The NFL is back for final week of the regular season as the Los Angeles Chargers play host as take on the Kansas City Chiefs in a huge clash at the SoFi Stadium.
The Chiefs have had a mixed season so far with a 10-6 record earning them a playoff spot, while the Chargers have been poor with a 5-11 record for the season so far heading into this game having lost seven of their last eight games.
We’ll take a look at the match-up and provide you with our best free NFL betting picks to see if we can earn you some extra cash while you take in the action on the field.
The Chargers have had a really poor season and will be disappointed at how it has played out.
They opened their season with a close-fought 36-34 defeat to the Miami Dolphins in week 1 while week 2 wasn’t any better for them as they went up against the Tennessee Titans and fell to a 27-24 overtime defeat.
Week 3 was more successful thanks to a 28-24 win over the Minnesota Vikings, where a first-quarter shutout helped them to victory as they scored a touchdown in all four quarters, before week 4 saw them beat the Las Vegas Raiders 24-17 thanks to a dominant first-half which meant their scoreless second half didn’t matter ahead of a bye in week 5.
Week 6 saw them go up against the Dallas Cowboys and suffered another close loss 17-20, with Dallas scoring 10 points in the final quarter to claim the win, before a beating from reigning champions Kansas City Chiefs in a 17-31 game in week 7. They earned back-to-back wins next over the Chicago Bears and New York Jets, but have since lost four of their last five games.
Detroit Lions beat them 41-38 in a highly entertaining game in week 10, before another close 23-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers was followed up with a 20-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. They got back to winning ways with a 6-0 win over New England Patriots but have since lost their last four in a row against the Denver Broncos x2, Las Vegas Raiders and Buffalo Bills.
The reigning Super Bowl champions the Kansas City Chiefs stepped into the 2023 season with a trip to face off with the Detroit Lions, with many expecting a rout, but eventually suffering a shock come-from-behind defeat despite having led 14-7 at half-time.
Kansas bounced back in week 2 though against the Jacksonville Jaguars, putting in a solid display of defensive strength and efficient offense to claim a 17-9 win and get back on track of their championship defense.
Then in week 3 they showed their true selves as Mahomes threw three passing touchdowns to help the Chiefs romp to a 41-10 victory, before they followed that with a 23-20 win over the New York Jets in week 4, and then claimed a dominant win over the Minnesota Vikings immediately after that in week 5.
Then came a 19-8 win over Denver Broncos in a poor quality game, before a strong 31-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers to stretch their win streak to six. But then in a second meeting with the Broncos they found themselves on the end of another shocking defeat, this time losing 24-9. They recovered last time out in Germany with a 21-14 win over the Miami Dolphins before a bye in week 10.
Since then though they have gone 1-3. They were well beaten by the Philadelphia Eagles 21-17 in week 11, before beating the Raiders 31-17 in week 12. They then lost two in a row as they fell to a 19-27 defeat to the Green Bay Packers and a 17-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Since then they have beaten the New England Patriots handily 27-17, before a Christmas Day defeat to the Las Vegas Raiders set them back again. Last time out though they picked up a comfortable 25-17 win against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Chiefs have had their worst regular season since the 2014 season when they went 9-7 and missed the playoffs. They haven’t been as bad this season, but their 10-6 record has seen them cement their post-season spot already.
When these two teams met earlier in the season Kansas had a storming first-half where they hit 21 points, before keeping the Chargers from scoring a single point in the second half.
Patrick Mahomes will want to back into a good rhythm ahead of the playoffs and that means scoring a lot of points in this game against a team with nothing to play for other than professional pride.
Expect a relatively comfortable win if Kansas can find that rhythm, although it is possible that they rest some starters to avoid any potential injury issues.
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The 36 point total isn’t very high for a team that has had no trouble scoring points this season, and the Chiefs should be able to do enough to ensure this lands.
In their 16 games so far this season the 36-point mark has been matched or surpassed in 11 of them, while the same can be said for Chargers games this season.
Offensively the Chiefs have averaged 22.37 points scored per game, while the Chargers have averaged 20.87 points scored per game this season. Defensively they’ve both been relatively open too, with Kansas allowing 17.62 points per game and Los Angeles allowing a crazy 24.06 points per game despite having a shutout to their name.
If those numbers aren’t enough to convince you, their meeting earlier in the season ended 31-17 to the Chiefs. Back the over.
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About the Author
A soccer and MMA fanatic who believes the eye test far outweighs statistics, apart from when it comes to betting. With experience writing for several years, Daniel is an avid sports fan but also enjoys obstacle courses, music and views from a height.
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