We are entering the business end of the NFL season and a handful of teams have already ensured qualification for the playoffs, but it is crunch time for many teams battling for the final berths. There are some crucial games scheduled in the week ahead, and none more so than the Friday game between Oakland and Kansas City. Here we preview that game and round up a few other important fixtures:
Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs
There are 64 regular season games left in the AFC and this is arguably the most important. The Raiders and the New England Patriots are both 10-2 and battling it out to earn home advantage should they reach the AFC Championship Game. It could go right to the wire between the Raiders and the Patriots, but Oakland also faces a gruelling battle to win their division, as the Chiefs are close to toppling them. It’s a nightmare for the Raiders to have to travel 1,500 miles on a short week for such a crucial game, but they will have known about this all season and should be suitably prepared.
The AFC West is surely the best division in the NFL by a long stretch, with the Raiders 10-2, the Chiefs 9-3 and the Denver Broncos, last season’s Super Bowl winners, 8-4. No other division in either conference has three teams that are so good, or have such good records. It is unfortunate for them that they are all lumped together. In the division tiebreakers, Kansas City is king, having beaten the Raiders, the Broncos and the Chargers already. They won 26-10 in Oakland earlier this season, and if they can beat the Raiders again in front of their home fans they will go 4-0 in the tiebreakers and move up to 10-3, putting them ahead of the Raiders.
They come into the match having won their last two games and will be full of confidence, but the Raiders are on a six-game winning streak, the best in the conference, so it will be a fascinating battle. As they have home advantage and have already beaten the Raiders this year, the Chiefs are odds-on favourites, best priced at 4/7 with Sky Bet, while the Raiders are 6/4 with Sun Bets and Coral. It is tempting to go for the Chiefs given their dominance in the division head-to-heads, and if you fancy that, you would be advised to take the 15/8 currently available at Betfair on the Chiefs winning the division as that would send them top with three games to go. To get more value, you could go for the Chiefs to cover the -3 spread at 4/5 with Sun Bets, putting an end to the Raiders’ winning run in style.
Other highlights
Over in the NFC the Seahawks travel to the Packers knowing they need a win to keep their hopes of qualifying as the second-best division winner behind the Cowboys. They are 8-3-1 and have the Giants and the Lions, both 8-4 breathing down their necks, so they need to put an end to the Packers’ two-game winning streak. They should get the job done, and the 8/11 available looks a good bet, as does the 5/6 William Hill is offering on them covering the -2.5 spread. The Lions host the Bears and should win it, but the Bears look good to cover the +8 spread at 19/20 with Coral. A fierce battle is taking place between the Falcons and the Buccaneers in their division, and the Falcons should cover a -6 spread at Los Angeles (10/11 with William Hill), while the Buccaneers can also cover a -2.5 spread when they host the Saints, keeping the battle alive for another week.
