Chiefs vs. Raiders Odds, Spread, Preview: NFL Week 18 Predictions

Chiefs vs. Raiders Week 18 matchup preview and current betting lines

The Kansas City Chiefs can finish 14-3 and possibly claim the AFC’s No. 1 seed depending on what the league does with Buffalo’s last two games. Standing in the way are the Las Vegas Raiders, who definitely earn an award for the most creative losses in the league this year. This team has blown as many fourth-quarter leads (six) as it has won games.

One of the few games where the Raiders did not have a fourth-quarter lead was in Week 5 at Kansas City, but they did lead 17-0 in the first half. That was a wild game that turned once the referees called a horrific penalty on the Chiefs that fired up both the crowd and players. Travis Kelce caught four touchdowns despite only gaining 25 receiving yards, producing one of the craziest stat lines in NFL history.

The Raiders still could have won the game with a field goal, but Davante Adams failed to haul in a pass near the sideline that proved costly. The Chiefs held on for a 30-29 win.

Since then, the Raiders have benched Derek Carr for Jarrett Stidham, who threw for 365 yards and three touchdowns against the top-ranked defense of the 49ers. If Stidham can do that against that defense, he gives the Raiders a fighting chance in this one to spoil Kansas City’s top seed bid.

The NFL Week 18 odds have the Chiefs as a 9.5-point road favorite with a total of 52.5 points.

Players to watch in the Chiefs vs. Raiders game

Kansas City Chiefs

Travis Kelce: Not only did Kelce manage to score four touchdowns on 25 yards against the Raiders, but he kept doing it on the same route. You would think this team would catch on, but coaching is not their strong point. Still, Kelce has gone five games in a row without a touchdown, and a sixth would be his longest drought ever with Patrick Mahomes. Look for him to score in this game at least once.

Las Vegas Raiders

Davante Adams: The only player with more touchdown catches than Kelce this year is Davante Adams, who has 14. Incredibly, Adams is the first player in the 21st century to have 10 receiving touchdowns of 25-plus yards in a single season. He has done his part in coming to the Raiders, but the team has not fared well at closing games. Look for Adams to likely get a 15th touchdown in this game as he should become the third receiver to go over 1,500 receiving yards this season along with Justin Jefferson (1,771) and Tyreek Hill (1,687).

Our Best NFL Bets for the Chiefs vs. Raiders game

We have two NFL Week 18 predictions as the Chiefs look to wrap up a great regular season.

Chiefs vs. Raiders Point Spread Pick: Raiders +9.5 (-109)

The Chiefs vs. Raiders spread opened with the Chiefs as a 6.5-point favorite before moving up to 9.5, going down to 7.5, and back up to 9.5.

This is an intriguing one after the way Stidham played last week. If the 49ers just crushed the Raiders and made Stidham look terrible, this would be an easy pick for the Chiefs. But things did not go that way at all, and while Stidham got some incredible catches out of Adams down the field, that is something Adams can do. Adams had a huge game against the Chiefs as many No. 1 receivers have this year.

But the Chiefs are usually more focused on the road where Mahomes actually has better stats in his career than he does at home where he can get more careless with the ball. Six of the seven games this season where the Chiefs scored 30 points have been on the road, including all three games with over 40 points. The Chiefs scored 41 in their visit to Vegas last season.

But the Chiefs have also allowed four of their five highest point totals on the road, and the one time they did at home, it was these Raiders with 29 points. The Raiders got a career night out of Josh Jacobs, who is about to win his first rushing title.

The Raiders have weapons and apparently Stidham knows how to use them. This should be a high-scoring game, but it is hard to predict the Chiefs to beat anyone by double digits right now, especially teams that can score and play it close.

The Raiders lost 24-0 in New Orleans, their only loss by more than seven points all year, and their other nine losses have been by a combined 33 points. Take the Raiders to cover for your NFL bet of the week.

Be sure to visit our NFL picks page for more betting tips.

Scoring Prop: Both Teams to Score 20+ Points (-110)

This feels like a good value pick given the last matchup was 30-29. But there are plenty of other reasons too:

• The Chiefs have been held under 20 points once all season, and that was the 20-17 loss in Indianapolis on a day where the special teams failed them.
• In four road games against the Raiders, Mahomes has led the Chiefs to 40, 28, 35, and 41 points.
• The Raiders have scored 20-plus points in 12-of-16 games this season, and every time they did not was a road game.
• The Raiders have also allowed at least 20 points in all but three games this season, which were also on the road.
• The Chiefs have allowed at least 20 points in all eight road games this season and in their last 11 road games going back to last season.

It may not be as good as 30-29 again, but this should be a game where both teams top 20 points.