While the Raiders players take a few days to enjoy what has been a strong surge of late, the AFC West features a battle that could dramatically affect the Raiders playoff hopes. The Denver Broncos host the Kansas City Chiefs in a rivalry game that could go either way.
Rivalry games are tough to call because of the general bad blood, and that can be seen in the opening line for this game. In Odds Shark’s run through various lines, most everybody has the Chiefs sitting at -1 and thus a slim one point favorite over the Broncos. A home team generally gets three points just for being at home. Thus, one could extrapolate this on a neutral field to the Chiefs being a four or so point favorite. Obviously extrapolating it is not quite so simple, but you get the idea.
Although I do enjoy placing wagers at the sports book when I’m in Las Vegas, I generally prefer to stay away from a rivalry game like this. The Broncos have struggled immensely in 2010 but I would suspect they’ll play up to their division rivals, and also division leading, Chiefs. A smart bettor wouldn’t touch this game with a ten foot pole, particularly in light of the Chiefs struggles at Oakland last week.