Here is who national experts are predicting will win Chiefs-Chargers game
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That is, are you ready for some football? The Chiefs will face the AFC West rival Chargers, and Kansas City needs a win to ensure it will stay atop the division. A loss and the Raiders will ascend to first place.
The Chiefs are mostly favored to win among those who made picks for Monday’s game, which kicks off at 7:15 p.m. and will be shown on ESPN and ABC (Ch. 9).
Fifty-one experts from around the nation revealed their Week 11 predictions. Here is who they think will win and what they’re saying about the game:
Six of the eight CBS Sports experts predicted a Chiefs victory: Jared Dubin, Ryan Wilson, Jason La Canfora, Jamey Eisenberg, John Breech and Will Brinson. The Chargers were the pick for Pete Prisco and Dave Richard. Prisco predicted a 27-26 Chargers win and wrote in part: “This will be a game where the Chargers run it and keep Patrick Mahomes on the bench. The Chargers stay alive with a victory here behind the play of Melvin Gordon and their running game.”
A 34-27 Chiefs victory is the prediction from Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com. Here is a snippet of what he wrote: “I’m not worried about this four-loss Chiefs team. An elite passing game and a sneaky-good pass defense is the most reliable route to the Super Bowl; the Chiefs have both. Even with Patrick Mahomes not quite at full speed, the Chiefs put up 530 yards in Tennessee on a day he missed a few open throws and drops killed multiple drives.”
The Chiefs will win 30-26 says Tadd Haislop of the Sporting News. This is part of what he wrote: “The Chargers are far from done as contenders in the AFC, but they’ll trend that way if their QB’s struggles continue. They’ll need big numbers from (Philip Rivers) Monday in order to keep up with the Chiefs.”
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio and Michael David Smith both picked the Chiefs. Smith predicted a 30-20 score. This is what an excerpt of what he wrote: “The Chiefs need to bounce back from their disappointing loss to the Titans, and I think they’ll do just that.” Florio, who thinks the Chiefs will win 34-20, wrote: “It’s hard to have any faith in a guy who threw seven straight incompletions with the game on the line last Thursday.”
All but one of the 10 experts at ESPN see the Chiefs winning: Matt Bowen, Mina Kimes, Seth Wickersham, Trey Wingo, Mike Clay, Mike Golic, Jason Reid, Louis Riddick and Kevin Seifert. The lone person to pick the Chargers: Dan Graziano.
Six of the seven experts from USA Today picked the Chiefs: Nate Davis (33-30 final score), Jori Epstein (17-14), Mike Jones (30-27), Mike Middlehurst-Schwartz (30-20), Lorenzo Reyes (28-23) and Tom Schad (35-20). The pick for the Chargers: Jarrett Bell (34-31).
Each of the six Sports Illustrated Monday Morning Quarterback writers picked the Chiefs: Andrew Brandt, Mitch Goldich, Bette Marston, Kayln Kahler, Connor Orr and Jenny Vrentas.
All eight Pro Football Focus writers picked the Chiefs: Neil Hornsby, Bruce Gradkowski, Solomon Wilcots, Jeff Ratcliffe, Sam Monson, Nathan Jahnke, Austin Gayle and Steve Palazzolo.
All eight SB Nation writers are picking the Chiefs: James Brady, Christian D’Andrea, Sarah Hardy, Morgan Moriarty, Geoff Schwartz, Adam Stites, Stephen White and Eric Thompson.
