: Week 18 NFL Picks and Predictions
They’ll get to take on a suddenly reinvigorated Raiders team, but still one that has struggled mightily over the course of this season. Las Vegas is allowing the 8th most points per game this season, and they’ll be going up against the offense averaging the most points per game in 2022.
As long as Kansas City can continue to execute on offense and take advantage of a plus matchup, they should be able to get their 14th win on the year and put themselves in a solid position to lock up a first-round bye.
As for the Raiders, they shocked the NFL world early last week when they announced that Derek Carr would be benched for the remaining two games of the 2022 NFL season and Jarrett Stidham would be the starting QB.
Expectations weren’t very high for this Raiders team going into Week 17 and a matchup against the league’s best defense, but they stunned the NFL world yet again. Stidham was an impressive 23-of-34 passing for 365 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions.
Davante Adams continued to showcase why he’s one of the league’s best receiving threats, and the Raiders were able to take this impressive 49ers team to overtime and narrowly lost 37-34.
While that result meant that Las Vegas was officially eliminated from postseason contention, it was an impressive showing from a Raiders offense that has been looking for an identity all season long. Josh McDaniels almost certainly figures to be the Head Coach for this franchise in 2023, and the performance last week went a long way to building confidence and hope for next season.
Can the Raiders put together another impressive performance here in Week 18? They’ll have a bit of an easier matchup this week going against the defense that’s allowing the 13th most points per game in Kansas City. A win in a divisional matchup this week would go a long way to building confidence in McDaniels and this coaching staff for 2023.
Chiefs vs. Raiders Score Prediction
Chiefs 27, Raiders 21