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Week 2 Staff Best Bets: Thursday Night Football – Chiefs vs. Chargers

ScoresAndOdds Staff Thu 9/15 10:25am PT
Our staff best bets for Chiefs vs. Chargers
Image Credit: Imagn

Many of our ScoresAndOdds NFL experts will bring you free betting picks each week for the prime time Thursday Night Football game!

Welcome back for more prime time football picks! Last week’s article cleaned up, let’s see if the crew can run it back tonight for the Chiefs vs. Chargers game under the bright lights!

Thursday Night Football – Week 2: Free Chiefs vs. Chargers Betting Picks

Kansas City Chiefs -4

This feels like a square bet, but it also feels like the right side. While the Chargers have a lot of buzz heading into this season and did pick up an opening week victory, it’s not like they were dominant. The Chiefs, on the other hand, WERE dominant in a road thumping of the Cardinals in a game that wasn’t competitive past the first quarter. The Chiefs are at home, in prime time, and the Chargers are without Keenan Allen. I can’t see them covering or winning in this spot.

SGP on DraftKings (+650)

It’s the first game of the week, so let’s have some fun with this one. Herbert seems to look better every time we see him and in four career meetings with the Chiefs, he has averaged 281 passing yards per contest. Not having Keenan Allen hurts his expectation a bit, but he should still be able to rack up 275+ yards tonight, especially if they find themselves trailing early. Allen’s absence opens the door for Mike Williams, who has topped 100 receiving yards in two of his last three games against the Chiefs.

After a dud in Week 1, expect a big bounce-back effort from #81. Given how well he played last week, it would be surprising to see Patrick Mahomes struggle in this one. I don’t mind taking some of the higher passing props for me, but over 275 feels very safe. I’ll had Juju Smith-Schuster as my final piece of the parlay. Mahomes looked to him early and often before last week’s game got out of hand. He led the receivers in target share and receiving yards in Week 1 and should get plenty of open looks over the middle in this one.

Austin Ekeler Over 35.5 Receiving Yards

This prop line is much more generous on Points Bet rather than any other book as of noon ET on Thursday. Herbert sure spread the ball out last week. I wouldn’t expect such a widened target tree tonight. Ekeler is one of the premiere receiving backs in the NFL. While the public is flocking for Mike Williams and Josh Palmer to cover, Ekeler’s increased role without Keenan Allen should not be ignored, and it seems to be. Parlay IQ loves this thing to hit the over at a 72% clip at this yardage total, based on thousands of game simulations. Let’s ride!

DeAndre Carter Over 29.5 Receiving Yards

Carter stepped into an unexpected role in Week 1 after Keenan Allen went down with a hamstring injury. He earned 4 targets in the game, converting 3 of them into 64 yards and a touchdown. Allen remains out this week as the Chargers visit the Kansas City Chiefs in an AFC West showdown.

Last season, both teams ranked in the top six in situation-neutral pace, and they are expected to be near the top of the league again this season. The game has 54-point total, so we should see plenty of offense in this one. I expect Carter is heavily involved in the offense again, and he should be able to go over 29.5 receiving yards.

Los Angeles Chargers +4.

When these two teams meet, this feels like a field goal difference, regardless of location. I’m taking the four points here and playing the Chargers. I think both offenses are explosive, but the Chargers defense is the difference. There are a lot of playmakers out there for that unit. I think LA pulls the upset, so I feel good abut getting four points here.