Here is who national experts are predicting will win Chiefs-Raiders game
The Chiefs’ stretch run begins Sunday with a familiar opponent visiting Arrowhead Stadium.
The Raiders, 6-5, will be in town to face the Chiefs in an important AFC West game. With a win, the Chiefs, 7-4, can take a two-game division lead and would hold the tie-breaker with four games to play. A loss would create a tie atop the division.
Depending on your point of view, the Chiefs being favored to win by all of the pundits around the nation is either good news (an excellent sign) or bad news (a jinx).
Fifty-one experts from around the nation revealed their Week 12 predictions. Here is what they’re saying about the game, which kicks off at 3:25 p.m. and will be shown on CBS (Ch. 5):
Each of the eight CBS Sports experts predicted a Chiefs victory: Pete Prisco, Jared Dubin, Ryan Wilson, Jason La Canfora, Jamey Eisenberg, John Breech, Dave Richard and Will Brinson. Prisco predicted a 37-19 Chiefs victory and wrote in part: “The Chiefs are coming off a bye, which gives them a big edge. Plus, they are the better team. Look for Patrick Mahomes to light up the Raiders.”
The Chiefs will win 30-24 says Tadd Haislop of the Sporting News. This is part of what he wrote: “Jon Gruden will have his team fired up after it was embarrassed in New York, and Oakland’s offense will give Kansas City fits. But the Chiefs are healthy coming out of their bye week, and the Raiders won’t have any answers for Patrick Mahomes.”
The Chiefs were the pick from both Mike Florio and Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. Smith predicted a 30-17 final score. This is what he wrote: “It’s not too late for the Raiders to make a push to win the AFC West, but it will be if they lose on Sunday, and that’s what I’m expecting them to do.” Florio, thinks the Chiefs will win 31-21 and wrote: “When Andy Reid has extra time to get ready, that’s very good for his team and bad for the other one.”
A 35-20 Chiefs victory is the prediction from Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com. Here is a snippet of what he wrote: “The Raiders will need their offense to be at its efficient best on Sunday to keep up with a Chiefs team expected to get Tyreek Hill back, but it’s hard to keep up in a shootout with 10-play drives. The Chiefs’ push for a title starts ... NOW.”
All 10 experts at ESPN see the Chiefs winning: Matt Bowen, Mina Kimes, Seth Wickersham, Trey Wingo, Mike Clay, Mike Golic, Jason Reid, Louis Riddick, Dan Graziano and Kevin Seifert.
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.
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.
The seven experts from USA Today picked the Chiefs: Jarrett Bell (31-27 final score), Nate Davis (35-27), Jori Epstein (24-14), Mike Jones (28-23), Mike Middlehurst-Schwartz (38-21), Lorenzo Reyes (27-23) and Tom Schad (35-24).
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 Alexis Chassen.
